RFK Jr. says he has ‘no plans to endorse’ Harris after he recently tried to set up meeting with her
(WASHINGTON) — Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recently sought a meeting with Vice President Kamala Harris, according to multiple people familiar with the outreach.
Amaryllis Fox Kennedy, Kennedy’s campaign manager, told ABC News that she and Kennedy reached out to the Harris team but have yet to hear back.
The outreach was the latest in a monthslong and fruitless effort by the Kennedy campaign to speak with top Democrats, including President Joe Biden when he sat atop the Democratic ticket, Fox Kennedy told ABC.
However, the most recent attempts to meet with Harris appear to have carried extra meaning: the Washington Post reported Wednesday that Kennedy wanted to discuss the possibility of serving in Harris’ cabinet in exchange for an endorsement to help her over the finish line this fall.
Fox Kennedy did not dispute the details of the story and told ABC News, “Bobby has always been willing to meet with both parties to discuss the possibility of a unity government.”
However, on Thursday morning, Kennedy posted on X that he has “no plans to endorse Kamala Harris for President.”
“I do have plans to defeat her,” he added at the end of a post that included specific criticisms of Harris and the Democratic Party.
Democrats on Wednesday all but dismissed the possibility of working out a deal with Kennedy, whose poll numbers have steadily dipped throughout the summer.
“No one has any intention of negotiating with a MAGA-funded fringe candidate who has sought out a job with Donald Trump in exchange for an endorsement,” said Lis Smith, an advisor to the Democratic National Committee.
Kennedy has met multiple times with Republican nominee Donald Trump, including an in-person meeting in Milwaukee last month where the men discussed possible roles for Kennedy in a Trump administration, as ABC News previously reported.
(WASHINGTON) — Vice President Kamala Harris has secured enough Democratic Party delegate votes to become the party’s nominee when voting ends on Monday, according to the Democratic National Committee. And Harris is close to naming her running mate.
Former President Donald Trump and his vice presidential pick, Sen. JD Vance, have spoken to voters across the country this past week as they sharpen their attacks on Harris.
Here’s how the news is developing:
JD Vance to also give remarks in same states as Harris this week
Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance is scheduled to give remarks in the same states on the same days as Vice President Kamala Harris this week, the Trump-Vance campaign announced, as Harris embarks on a battleground state tour.
Vance is scheduled to speak at noon ET in Philadelphia on Tuesday. The event comes as Harris is set to hold a rally with her yet-to-be-announced running mate Tuesday night in the city.
On Wednesday, he is scheduled to deliver remarks in the Detroit suburb of Shelby Township, Michigan, and Eau Claire, Wisconsin, as Harris also campaigns in those states then.
Then on Thursday, he is set to speak in Raleigh and Oakboro in North Carolina, aligning with Harris’ scheduled visit to the state.
-ABC News’ Hannah Demissie
Bon Iver to campaign with Harris in Wisconsin
Bon Iver will join Harris and her running mate on Wednesday in Eau Claire, Wisconsin — where the Grammy-winning indie folk band was founded — for a “special performance” as part of the campaign’s battleground state tour, the Harris campaign announced on Monday.
-ABC News’ Gabriella Abdul-Hakim, Fritz Farrow, Will McDuffie and Isabella Murray
Harris still deliberating on VP pick: Source
At this moment, Vice President Harris has not decided on a running mate and is still deliberating, according to a source.
More than 10K people expected at Harris’ Philly rally: Source
More than 10,000 people are expected to attend Harris’ rally Tuesday night in Philadelphia, where she’ll be joined by her new running mate, according to a source familiar with the plans.
That would make this the biggest event yet for the Harris campaign.
Harris is looking to build off her momentum. Pennsylvania kicks off her swing through seven battleground states in five days.
The pace of her campaign is in stark contrast to Trump’s, which has only one rally scheduled this week — in Montana on Friday.
Usha Vance says husband’s ‘childless cat ladies’ comment was a ‘quip’
In her first interview since her husband was named former President Donald Trump’s running mate, Usha Vance sat down with Fox & Friends where she discussed her husband’s “childless cat ladies” comment that has gained attention recently — calling it a “quip.”
“The reality is, JD made a quote – I mean, he made a quip, and he made a quip in service of making a point that he wanted to make that was substantive,” Usha Vance said of the comments her husband made in 2021. “And I just wish sometimes that people would talk about those things and that we would spend a lot less time just sort of going through this three-word phrase or that three-word phrase.”
She continued, “What he was really saying is that it can be really hard to be a parent in this country, and sometimes our policies are designed in a way that make it even harder.”
She added that her husband “would never ever ever want to say something to hurt someone who was trying to have a family who really was struggling with that.”
JD Vance has called the comments “sarcastic.”
“Let’s try to look at the real conversation that he’s trying to have and engage with it and understand for those of us who do have families, for the many of us who want to have families, and for whom it’s really hard,” Usha Vance said on Monday. “What can we do to make it better? What can we do to make it easier to live in 2024?”
-ABC News’ Kelsey Walsh, Hannah Demissie, Lalee Ibssa and Soorin Kim
Pelosi says she spoke with Biden ahead of his withdrawal ‘asking for a campaign that would win’
Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, in an interview with Good Morning America anchor George Stephanopolous on Monday morning, said that she spoke with President Joe Biden ahead of his withdrawal from the 2024 presidential race “asking for a campaign that would win.” She also said Biden was “the only person that I spoke to” about Biden possibly withdrawing.
“The only person that I spoke to about this was the president. Other people called me about what their views were about it, and — but I rarely even returned a call, much less initiated one,” Pelosi said.
Later, she added, “I wasn’t asking him to step down. I was asking for a campaign that would win, and I wasn’t seeing that on the horizon.”
Vice President Kamala Harris’ choice for her running mate is a the “most important” decision she has to make as her campaign gets started, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said.
All of her choices appear to be good, Pelosi added.
“It’s a difficult decision because they are all so great,” she told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos on Good Morning America on Monday. “It is the most important decision for her to make. Not just about who can help win, but who can help serve and lead and whose confidence she trusts.”
Harris and to-be-announced running mate to launch seven-state tour Tuesday
Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, who is yet to be named, will go on tour, hitting seven battleground states in five days, the Harris campaign said Monday.
The tour will be an effort to “introduce the new Democratic ticket” and “speak directly with voters in their communities and cement the contrast between our ticket and Trump’s,” campaign said.
The tour, which kicks off Tuesday in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, will feature rallies in cities and stops at college campuses, including HBCUs, union halls, family-owned restaurants and their field offices, the campaign said.
The tour will continue through Eau Claire, Wisconsin; Detroit, Michigan; Durham, North Carolina; Savannah, Georgia; Phoenix, Arizona; and Las Vegas, Nevada, the campaign said.
Harris interviewing top VP contenders today at her residence: Source
Vice President Harris is meeting with top running mate candidates Sunday at her residence at the Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C., according to a source familiar with the matter.
Harris is meeting with at least three leading contenders — Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, according to the source.
The meetings were earlier reported by The New York Times.
Sen. JD Vance says he wears VP pick criticism as a ‘badge of honor’
In a Fox News interview Sunday, Sen. JD Vance responded to criticism of him being picked as former President Donald Trump’s running mate, saying he takes it as a “badge of honor.”
“All I can do is go out there and prosecute the case against Kamala Harris to remind people that things were more prosperous and more peaceful when Donald Trump was president,” Vance said. “Look, I recognize there are a lot of folks even in the GOP establishment and certainly on the far left who don’t like the fact that Donald Trump picked me, I actually take their criticism as a badge of honor.”
Vance also hit back at Democrats who’ve called him “weird,” calling it “a lot of projection.”
“They can call me whatever they want to. The middle school taunts don’t bother me,” he said. “What offends me is what Kamala Harris has done to this country over three and a half years.”
Harris campaign launches ‘Republicans for Harris’ outreach program
Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign announced Sunday that it would be launching a “Republicans for Harris” program aimed at reaching Republican voters who could be convinced to vote for Harris. The program will include digital advertising, phone banking, events and other initiatives, according to the campaign.
The program — and Harris herself — have been endorsed by a number of Republican figures, including former Trump White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham.
“I might not agree with Vice President Kamala Harris on everything, but I know that she will fight for our freedom, protect our democracy, and represent America with honor and dignity on the world stage,” Grisham wrote in a statement released by the Harris campaign.
The “Republicans for Harris” program will hold kickoff events starting this week, per the campaign.
(WASHINGTON) — When President Joe Biden announced Sunday he wouldn’t seek reelection, he told Americans he believes it would be best for him to “stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as president for the remainder of my term.”
The bombshell news immediately shifted focus to Vice President Kamala Harris, to whom Biden passed the torch by officially endorsing her to be the Democratic nominee, though she has work to do before the party’s convention next month.
While he’ll no longer be running, and will be a classic “lame duck,” he still must deal with pressing issues and his every move likely will continue to be scrutinized and criticized by Republicans.
Prominent GOP leaders who spent weeks calling on Biden to exit the 2024 race are now demanding that he should resign from office, claiming if he’s not fit to be a candidate, he’s not able to continue as president.
Former President Donald Trump, who last week accepted the Republican Party’s nomination, said Biden is “certainly not fit to serve” as he responded to the political earthquake that Biden would no longer be his election rival.
“If he’s not suited to run for office, I’m not sure he’s suited to serve the country, to continue in that capacity,” echoed House Speaker Mike Johnson, the most powerful Republican in Congress, in remarks to ABC News on Monday.
Johnson also suggested Harris and the Cabinet explore invoking the 25th Amendment, which controls when a president is deemed unable to discharge the duties of his office.
Some Republicans have also accused Harris of being involved in a Democratic “cover-up” about what they claim is Biden’s failing mental fitness.
The pro-Trump super PAC MAGA Inc. already released an ad saying: “Kamala was in on it. She covered up Joe’s obvious mental decline. Kamala knew Joe couldn’t do the job, so she did it. Look what she got done: a border invasion, runaway inflation, the American Dream dead.”
The White House has pushed back that Biden “looks forward to finishing his term and delivering more historic results for the American people.”
Biden, who is currently in Delaware recuperating from COVID-19, will face major tests this week as he’s promised to make a speech to the nation on his decision to bow out of the race and as he hosts Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington.
While no date or time has been given on his address on the 2024 race, Biden’s remarks will be a significant milestone in his career that spanned from being one of the youngest senators sworn into office to becoming vice president in 2008 and eventually president in 2020 after three previously unsuccessful attempts at the Democratic nomination.
“I think they should expect to hear from Joe Biden what he has carried in his heart for decades, which is a deep belief in the American people. Joe Biden is an optimist, he knows how hard Americans work, he knows what we are capable of,” Delaware Sen. Chris Coons, a key Biden ally and co-chair of the Biden-Harris campaign, said on CNN on Sunday.
Coons said the calls Johnson and others for Biden to resign were “ridiculous” and that Biden stepping down from the office now would be a “great disservice” to the nation.
“I think President Biden has shown in recent weeks his ability to handle and manage complex international matters, to continue his lifelong record of service and his legacy of leadership in foreign policy and to make hard calls and tough choices that help make us stronger and safer here at home,” Coons said.
“I expect President Biden will finish out his term this year and there are things that remain to be done,” Coons said, citing annual spending bills that must pass Congress and Biden’s commitment to securing a peace plan for Gaza.
In addition to meeting with Biden, Netanyahu will address Congress on Wednesday and is also expected to meet with Harris.
“This coming week, I know he will be putting his heart in it once again,” Coons said of Biden’s cease-fire proposal to end the Israel-Hamas war.
(WASHINGTON) — GOP vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance on Monday magnified a false claim that Haitian immigrants are abducting and eating pets in Springfield, Ohio.
In a post on X, Vance published a video of himself at a July Senate Banking Committee hearing, reading a letter from Springfield City Manager Bryan Heck about the city’s challenges in keeping up with housing for the growing Haitian immigrant population.
In the post, Vance pushed the false claim that Haitian immigrants are kidnapping and eating people’s pets in Springfield.
“Months ago, I raised the issue of Haitian illegal immigrants draining social services and generally causing chaos all over Springfield, Ohio,” Vance wrote on X. “Reports now show that people have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn’t be in this country. Where is our border czar?” he asked, a term that Republicans have attempted to tag Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris with, although she has denied holding that role.
But Heck debunked those claims about Springfield in a statement to ABC News.
“In response to recent rumors alleging criminal activity by the immigrant population in our city, we wish to clarify that there have been no credible reports or specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals within the immigrant community,” Heck said in his statement.
“Additionally, there have been no verified instances of immigrants engaging in illegal activities such as squatting or littering in front of residents’ homes. Furthermore, no reports have been made regarding members of the immigrant community deliberately disrupting traffic,” Heck said.
According to the Springfield News-Sun, the Springfield Police Department has not received any reports of pets being stolen and eaten.
The false claim that immigrants are targeting people’s pets stemmed from a social media posting originally from a Springfield Facebook group that went viral, where the poster wrote that their neighbor’s daughter’s friend had lost her cat. The poster went on to make an unsubstantiated claim of Haitians allegedly taking the cat for food.
The post was picked up by people on social media, including rightwing activist Turning Points’ Charlie Kirk and Elon Musk.
Springfield, Ohio, has been at the center of several rumors concerning Haitian immigrants. The city even created a webpage debunking some claims.
Migrants have been drawn to the region because of low cost of living and work opportunities, the city says on its site. The city estimates there are around 12,000 to 15,000 immigrants living in the county, and that the rapid rise in population has strained housing, health care, and school resources. But the city also says that the migrants are in the country legally and that many are recipients of Temporary Protected Status from the federal government.
On Monday, Ohio Attorney General David Yost said the population in Springfield has grown by more than a third. In a statement, he announced he’s directing his office to “research legal avenues to stop the federal government from sending an unlimited number of migrants to Ohio communities.”
“The problem is not migrants, it is way, way too many migrants in a short period of time,” Yost said in his statement. “The problem is a massive increase in the population without any communication or assistance from the federal government.”
A spokesperson for Vance did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.