(MILWAUKEE) — Former President Donald Trump has picked Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance as his running mate, placing a young, ideological ally alongside him on the Republican 2024 ticket.
Trump announced Vance would be his running mate on Monday, writing on Truth Social that the Ohio Republican is “the person best suited to assume the position of Vice President of the United States.”
The decision caps off months of speculation and sees Trump elevate a 39-year-old first-term senator whose roughly year and a half tenure in the Senate has seen him emerge as a staunch ideological ally of the former president.
“As Vice President, J.D. will continue to fight for our Constitution, stand with our Troops, and will do everything he can to help me MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
The Trump campaign wasted no time promoting the former president’s pick, posting an ad on social media featuring a montage of Vance praising Trump.
“I am proud that I have been an ally of Donald Trump’s in Washington, D.C.,” Vance says in one of the clips in the ad.
The campaign is also fundraising off of the announcement, saying in a campaign email Monday afternoon that Trump “always knew” he “needed” Vance on his side.
President Joe Biden’s campaign released a statement on Vance being named Trump’s vice presidential pick, slamming Vance as someone who will further Trump’s “extreme MAGA agenda.”
“Donald Trump picked J.D. Vance as his running mate because Vance will do what Mike Pence wouldn’t on January 6: bend over backwards to enable Trump and his extreme MAGA agenda, even if it means breaking the law and no matter the harm to the American people,” Biden Campaign Chair Jen O’Malley Dillon wrote in a statement.
Vice presidential hopefuls Sen. Marco Rubio and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum both issued their support for the Republican ticket.
Following the announcement, Rubio posted to social media “#TrumpVance2024!!!”
In a social media post, Burgum said he looks forward to being on the campaign trail for the new Trump-Vance ticket. He also complimented Vance for his small-town roots and service to the county.
Who is J.D. Vance? Vance rose to fame through his 2016 book, “Hillbilly Elegy.” He evolved from a “never-Trump guy” to one of Trump’s strongest surrogates in an eight-year span.
Vance was born in Middleton, Ohio, and served in the Marine Corps. He later attended Ohio State University and eventually graduated from Yale Law School.
He was a corporate lawyer and then worked in the tech industry as a venture capitalist.
In 2016, Vance released his memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy,” which shared his story of growing up in poverty in America’s Rust Belt and being surrounded by violence and addiction.
Vance eventually became an emissary between the media and those in the Rust Belt during the 2016 election, discussing the issues important to those who had a similar background to him.
During this time, Vance made his disdain for Trump clear, saying he was a “never-Trump guy” in an interview with Charlie Rose in 2016.
In August 2016, he told ABC News that he didn’t see Trump “offering many solutions.”
But Vance would eventually align with the former president, praising his time in office and apologizing for his attacks on him during an interview with Fox News in July 2021.
“I’ve been very open about the fact that I did say those critical things, and I regret them, and I regret being wrong about the guy,” Vance said on Fox News in 2021.
His apology came around the same time Vance entered the race for the open Ohio Senate seat, which became one of the most competitive GOP primaries of the 2022 election cycle. Trump endorsed Vance for the job, which helped him win both the primary election and general election against Ohio Democrat Tim Scott.
In his role as senator, some of his most notable work has been responding to the East Palestine train derailment in his home state. He has also stayed true to his tough conservative brand, including opposing aid to Ukraine.
In 2024, Vance has been a reliable surrogate for Trump — appearing at campaign events, defending him in television appearances and helping the former president raise money for his campaign.
ABC News’ Soorin Kim, Lalee Ibssa, Kelsey Walsh and Sarah Beth Hensley contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — The Justice Department and several state attorneys general filed an antitrust suit Friday against RealPage, alleging the real estate software company engaged in a complex collusion scheme with landlords that resulted in higher prices for renters across the country.
The lawsuit is the latest salvo in the Biden administration’s increasingly aggressive efforts to rein in powerful companies who they accuse of using their dominance in the markets to harm consumers.
The Justice Department’s suit, a result of what officials described as a years-long “painstaking” investigation, alleges the company unlawfully conspired with landlords who agreed to share with the company non-public information related to rental rates and lease terms that RealPage then entered into its algorithmic pricing software.
As a result, the lawsuit alleges, the software would generate pricing recommendations for properties based on the non-public information that in the usual course of business would not be part of normally competitive efforts between landlords to attract renters.
While the company has faced civil lawsuits before at the state level over allegations of collusion, officials said the suit appears to be the first federal one of its kind involving such an advanced algorithmic collusion scheme.
“Americans should not have to pay more in rent because a company has found a new way to scheme with landlords to break the law,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement announcing the lawsuit. “We allege that RealPage’s pricing algorithm enables landlords to share confidential, competitively sensitive information and align their rents.”
The civil complaint against the company quotes extensively from internal documents and testimony from RealPage executives, including one instance where the company allegedly acknowledged how its software benefited landlords’ efforts to maximize prices — describing its software as “a rising tide raises all ships.”
While it’s not immediately clear what the department will ultimately demand of the company if a judge finds its actions violated antitrust laws, the Justice Department said in a release it will seek an order that RealPage cease in its alleged collusion with landlords “and restore competition for the benefit of renters in states across the country.”
RealPage did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit from ABC News.
U.S. Republican Presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks during a rally at Herb Brooks National Hockey Center on July 27, 2024 in St Cloud, Minnesota. (Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Vice President Kamala Harris is back in Washington and is preparing to roll out her economic plan on the road in North Carolina on Friday, which will mark her first major policy rollout since becoming the Democratic nominee. As Donald Trump looks for a campaign reset, he spoke with Elon Musk live on Tuesday and will deliver remarks on the economy in North Carolina on Wednesday.
Here’s how the news is developing:
Harris, Walz to tour Pennsylvania ahead of the DNC
Vice President Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz will take a bus tour through Pennsylvania on Sunday right before their appearance at the Democratic National Convention (DNC), ABC News has confirmed.
Sunday’s tour, first reported by CNN, will begin in Pittsburgh and will be the first time Harris, Walz and their spouses will appear on the campaign trail together. According to the campaign, they aim to have a cluster of intimate events with voters, ranging from canvass kick-offs to stops at local retail shops.
Trump to deliver remarks on economy in North Carolina
Former President Donald Trump is set to deliver remarks on the economy in North Carolina on Wednesday as the campaign works to recenter its campaign against Vice President Kamala Harris.
“The election’s coming up, and the people want to hear about the economy,” Trump said during an interview with Elon Musk on X Monday, directly blaming the Biden-Harris administration for the current state of the economy.
The economy has been one of the Trump campaign’s central election issues this cycle — the former president often spending a considerable amount of time discussing inflation, gas prices and the job market.
“I just ask this: Are you better off now, or were you better off when I was president?” Trump said Monday night as he was wrapping up his conversation with Musk.
Omar decries ‘shameful’ opponents in primary race
Following her Tuesday night primary victory, Rep. Ilhan Omar told supporters: “We run the politics of joy, because we know it is joyful to fight for your neighbors.”
“We know it is joyful to want to live in a peaceful and equitable world,” she added, per ABC News’ St. Paul affiliate KSTP-TV.
Omar also had harsh words for her main primary opponent Don Samuels, though did not mention him by name.
“I hope that they reflect in the shameful way they decided to divide our district and the incredible people we are grateful to represent,” she said of her challengers.
Squad member Rep. Ilhan Omar wins primary
Rep. Ilhan Omar has won her Congressional primary in Minnesota, multiple media outlets projected Tuesday night.
Omar’s win follows defeats by two of her fellow squad members in their primaries — Cori Bush from Missouri, and Jamaal Bowman of New York.
Omar had been expected to win in her district despite a challenge from former Minneapolis city council member Don Samuels.
Bush lost her primary earlier this month to St. Louis County prosecutor Wesley Bell. He was backed by more than $8 million from the pro-Israel United Democracy Project.
Bowman lost to Westchester County Executive George Latimer in June. Per AdImpact, the race was the most expensive House primary on record, with most of the funding coming from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s (AIPAC) United Democracy Project PAC in support of Latimer. Latimer was recruited to run by AIPAC.
Walz says he’s ‘damn proud’ of military record, thanks Vance for his service
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, in his first solo campaign appearance, defended his military record and thanked his vice presidential opponent, Sen. JD Vance, for his service.
“I am damn proud of my service to this country,” Walz said to applause at the AFSCME convention in California. “And I firmly believe you should never denigrate another person’s service record. Anyone brave enough to put on that uniform for our great country, including my opponent, I just have a few simple words: thank you for your service and sacrifice.”
Vance has repeatedly criticized how Walz has talked about his military record, which included 24 years in the Army National Guard before he retired to run for Congress in 2005. Vance served as a combat correspondent for four years in the U.S. Marine Corps.
Read more about Vance’s comments and Walz’s background here.
Biden says he would attend Trump’s inauguration if he were elected
President Joe Biden on Tuesday, as he was departing the White House, said he would go to Trump’s inauguration in January if he were to win this year’s election.
“I have good manners, not like him,” Biden told reporters after being asked if he’d attend. Trump did not attend Biden’s inauguration in 2021.
Biden also defended his calling Trump “a genuine danger to American security,” a comment he made during his CBS News interview over the weekend. Asked whether that contradicted his calls to cool heated political rhetoric, Biden shot back: “That’s just a statement. That’s a factual statement.”
-Fritz Farrow
Judge’s ruling means independent Cornel West can appear on North Carolina ballot
Independent presidential candidate Cornel West will be allowed on the general election ballot in North Carolina following a judge’s ruling that reversed a decision that would have kept him off the ballot in the battleground state.
In a ruling on Monday, U.S. District Judge Terrence Boyle ordered the North Carolina State Board of Elections to certify Justice for All North Carolina as a political party in the state. That party, started by West’s campaign, is nominating him as its candidate in North Carolina and some other states. The board had previously voted to deny certifying the party over concerns about how signatures were gathered for its petition to become a certified party.
Justice for All North Carolina called the decision a “monumental day for our party” but West’s campaign still faces headwinds. The Democratic National Committee filed a complaint with the FEC alleging that West’s campaign received “illegal In-Kind Contributions” from firms it used to collect signatures for ballot access petitions in Arizona and North Carolina — allegations West has pushed back on.
“We’ve always said we’re going to ensure the third party candidates are playing by the rules, and it’s clear his campaign isn’t playing by the rules,” DNC spokesperson Matt Corridoni told ABC News after the complaint was filed.
-Oren Oppenheim
Walz to make his 1st solo campaign appearance
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on Tuesday will embark on his first solo Harris-Walz campaign event as Harris’ running mate with a stop in Los Angeles for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) international convention.
Walz is set to speak at 3:35 p.m. ET.
Walz emerged as a popular candidate among labor unions during Harris’ search for a vice president pick, sources said. AFSCME represents 1.4 million public service members, and the union’s president, Lee Saunders, previously released a statement endorsing Harris for president.
Harris to roll out economic plan on Friday
Harris will outline her economic policy in a speech in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Friday, her campaign announced, making it her first major policy rollout since jumping into the race.
Harris’ speech will detail her plan to “lower costs for middle-class families and take on corporate price-gouging,” a campaign official said.
The vice president has heavily focused her stump speech on the economy while on the campaign trail in recent weeks, saying over the weekend she would look to eliminate taxes on tips earned by service workers — a proposal Trump announced earlier this summer.
Harris’ college sorority creates PAC
The historically Black Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., of which Vice President Kamala Harris counts herself a member, started its own political PAC last week, according to a filing with the Federal Election Commission posted Monday.
The committee is named Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority PAC, Inc., or AKA 1908 PAC, the filing shows.
Harris has been an AKA since her days as a student at the historically Black Howard University in Washington, D.C. Harris on Monday visited the campus, her office confirmed to ABC News, but it’s not clear why she was there.
In July, before President Joe Biden dropped out of the race, Harris spoke at the AKA’s annual Boulé in Dallas, Texas. Since then, as a candidate, she’s also addressed similar national gatherings of two other historically Black sororities, Zeta Phi Beta and Sigma Gamma Rho.
Trump says he will return to Butler, Pennsylvania after assassination attempt
After discussing the assassination attempt made against him in Pennsylvania in July, former President Donald Trump said he’s planning a trip back to Butler in October.
“We’re going back to Butler; we’re gonna go back in October,” Trump said, adding, “Butler is a big, great area.”
Addressing what he’ll say when he returns, Trump told Musk, “I think I’ll probably start by saying I was so horribly interrupted.”
Trump discusses assassination attempt with Musk, says he turned head at ‘perfect angle’
During his conversation with Musk, former President Donald Trump addressed the assassination attempt made against him during a campaign rally in July.
“It was amazing that I happened to be turned just at that perfect angle,” Trump said of the bullet, which grazed his right ear while his head was turned.
During the discussion, Trump mentioned the man who was killed in the shooting, saying, it was a “very sad situation.”
“We lost somebody that was firefighter, a great Trumper,” Trump said of Corey Comperatore, adding, “He was a just a fantastic family [man] and a fantastic man.”
Trump and Musk’s conversation on X appears to be delayed
The conversation between former President Donald Trump and Elon Musk appears to be delayed, with many X users reporting they cannot access the Spaces conversation.
“This Space is not available,” appeared for some users on X.
The conversation was scheduled to begin at 8:00 p.m. ET.
Judge orders RFK Jr. off New York ballot
A New York judge ruled Monday that the thousands of signatures gathered by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s campaign in the state were “invalidated” after a Democrat-aligned group argued he misled voters by listing as his home an address he rarely visits.
The judge, Christina Ryba, ordered the New York Board of Elections to not include Kennedy’s name on the ballot this fall.
A lawyer representing Kennedy told reporters last week they would appeal any ruling that went against them.
The ruling could prompt Democrats to bring similar lawsuits against Kennedy in other states where he gathered signatures from registered voters to appear on the ballot.
The FBI is investigating alleged attempts by Iran to target the then-Biden-Harris campaign, sources familiar with the matter confirmed to ABC News.
The alleged targeting via spear-fishing emails occurred before Biden announced he would exit the 2024 presidential race, the sources said.
While the campaign was targeted, the alleged hack was not successful, sources added.
The FBI is investigating a purported hack of the Trump campaign, according to a brief statement from the agency earlier Monday.
The FBI did not attribute the hack to anyone in its statement.
A source familiar with the matter told ABC News that Trump adviser Roger Stone has also been informed that his email accounts have been compromised, and that he’s cooperating with any investigation into the matter.
The Washington Post first reported the news.
-ABC News’ Luke Barr, Gabriella Abdul-Hakim, Will Steakin and Katherine Faulders
Biden, Obama, Clintons tentatively slated to speak at DNC: Sources
President Joe Biden, former President Barack Obama, and Bill and Hillary Clinton are all tentatively slated to speak at the Democratic National Convention next week, sources familiar said.
The working speaking schedule, which can always change, is as follows, according to the sources:
Monday: President Joe Biden, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Tuesday: Former President Barack Obama Wednesday: Vice presidential nominee Tim Walz, former President Bill Clinton Thursday: Vice President Kamala Harris
-ABC News’ MaryAlice Parks and Fritz Farrow
Trump posts on X ahead of Musk interview
Trump posted on X for the first time in nearly a year ahead of his conversation with Elon Musk scheduled for Monday night.
The video posted is a previously released campaign ad referencing his multiple indictments and telling supporters, “They are not coming after me, they are coming after you.”
The last time Trump posted on X was Aug. 24, 2023. It was a picture of his mugshot from Fulton County, when he turned himself in to authorities following his election interference indictment in Georgia.
-ABC News’ Lalee Ibssa, Kelsey Walsh, Soorin Kim
Trump to be interviewed by Elon Musk tonight
Trump, in a post to his conservative social media site Truth Social, announced he will be interviewed live by Musk on X at 8 p.m. ET.
It will mark a major return for Trump to X, formerly known as Twitter, since he was banned from the site following the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Trump was reinstated in late 2022 but declined to become active on the site again, despite boasting 88 million followers.
Musk endorsed Trump following the July 13 assassination attempt against the former president. Recently, Musk has amplified misinformation about voting and elections on his X feed.
Walz discusses ‘whirlwind’ 1st week on the campaign trail
In a video posted on his X account, the Minnesota governor discussed what he called “not a normal week” since being named as Harris’ running mate.
Walz confirmed some details reported previously by ABC News and others, including that he informed Harris’ vetting team that he had not used a teleprompter before.
“Not a normal week, which is a good thing. Started by missing a call from the Vice President, pretty important one. And then got that call and honored to join the ticket with Kamala Harris to take us in a great direction,” Walz said.
“After that, it has been a whirlwind. We got on a plane and we flew to Philly, and they told me that in an hour I’d be giving a speech and there would be a teleprompter, something I had never used in my life, so certainly terrified, but was lifted up by the folks in Philly.”
-ABC News’ Will McDuffie
Harris wraps battleground state blitz, Vance makes rounds on Sunday shows
Over the weekend, Harris closed out a cross-country tour that included stops in battleground states Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, Georgia and Arizona, as well as North Carolina and Nevada.
New polling released Saturday showed Harris taking the lead over Trump in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin among likely voters. The New York Times/Siena College polls showed Harris at 50% among likely voters in each state, while Trump polled at 46%.
Vance, too, campaigned in key 2024 states and made the rounds on the Sunday shows. During his cable news appearances, Vance reiterated campaign talking points on immigration and repeatedly hit Harris for not sitting down for extensive media interviews and laying out her agenda. Harris has done brief gaggles with reporters and said she’d unveil an economic policy platform this week.
Vance responds to mass deportation plan: ‘Let’s start with one million’
Sen. JD Vance told ABC News he blamed Vice President Kamala Harris and the Biden administration’s policies, such as ending “Remain in Mexico,” for the ongoing migrant crisis.
When asked how he and Trump would accomplish their stated goal of mass deporting as many as 20 million immigrants — a proposal experts previously told ABC News would be a “nightmare” — Vance said they would take a “sequential approach.”
“I mean do you go knock on doors and ask people for their papers? What do you do,” Karl asked.
“You start with what’s achievable,” Vance said. “I think that if you deport a lot of violent criminals and frankly if you make it harder to hire illegal labor, which undercuts the wages of American workers, I think you go a lot of the way to solving the illegal immigration problem.”
“I think it’s interesting that people focus on, well, how do you deport 18 million people? Let’s start with one million. That’s where Kamala Harris has failed. And then we can go from there,” Vance said.
Harris cautions donors to ‘not take anything for granted’
Vice President Kamala Harris attended a fundraiser in San Francisco Sunday where she maintained her campaign “will win this election,” but cautioned donors to “not take anything for granted.”
“I know there’s a lot of enthusiasm out there,” Harris said, adding, “And you know, I’ve never been one to really believe in the polls — whether they’re up or they’re down.”
“What we know is the stakes are so high and we can take nothing for granted in this critical moment,” she continued. “So we will fuel our campaign as we have, with enthusiasm and optimism, but also with a deep commitment to the hard work it’s going to take, and to campaign.”
Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi introduced Harris at the event, touting the accomplishments of the Biden-Harris administration and the background of vice presidential nominee Tim Walz, several times calling the Harris-Walz ticket “the freedom ticket.”
“[Harris] makes us all so proud. She brings us so much joy. She gives us so much hope,” Pelosi said, calling the vice president “politically very astute.”
(WASHINGTON) — Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson said Wednesday that Vice President Kamala Harris’s nomination as the first Black and Asian woman nominee for U.S. president “gives a lot of people hope” that greater equality of opportunity is possible.
“I know a little bit about being a first,” said Jackson, the nation’s first Black woman justice on the high court who was appointed by President Joe Biden in 2022. “I think a lot of people were very happy about my appointment, in part, because they saw it as progress for the country.”
“Whenever we see someone moving into a position where no one has ever been, it gives a lot of people hope,” she said during an appearance on ABC’s “The View.”
The comments were Jackson’s first public acknowledgement on the historic Democratic ticket — Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
“I’m a first, not because I’m the first person who could ever do this job, right? But because our times have changed. Our society has changed,” she said.
Jackson, 53, has been on a media blitz in conjunction with the release of her memoir “Lovely One,” which recounts personal stories from her childhood, education, family life and early career before arriving at the nation’s highest court.
Jackson has been careful to avoid speaking publicly on politics or policy issues, stressing her need to preserve the appearance of impartiality.
Asked whether she is confident the courts would uphold the will of voters if results of the 2024 election are challenged, she said: “I am confident that the courts will faithfully uphold the law, because that is our duty.”
Jackson also weighed in on the Supreme Court’s new, non-binding ethics code, saying she supports public debate over enforcement mechanisms and possible changes to the court’s structure.
“The question is, [how] is that going to play out? We’re still pretty early in the process,” she said, “but I guess I think about all of this as democracy at work, public engagement, these ideas of reforms, are the kinds of things that have been around since the beginning of our Republic.”
