Trump says Vance ‘loves family’ as he works to clean up his VP’s ‘childless cat ladies’ comments
(WASHINGTON) — Former President Donald Trump is attempting to clean up his vice presidential pick’s resurfaced comments disparaging Democratic officials who don’t have children as “childless cat ladies” with a simple message: Sen. JD Vance “loves family.”
“He’s not against anything, but he loves family. It’s very important to him,” said Trump during an appearance on Fox News’ “Ingraham Angle” on Monday night.
“He feels family is good, and I don’t think there’s anything wrong in saying that,” Trump said.
In an unearthed 2021 Fox News interview, Vance suggested that Democratic failures are due to a lack of biological children, specifically pointing out vice president, and current presidential candidate, Kamala Harris; Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg; and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
His comments immediately sparked a backlash from the politicians he named, as well as women who have struggled with fertility — nothing that Vance himself voted against establishing federal protections for IVF.
Harris’ family, including second gentleman Doug Emhoff’s ex-wife and her stepdaughter, all came to her defense, rejecting the idea that family is only biological. Buttigieg told anchor Kaitlin Collins that Vance shouldn’t comment on other people’s children.
The former president attacked Democrats on Monday, accusing them of taking Vance’s words out of context.
“I think they understand it. No, I think they understand it,” said Trump when asked what his message would be to concerned voters, specifically those without children.
“The Democrats are good at spinning things differently from what they were. All he said is, he does like I mean, for him, he likes family. I think a lot of people like family, and sometimes it doesn’t work out.”
Trump then went a step further, saying Vance’s strong family values are actually an asset to the Trump campaign’s coalition of voters when asked to reassure voters that Vance was “an excellent pick.”
“Well, first of all, he has got tremendous support, and he really does among a certain group of people. People that like families,” Trump said.
The former president, attempting to walk a fine line between supporting his newly minted vice presidential pick while also trying not to alienate voters, went on to say that “in many cases” people without a family are better off than those with one.
“You don’t meet the right person, or you don’t meet any person, but you’re just as good, in many cases, a lot better than a person that’s in a family situation,” Trump said.
Vance has spent his time on the trail cleaning up his comments himself, calling them “sarcastic” while at the same time doubling down on his argument.
“Obviously, it was a sarcastic comment,” Vance said on the “Megyn Kelly Show” podcast last week. “People are focusing so much on the sarcasm and not on the substance of what I actually said, and the substance of what I said, Megyn, I’m sorry. It’s true. It is true that we become anti-family.”
Vance’s original comments form 2021 mentioned the “choices” those Democrats had made that led them to be “miserable” and “childless cat ladies.”
While Vance claims Democrats are “anti-family and anti-child,” President Joe Biden and Harris have advocated for the child tax credit. The expanded child tax credit put in place during COVID expired in 2021 after pressure from Republicans and independent Joe Manchin. Democrats continue to fight to bring it back — with Biden calling for it to be put back in place in his FY2025 budget.
Trump also had to defend his own comments, which sparked criticism. Over the weekend while speaking to Christian conservatives, Trump told the crowd they won’t have to vote anymore after four years.
The Harris campaign quickly latched on to those comments, accusing Trump of vowing to end democracy, which the former president swiftly rebuked.
“I said, typically Christians do not vote … Don’t worry about the future, vote on — you have to vote on Nov. 5. After that, you don’t have to worry about voting anymore. I don’t care because we’re going to fix it, and the country will be fixed,” Trump told Ingraham, arguing he hadn’t even heard of the criticism. “If you don’t want to vote anymore, that’s OK. And I think everybody understood it.”
(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 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.”
(NEW YORK) — Prosecutors in New York are taking no position on former President Donald Trump’s request to delay sentencing of his “hush money” conviction until after the November election.
Instead, the Manhattan district attorney’s office said in a letter Monday it would defer to Judge Juan Merchan.
Trump is currently scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 18 after a jury convicted him of all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to a hush payment to porn actress Stormy Daniels.
Trump had originally been scheduled to be sentenced on July 11, but Merchan said last month he would rule on Trump’s immunity claim on Sept. 16 and impose sentencing two days later.
Trump has argued the recent Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity should render some evidence inadmissible and, therefore, throw out the conviction.
Prosecutors said they would leave it to the judge to decide whether Trump should be allowed to exhaust his appeals prior to sentencing.
“The People are prepared to appear for sentencing on any future date the Court sets,” the letter said. “The People are also mindful that significant public safety and logistical steps by multiple agencies are necessary to prepare for court appearances in this matter.”
In asking for a delay last week, Trump’s lawyers questioned whether sentencing should take place after the start of early voting, arguing that the timing harms the integrity of the proceedings.
“Finally, setting aside naked election-interference objectives, there is no valid countervailing reason for the Court to keep the current sentencing date on the calendar. There is no basis for continuing to rush,” defense lawyers wrote.
(CHICAGO) — Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will speak Monday on the first night of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, where later this week Vice President Kamala Harris will formally accept the party’s nomination for president.
Harris will be the second woman in history to do so following Clinton, whose monumental 2016 run made her the first woman to clinch a major party’s nomination, though she went on to lose the general election to Donald Trump — Clinton famously conceding she had failed to shatter the “hardest glass ceiling.”
In her remarks, Clinton will draw on her own experience and speak on the stakes of this 2024 race.
“The story of my life and the history of our country is that progress is possible. But not guaranteed. We have to fight for it. And never, ever give up,” Clinton will say, according to released excerpts of her speech. “There is always a choice. Do we push forward or pull back? Come together as ‘We The People’ or split into us versus them? That’s the choice we face in this election.”
Clinton endorsed Harris the same day President Joe Biden announced he was leaving the 2024 race and backing his vice president to take his place atop the ticket. In a joint statement with her husband, former President Bill Clinton, Clinton said she was “honored” to endorse Harris and would “do whatever we can to support her.”
“We’ve lived through many ups and downs, but nothing has made us more worried for our country than the threat posed by a second Trump term … Now is the time to support Kamala Harris and fight with everything we’ve got to elect her. America’s future depends on it,” their statement read.
Comparisons of Clinton and Harris’ campaigns have begun to emerge as Harris ramped up her operation in the weeks after Biden’s decision to step aside.
Several Democrats told ABC News they are feeling buoyed by Harris’ candidacy and how she’s reenergized the party, but are worried about being overconfident against Trump after what transpired with Clinton eight years ago.
Clinton, who first ran for president in 2008 but lost in the primary race to Barack Obama, was successful in 2016 in clinching the nomination after defeating independent Sen. Bernie Sanders.
A bitter, ugly general election contest ensued between Trump and Clinton. Trump took to calling Clinton “Crooked Hillary” and the “devil.” Clinton called half of Trump’s supporters a “basket of deplorables,” which critics called a mistake that alienated some voters.
A Trump fundraising email sent out Monday hours ahead of Clinton’s DNC remarks highlighted her past “deplorables” comment and claimed she was “about to unleash hell on MAGA.”
Polls in 2016 had shown Clinton ahead leading up to Election Day, but when results came in they showed Trump leading a stunning upset by grabbing several key battleground states. Clinton conceded the next morning.
“I know we have still not shattered that highest and hardest glass ceiling, but some day someone will and hopefully sooner than we might think right now,” Clinton said in her concession speech.
Clinton later recounted her experiences in greater detail and what went wrong with her campaign in her 2017 memoir “What Happened.” She wrote that she bore responsibility ultimately for the loss to Trump but described it being difficult to overcome stereotypes.
“A lot of people said they just didn’t like me. I write that matter-of-factly, but believe me, it’s devastating,” Clinton wrote. “But I think there’s another explanation for the skepticism I’ve faced in public life. I think it’s partly because I’m a woman.”
She also directed some blame at former FBI director James Comey for reopening the investigation into her private email server 11 days before the election.
After the 2016 election, Clinton maintained a relatively low profile until 2020 when she campaigned for Biden after his success in the Democratic primaries.
Clinton spoke at the 2020 Democratic National Convention, saying she wish Trump had been a “better president” and praised Biden’s character and his choice of Harris to be his running mate. She said they were a team who could “pull our nation back from the brink and build back better.”
More recently, she penned a New York Times op-ed offering Biden advice on how to debate Trump before the June CNN showdown. Clinton called Trump a bully who “stalked” her on the debate stage in 2016 and urged Biden to be “direct and forceful.”
After Biden dropped out of the race, in large part because his poor debate performance ignited Democratic fears about his age, Clinton wrote another Times op-ed offering a full-throated endorsement of Harris.
Clinton said that Harris can defeat Trump but warned she will face similar prejudices.
“I know a thing or two about how hard it can be for strong women candidates to fight through the sexism and double standards of American politics. I’ve been called a witch, a ‘nasty woman’ and much worse. I was even burned in effigy,” Clinton wrote.
Clinton added, “Ms. Harris will face unique additional challenges as the first Black and South Asian woman to be at the top of a major party’s ticket. That’s real, but we shouldn’t be afraid. It is a trap to believe that progress is impossible.”