Trump to hold another news conference as he criticizes Harris for not doing interviews
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(WASHINGTON) — Former President Donald Trump is set to hold a news conference Thursday afternoon at his Bedminster golf club — his second in a week — as the campaign continues to pressure Vice President Kamala Harris to do interviews and answer reporter questions.
“She refuses to do any interviews or press conferences, almost 30 days now, she has not done an interview,” Trump said Wednesday in North Carolina. “You know why she hasn’t done an interview? Because she’s not smart. She’s not intelligent,” he said.
His campaign says she’s trying to “duck and hide” from the news media.
The 4:30 p.m. news conference follows one that Trump held at his Mar-a-Lago estate last Thursday, fielding questions for more than an hour on a range of topics including his recent attacks on Harris, immigration and reproductive rights.
During the long and, at times, rambling exchange with reporters, Trump often pushed false claims on several topics, including the outcome of the 2020 election and size of the crowd at his Jan. 6, 2021, rally before the attacks on the U.S. Capitol by a pro-Trump mob.
Trump’s recent news conferences appear to be part of the campaign’s attempt to draw a contrast between the two candidates.
“She hasn’t done an interview — she can’t do an interview,” Trump claimed during his Mar-a-Lago press conference last week.
He added that he “look[s] forward to the debates” as a way to “set the record straight.”
The Harris campaign has been using Trump’s news conferences to highlight flubs he has made and criticize policies he advocates.
“Trump did the only thing he knows how to do — he went out and lied, made up stories, mixed up dates, attacked the media, and, overall, reminded Americans that he is a deeply unwell man,” the Harris campaign said in a statement reacting to Trump’s news conference.
During her time out on the campaign trail since announcing her White House bid, Harris has held a few exchanges with reporters aboard Air Force Two and answered a few shouted questions; however, her campaign says she will participate in a sit-down interview before the end of the month.
“We will commit to directly engage with the voters that are actually gonna decide this election and that is gonna be complete with rallies, with sit-down interviews, with press conferences, with all the digital assets we have at our disposal,” Michael Tyler, communications director for the Harris-Walz campaign, said on CNN Wednesday when pressed multiple times to commit to press conferences and media interviews.
Though she hasn’t made herself as available to the media as the former president, Harris did spend the week with her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, crisscrossing the country visiting battleground states.
Trump just visited the solidly conservative state of Montana to stump for GOP Senate candidate Tim Sheehy last week, and is holding a rally in battleground Pennsylvania over the weekend.
President Joe Biden speaks after his Republican opponent Donald Trump was injured following a shooting at an election rally in Pennsylvania, at the Rehoboth Beach Police Department, in Rehoboth Beach, Del., July 13, 2024. (Samuel Corum/AFP via Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden will speak at the Democratic National Convention next week in Chicago, the White House said on Monday.
“He’s looking forward to, as he tends to do, speak directly to the American people,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, “talk about the moment that we’re at, what’s at stake, and continue to talk about an issue that is incredibly important to him, which is unity, making sure that we’re unified and we continue to do the work that the president has been successful in doing in the past three and a half years.”
Jean-Pierre said Biden will spend time over the next few days focusing on his upcoming remarks.
“I think you can expect this president to take this moment,” she said. “He understands this is an incredibly important moment … He’s still very much the leader of the party, right? And he takes that very seriously. And he’s also very proud of his vice president.”
Sources had told ABC News that Biden, former President Barack Obama, former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are all tentatively slated to speak at the DNC.
The convention will take place from Aug. 19 through Aug. 22. Vice President Kamala Harris, who quickly rallied the party to her side after Biden dropped out of the 2024 race and endorsed her, was officially certified as the Democratic Party’s nominee last week.
Sources said the working speaking schedule, which can change, has Biden giving a speech on Monday night, as well as Hillary Clinton; Obama speaking on Tuesday, vice presidential nominee Gov. Tim Walz and Bill Clinton speaking on Wednesday, and Harris speaking on Thursday.
Little over a month ago, it was all but certain Biden would be on stage at the DNC to accept the nomination. But after a poor debate performance against Donald Trump set off a firestorm of doubt among Democrats about Biden’s age and fitness to serve a second term, Biden announced he was exiting the race on July 21.
In an interview that aired Sunday on CBS, Biden elaborated on his decision not to run for reelection.
The president first cited calls from his Democratic colleagues, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who were worried about how it might impact down-ballot races. He said he worried questions about his viability would be a “real distraction.”
He also said he considered himself as a transitional figure and that beating Trump was the most important thing for him.
“Number two, when I ran the first time, I thought of myself as being a transition president,” he said. “I can’t even say how old I am, it’s hard for me to get out of my mouth. And, but things got moving so quickly, it didn’t happen. And the combination was that I thought it was a critical issue for me still, it’s not a joke, maintaining this democracy.”
“But I thought it was important because although it’s a great honor being president, I think I have an obligation to the country to do the most important thing, and that is we must, we must, we must defeat Trump,” he said.
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden, under the microscope as Democrats debate his political future, tried to make the case that he is best suited to take on Donald Trump this November and finish what he’s started in a second term.
In a nearly hourlong solo press conference, Biden faced a room full of reporters for the first time since his poor debate performance two weeks ago sent his party into a panic about his mental fitness and ability to carry out his campaign.
Almost all questions posed to the president focused on those issues, with Biden on defense on everything from his cognitive health to whether he believes his vice president could take on the role.
The president remained adamant that he believes he is the most qualified person to go up against Trump.
“I beat him once, and I will beat him again,” Biden said.
Here are several key takeaways from Biden’s press conference.
The gaffes continue
Answering the first question of the night, Biden made a glaring error when he confused Vice President Kamala Harris with Trump.
“Look, I wouldn’t have picked Vice President Trump to be vice president, if I didn’t think that she’s not qualified to be president, so let’s start there, number one,” Biden said after being asked if he had concerns about Harris’ ability to beat Trump if she ever found herself at the top of the ticket.
He also addressed the mistake he made earlier Thursday during the NATO summit when he introduced Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as “President Putin.”
A reporter asked him about the gaffe and whether, when paired with some reports that world leaders privately expressed concern about his age, America’s standing on the world stage was being damaged.
“Do you see any damage by me leading this conference?” Biden responded. “Have you seen a more successful conference? I was talking about Putin and I said — at the very end — I said, ‘Putin. I’m sorry, Zelenskyy.'”
Biden: ‘I’ve gotta finish the job’
Biden said he realizes the importance of allaying fears and plans to do so by letting the American people see him out on the trail making the case for why he should get a second term.
He spent considerable time railing against gun violence, attacks on reproductive rights, and the broader dangers that he said would be posed by a Trump presidency.
“Do you think our democracy is under siege based on this [Supreme] Court? Do you think democracy is under siege based on Project 2025?” Biden said. “Do you think he means what he says when he says he is going to do away with the civil service and eliminate the Department of Education?”
“I mean, we’ve never been here before,” Biden said. “And that’s the other reason why I didn’t, as you say, ‘hand off to another generation.’ I’ve got to finish this job. I’ve got to finish this job. Because there’s so much at stake.”
Biden says he needs to ‘pace’ himself
Biden said he needs to “pace myself a little more” when pressed on how he is up to the 24/7 nature of the presidency, but argued that he is kept busy while his 2024 rival is not.
“Since I made that stupid mistake in the campaign — in the debate, I mean, my schedule has been full-bore,” Biden said.
“Where has Trump been? Riding on his golf cart and filling out his scorecard?” Biden said. “He has done virtually nothing. I’ve had roughly 20 major events, some with thousands of people showing up.”
Biden said he has always had an inclination to “keep going” and that his staff is always adding events.
Biden cedes others could beat Trump but argues he’s most qualified
Biden’s long argued that he alone can defeat Trump after having done so in 2020.
“I think I am the best qualified — I know — I believe I’m the best qualified to govern,” Biden said. “And I think I am the best qualified to win.”
“But there are other people who could beat Trump, too,” he acknowledged before quickly adding that it would be “hard” for Democrats to start from the beginning.
A reporter then followed up by asking Biden if he would reconsider his decision to stay in the race if his team showed him polling data that Vice President Harris would fare better against Trump.
“No, unless they came back and said there is no way you could win. Me,” Biden said. “No one’s saying that. No poll says that.”
A new ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll found Biden continues to run evenly with Trump: Americans were divided 46-47% between Biden and Trump if the election were held today. Were Harris to replace Biden as the Democratic nominee, the poll found Harris leading Trump 49-46% among all adults and 49-47% among registered voters.
On taking a cognitive test, Biden says ‘No one’s going to be satisfied’
Asked if he was going to take a cognitive test before the election, Biden said that he would take one if his doctor advised him he needed one.
Biden said he has taken three “significant” neurological exams during his presidency, most recently in February.
“They say I am in good shape,” he said. He then reiterated that he is tested “every single day” on his neurological capacity by simply doing his job as commander-in-chief.
“And I’ll ask you another question, no matter what I did, no one’s going to be satisfied,” Biden said. “Did you have seven [doctors]? Did you have two? Who’d you have? Did you do this? How many times did you — so, I am not opposed if my doctors told me I should have another neurological exam, I’ll do it. But that’s where I am.”
Biden takes tough stance on Russia, China
The press conference came off the heels of a weeklong gathering of NATO leaders in Washington, and Biden took the opportunity to emphasize his leadership on the world stage during several exchanges.
On Russia and China, Biden said he is “ready to deal with them now and three years from now.”
Biden said no world leader has spent more time with Chinese President Xi Jinping than him, and that they will continue to negotiate. When it comes to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Biden said he saw “no good reason” to speak with him now but would be prepared to do so.
“There isn’t any world leader I’m not prepared to deal with,” Biden said.
ABC News’ Meredith Deliso and Ivan Pereira contributed to this report.
(PITTSBURGH) — Just a day away from the Democratic National Convention, Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Tim Walz and their spouses, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff and Gwen Walz, will kick off their “On the Road to Chicago” bus tour in the key battleground state of Pennsylvania. It will be the first time all four hit the trail together.
Sunday’s tour is set to launch from Pittsburgh with multiple stops in Beaver and Allegheny counties located in western Pennsylvania. The campaign hopes to “meet voters where they are in community settings.” The stops will range from canvass kick-offs to local retail stops.
The stops will be right after former President Donald Trump’s Saturday rally in Wilkes-Barre located in the northeastern region. The former president will also be stopping in York on Monday and his vice presidential pick, JD Vance, will deliver remarks in Philadelphia on the same day as well.
Harris’ campaign is looking to make inroads in the heavily conservative Beaver county where she will highlight labor unions while Trump is looking to appeal to the blue collar voters in Wilkes-Barre which is not too far from President Joe Biden’s hometown of Scranton.
At his rally, Trump claimed that Harris’ economic policies would be the “death of Pennsylvania,” a state that has heavy ties in the energy and steel industries.
“We’re going to get your energy prices down by 50% the Kamala presidency will mean death for Pennsylvania energy. Remember that it’ll mean death of Pennsylvania,” said Trump.
The dueling events highlight how critical the state is in reaching the coveted 270 electoral votes needed to win November’s election. The state, which not only holds significance to Biden but for First Lady Dr. Jill Biden as well, was a regular stomping ground for the president. He made 9 stops this year before leaving the ticket. This will be both Harris’ and Trump’s 8th visit to the state this year.
Trump won Pennsylvania’s 19 electoral votes in 2016, but Biden was able to reclaim the state along with two other Rust Belt states, Wisconsin and Michigan, by a narrow margin of just over 1% in 2020.
The momentum Harris has seen since Biden stepped down has injected a much-needed enthusiasm into the campaign that has helped to give the candidate a bump in swing state polling. Currently Harris is polling nearly two points ahead of Trump in Pennsylvania, according to 538’s average.
The Harris-Walz campaign is betting on the heavy investments they’ve made in the state to keep their edge. The campaign has nearly 300 staffers across 36 offices in the Keystone State. On Saturday they announced a $370 million ad investment with a promise of twice of the investment in TV in Pennsylvania than made in 2020.
