October 28, 2024, presidential campaign news

Our live coverage of the presidential race has moved here.

Assad Turfe speaks during a campaign rally for Vice President Kamala Harris in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on October 28.

Assad Turfe, a prominent Arab American leader, spoke at the joint rally for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on Monday night, lambasting former President Donald Trump’s previous comments about Muslims and the war in Gaza.

“We are mourning loved ones who have died in Gaza and Lebanon,” said Turfe, a Lebanese American and the deputy executive of Wayne County.

He criticized Trump’s term in office, saying the former president “spent four years demeaning (Muslims and Arab Americans) at every turn.” For instance, he pointed to the controversial travel ban Trump imposed in 2017 banning entry from seven Muslim-majority countries, which received fierce backlash and legal challenges.

If Trump returns to office, he could bring back the ban — and make it “even bigger than before,” Turfe warned.

Some context: Trump has tried to court Arab American and Muslim voters disillusioned or angry over US policy on Israel and Gaza — bringing several Muslim leaders onstage with him at a campaign rally in Michigan last week.

“They could turn the election one way or the other,” Trump said in the Detroit suburb of Novi, located about a half hour from Dearborn, which last year became the first Arab-majority city in the US.

Trump has criticized Israel’s war in Gaza on public relations grounds, saying Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his military need to “get it over with fast.” He has also slammed President Joe Biden and Harris for not adequately supporting Israel, though the current administration — and Harris’ campaign — has largely refused to criticize Israel or consider halting weapons shipments to the country.

Tim Walz speaks at a rally in York, Pennsylvania, on October 2.

The Harris-Walz campaign has announced Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s Tuesday schedule.

He will do an interview on “The Dan Le Batard” radio show before hosting campaign events in two Georgia cities — Savannah on the state’s eastern coast and Columbus on the state’s border with Alabama.

Arizona Republican US Senate candidate Kari Lake speaks during a campaign event for Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump in Tucson, Arizona, on September 12.

Arizona Republican Senate candidate Kari Lake on Monday repeatedly refused to answer questions on whether she lost the 2022 race for governor to Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs.

“Why are we looking backward? I’m looking forward,” Lake told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on “The Source” when asked if she lost the 2022 gubernatorial race.

Pressed again by Collins, Lake said: “You’ve seen thousands of interviews from me. I’ve answered that a million times.”

When Collins raised that Lake has not directly answered the question, Lake replied:

Some background: Lake baselessly called the 2022 race “rigged,” in a post on X last year. She unsuccessfully challenged the result in court and proclaimed herself the real winner.

Lake, an ally of former President Donald Trump, is currently locked in a race against Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego to replace retiring Sen Kyrsten Sinema.

Read the full story.

Bernie Sanders speaks during a rally in Pennsylvania, United States, on October 27.

Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont on Monday night made an impassioned case for Kamala Harris to voters considering a third-party candidate or potentially sitting out the November election over the vice president’s position on Israel’s war in Gaza.

Since becoming the Democratic presidential nominee, Harris has been challenged by pro-Palestinian, anti-war activists to either publicly advocate for conditioning military aid to Israel or, at a minimum, signal that she would break from President Joe Biden’s robust support for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing government.

On Monday night, Sanders, a progressive who caucuses with Democrats, placed himself among those critics.

“I understand that there are millions of Americans who disagree with President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on the terrible war in Gaza. I am one of them,” Sanders said, speaking directly to camera, before stating again that “Israel had a right to defend itself against a horrific Hamas terrorist attack of October 7.

“Some of you are saying, how can I vote for Kamala Harris if she is supporting this terrible war? And that is a very fair question,” Sanders says in the video, after recounting the bloody toll the conflict has taken on Palestinians in Gaza.

Making his case for Harris, Sanders argues, in short, that Harris can be convinced.

Before he spoke about Harris, though, Sanders asked voters to consider their options — starting with Trump.

“Donald Trump and his right-wing friends are worse,” Sanders says. “Trump has said Netanyahu is doing a good job and has said Biden is ‘holding him back.’ He has suggested that the Gaza Strip would make excellent beachfront property for development. And it is no wonder than Netanyahu prefers to have Donald Trump in office.”

Vice President presidential candidate Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign rally in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on Monday.

Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz sought to rally young voters at a joint rally in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on Monday, featuring a performance from musician Maggie Rogers, in their first joint appearance since August.

Harris reiterated her economic policy proposals, her commitments to protecting reproductive access and her criticisms of Trump’s anti-democratic rhetoric, but also leaned into her engagement with younger voters while speaking to thousands of people gathered at a park near the University of Michigan’s campus, pointing to climate change and gun safety as important issues for the younger generation.

Harris said she loved the younger generation for their impatience for change.

Harris then asked for a show of hands of how many first-time voters were in the crowd, to which thousands of people raised their hands across the park.

Walz preceded Harris and reiterated many of the same arguments and adding his own twist to the effort to fire up the attendees, calling on multiple references to the University of Michigan football team and framing the final days of the campaign in terms that suit his background as a former football coach.

A new TV ad from the Harris campaign that began airing ahead of a Monday Night Football matchup between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New York Giants reflects the intense courtship Pennsylvania voters are enjoying with just over a week to go in the election, featuring a self-professed “Yinzer” wearing black and gold and promoting the Democratic candidate.

The Harris campaign’s new ad underscores its effort to broaden its appeal in the closing days of the race, aimed at the audience to hit the male voters – in a highly competitive region of the top battleground state – that polls show contributing to a yawning gender gap. The spot also includes some of the key messaging points that the Harris campaign is emphasizing in its advertising, including taxes and health care.

According to AdImpact data, the ad first began airing in the Johnstown-Altoona media market at 7:22 p.m., shortly before kick-off. Pennsylvania has dominated ad spending for the White House race, accounting for about $470 million out of more than $2 billion spent on presidential advertising in the condensed general election matchup between Harris and Trump.

Former President Barack Obama speaks during a campaign rally in support of Vice President Kamala Harris at Temple University in Philadelphia on Monday.

Former President Barack Obama on Monday hit Donald Trump over the Republican presidential candidate’s flip-flopping on his stance on the Affordable Care Act, one of the crowing achievements of the Obama administration.

Trump unsuccessfully tried to repeal the Affordable Care Act during his first term and during his campaign for a second, has alternated between saying he would like to try again to repeal Obamacare and replace it with a better program. When pressed at a September debate, Trump said he had “concepts of a plan.”

“Donald Trump spent his entire presidency trying to tear it down, and he couldn’t even do that right. And now, eight years after he was elected, when asked, ‘Well, if you get rid of Obamacare, how’d you how would you replace it?’ He said, ‘Well, I have concepts of a plan for how I would replace it.

“Concepts of a plan,” Obama added, going on to joke about what would happen if someone were tell their boss they had a “concept of a plan.”

Former President Barack Obama speaks during a campaign rally for Vice President Kamala Harris at Temple University in Philadelphia on Monday.

Former President Barack Obama at a rally in Philadelphia Monday criticized the racist and vulgar language used during a Donald Trump rally in New York the night before as he made his case for Vice President Kamala Harris.

“So the man [Trump] holds this big rally in Madison Square Garden, and the warm-up speakers were saying the most — were trotting out and peddling the most racist, sexist, bigoted stereotypes. One guy called Puerto Rico, quote, ‘an island of garbage,’” Obama said.

Trump’s rally Sunday night featured opening remarks from comedian and podcast host Tony Hinchcliffe, who assailed Puerto Rico, saying, “I don’t know if you know this but there’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. I think it’s called Puerto Rico.”

“Now, these are fellow citizens he’s talking about here in Philadelphia, they are your neighbors, they are your friends, they are your coworkers, their kids go to school with your kids. These are Americans,” Obama said. About 500,000 Puerto Ricans live in battleground Pennsylvania, where Obama held Monday night’s rally.

“We have to reject the kind of politics of divisions and hatred that we saw represented,” Obama said. “America is ready to turn the page.”

Trump’s campaign distanced itself from the comedian’s comments Sunday night along with several Republican lawmakers, but not before they were seized upon by the Harris campaign and likes of Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny, who signaled his support for the vice president’s candidacy.

Vice President Kamala Harris reiterated the stakes of the election as she spurred the crowd to get out and vote while speaking at a campaign rally in the key battleground state of Michigan Monday.

She implored the crowd “to reach out to one another” and “knock on doors, while we take the time to text and call potential voters, let’s reach out to our family and our friends and our classmates and our neighbors and make sure they know the stakes in this election.”

Harris was introduced at the Michigan rally by her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, after she made way her way across the state making stops to meet with union workers eight days ahead of Election Day.

Jeff Bezos speaks during a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington, September 19, 2019.

The Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos, in his first public comments since igniting uproar last week over his decision to withhold the venerable newspaper’s endorsement in the presidential race, defended the move in a rare op-ed published Monday by the Post.

The statement came hours after three members of the Post’s editorial board resigned over the decision not to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris and thousands of readers canceled their subscriptions to the newspaper.

“I wish we had made the change earlier than we did, in a moment further from the election and the emotions around it,” Bezos wrote. “That was inadequate planning, and not some intentional strategy.
“I would also like to be clear that no quid pro quo of any kind is at work here. Neither campaign nor candidate was consulted or informed at any level or in any way about this decision. It was made entirely internally.”

Read for more details about the turmoil at the Washington Post

Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.

In the countdown to Election Day, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are making their final push to convince battleground voters to elect them to the White House.

Here’s what to know:

Trump: At an event in Atlanta, Georgia, on Monday evening, the former president called former first lady Michelle Obama “nasty” in his opening remarks, after she denounced his rhetoric over the weekend. He also criticized Harris on immigration. As CNN earlier reported, Georgia Republican Gov. Brian Kemp did not attend former President Donald Trump’s rally in the state today, according to a person familiar with his plans. Separately, in his latest targeted tax relief promise, Trump said that he’d push for a tax credit for family caregivers, which comes after Harris unveiled a measure to have Medicare cover home health care for the first time to provide relief for the so-called sandwich generation.

Harris: The vice president on Monday toured Corning’s Hemlock Semiconductor Next Gen Facility in Michigan as part of her pitch to invest in American manufacturing jobs. She then visited a union training facility in the battleground state, hoping to galvanize union workers to vote for her just over a week until Election Day. According to AdImpact data, Democrats have outspent Republicans in Michigan by a total of more than $50 million, $184 million to $130 million, during the three months since Harris became the nominee, and including bookings through Election Day. Michigan Democratic Rep. Debbie Dingell told CNN that there is no clear emerging winner in the state yet, and that this election “is a turn-out election.”

Biden: President Joe Biden cast his ballot Monday in New Castle, Delaware, after standing in line with other voters for nearly 40 minutes. Asked after he voted whether the moment was bittersweet for him — it was supposed to be Biden’s name on that ballot only a few months ago — the president responded it was “just sweet.”

Voting across the country:

Democractic Vice-Presidential candidate Tim Walz is seen at a rally in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on Michigan

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on Monday leaned into his history as a football coach to give the crowd a “pep talk” with Election Day just eight days away.

Walz added, before introducing Vice President Kamala Harris, “So all gas, no brakes for the next eight days. Plenty of time, plenty of time to sleep when you’re dead.”

Also speaking at the event in Ann Arbor, home to the University of Michigan, were Harris’ brother-in-law Tony West, Wayne County deputy executive Assad Turfe, Democratic Rep. Debbie Dingell and the state’s Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist.

Pennsylvania’s secretary of state said officials in the key battleground are prepared to keep election workers safe and make sure every ballot counts in the 2024 election.

When it comes to when Pennsylvania will be able to declare a winner, Al Schmidt, a Republican, also told CNN that he is confident results will roll out in a timely fashion.

While laws in the state have not changed since 2020 — specifically in terms of when counties can start counting mail-in ballots — counties do have new equipment, more experience and overall fewer people voting by mail, he said.

“Even though it’s widely embraced, during that peak Covid environment we certainly had a lot more voters choosing to vote by mail. So with those three things I’m confident that our county partners will process mail ballots expeditiously and with integrity,” Schmidt said.

The state also has a coordinated effort in place to protect election workers and respond to threats, Schmidt said. Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration set up a task force last year to make communication between law enforcement and election administration at all levels of government easier, he said.

This task force ensures that “everyone knows what everyone else’s role is and we can make sure that if theres’s any threats targeting our voters, or our poll workers, or our polling places or our county election staff, that we’ll be prepared.”

Responding to reports that some ballot drop boxes in the Portland area were set on fire Monday, Schmidt outlined the protections Pennsylvania has in place. He said county drop boxes are bolted in to the ground and have security cameras. They are also often staffed with people to help guide voters, the secretary of state said.

Supporters cheer as former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at Madison Square Garden in New York on Sunday.

Former President Donald Trump on Monday dismissed criticisms of him as a fascist and comparisons to his rally at Madison Square Garden over the weekend to a 1939 gathering of Nazis at the same venue.

“Kamala’s now doing something much worse than what she was talking about,” Trump said at a campaign event in Georgia, referring to his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris. “The newest line from Kamala and her campaign is that anyone who isn’t voting for her is a Nazi.”

“You know, years ago – I had a great father, he was a tough guy – he used to always say: ‘Never use the word Nazi. Never use that word.’ And he’d say: ‘Never use the word Hitler. Don’t use that word.’”

“It’s like, I don’t even know why – ‘don’t use that word.’ And then I understood.”

“They use that word - really, it’s both words - ‘He’s Hitler.’ And then they say ‘He’s a Nazi.’”

“I’m not a Nazi,” Trump said. “I’m the opposite of a Nazi.”

Former President Donald Trump on Monday opened his remarks at a rally in Atlanta, Georgia, by calling former first lady Michelle Obama “nasty” after she denounced his rhetoric over the weekend. 

Trump’s remarks came two days after the former first lady called Trump an existential threat to women’s rights at a Saturday rally in Michigan for Vice President Kamala Harris.

Near the beginning of his rally Monday evening, Trump asked the crowd whether they are better off now than they were four years ago, as he regularly does, before launching into a criticism of Kamala Harris’ immigration policies.

“I don’t think she has — I don’t think she knows what the hell she’s doing,” Trump said of Harris.

He then went from beginning his prepared remarks to launching into a seemingly separate tangent on the former first lady.

“With your support on November 5 — you know what’s nasty to me? Michelle Obama. I always tried to be so nice and respectful. Ooh, she opened up a little bit of a box. She opened up a little bit of something. She was nasty, ooh. Shouldn’t be that way. That was a big mistake that she made,” Trump said.

He then continued with his remarks: “With your support on November 5, we will achieve success no one can imagine.”

Vice President Kamala Harris is capitalizing on a comment made by a speaker at Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden disparaging Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage” with a new ad highlighting the comment and portraying the former president as having abandoned Puerto Rico.

The ad comes as several prominent Latino celebrities and members of both political parties have condemned the remark from comedian Tony Hinchcliffe and features a pledge from Harris to “always fight for” Puerto Rican families to draw a contrast with Trump. The ad will run as part of TV and digital reservations in battleground states and will target Latino voters, including through ad buys on YouTube, Snapchat and streaming services.

The Trump campaign has sought to distance itself from Hinchcliffe’s comment, telling CNN in a statement the comedian’s joke “does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign.”

President Joe Biden hosted a Diwali celebration at the White House and praised Vice President Kamala Harris’ character with eight days until the election.

Biden also quipped that Harris would not be able to swing by the festivities, alluding to her busy campaign schedule.

Biden’s remarks focused on the contributions made by those of South Asian descent to America’s history and reflected on the importance of America’s founding ideals.

Harris is the first Black woman and first Asian American to lead a major-party ticket.

Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance said he believes there are “many paths” to a Trump-Vance victory.

“We have many, many paths, in fact, to victory, and I feel good about where we are,” Vance said during an event in Wausau, Wisconsin. “I’m a little superstitious but I think the path that is actually going to be the one that we walk is going to have us winning Wisconsin, winning Michigan, winning Pennsylvania.”

He was asked about the potential scenario of the Trump-Vance ticket losing the Electoral College but winning the popular vote and what he would do as a Senator in that situation.

“People can talk about the popular vote, the Electoral College. To me, it’s like talking about yards in a football game — when we’re talking about points, you don’t win a football game by getting more yards than the other team. You win a football game by getting more points than the other team. And the way that our founders set up the United States Constitution is that Electoral College determines the victor in the American presidential election. That’s the way that it is, and that’s the way that it’s going to be, as far as I’m concerned,” he said in Wausau.

Earlier this month, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, called for elimination of the Electoral College, which he has attempted to walk back.

Democratic outside groups are launching a new seven-figure ad campaign in a push to persuade low-propensity working-class voters in battleground states, including those considering voting for third-party candidates.

Who are the groups: The new ad from the Working Families Party National PAC has additional backing from the liberal advocacy group MoveOn and Future Forward PAC, the primary super PAC backing Vice President Kamala Harris.

The target audience:

The need to contrast with Trump: Drawing the contrast on class background between Trump and Harris is a particularly cogent argument for lower-propensity voters, the groups argued. “People know that big corporations are making them work more and pay more so they can profit more. Donald Trump will help them do it. These ads show how Kamala Harris will fight back and stand up for working people,” Chauncey McLean, president of Future Forward PAC, said in a statement to CNN.