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Tag: Kamala Harris

  • The Election Could Come Down to … Omaha?

    The Election Could Come Down to … Omaha?

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    Graphic: Intelligencer, Wikimedia Commons

    The center of the political universe this month has been in Omaha, Nebraska.

    It’s not that the blue-collar workers in Rust Belt Pennsylvania or soccer moms in suburban Georgia have lost any of their importance in what is shaping up to be a close election, but Omaha is the only place where control of both the White House and the House of Representatives could be decided on November 5. That’s because Nebraska is one of two states that apportions its electoral votes by congressional district (the other is Maine). One of the state’s five electoral votes belongs to its second district, which includes Omaha and its surrounding suburbs and is perhaps the archetypal swing area. There are the blue-collar Catholic Democrats who have recently swung to the right and the country-club Republicans who have swung to the left; majority-minority neighborhoods in North Omaha; farms outside the rural county seat of Wahoo; Offutt Air Force Base, one of the Air Force’s key installations; and major college campuses such as the University of Nebraska Omaha and Creighton University.

    The district has swung back and forth in recent presidential elections, but this year its importance has become magnified. If Kamala Harris wins the battleground states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin but loses all the remaining swing states, she would be stuck at 269 electoral votes — one shy of victory. This means that the lone vote from the Omaha area could decide the presidency. Donald Trump’s allies in recent weeks tried to get the Nebraska legislature to change state law to return the state to rewarding electoral votes on a statewide basis in an attempt to deny Harris this likely vote. Trump himself angrily posted about the situation, and Lindsey Graham, of all people, traveled to Nebraska to try to woo lawmakers. It didn’t work.

    The district’s single electoral vote has been trending toward Harris, even before the failed effort to change the law. A New York Times/Siena College poll released Saturday morning showed her leading Trump 53-43. As Ian Russell, a veteran Democratic operative who has worked in Nebraska, described it, “The national trends of Democrats being a lot more competitive in suburbia and higher-educated areas are seen to a larger degree in Omaha. It has an educated population, and it has always had a more politically moderate and independent sensibility, and now it has really moved against Republicans.” The respective spending from the two presidential campaigns shows how the district has swung to the left. Nearly $15 million has been, or will be, spent on Omaha’s airwaves on behalf of the Democratic presidential ticket, while less than $200,000 has been spent or booked so far on Trump’s behalf.

    The pro-Trump plot’s failure wasn’t all bad news for Republicans. One plugged-in Republican operative argued that the setback saved the district’s congressman, Don Bacon, from certain defeat. A moderate, he’s been a perpetual target for Democrats since he first won the seat in 2016 and has always managed to somehow hang on. Nothing would have done more to rile up Democrats and leave Republicans complacent than a last-minute switcheroo. National Republicans have also marveled that Bacon is the rare member of Congress who has his own political identity in his district and has taken pains to present himself as a centrist. However, that task has become slightly more difficult for the anti-abortion Bacon since the Dobbs decision. His Democratic opponent, State Senator Tony Vargas, has not hesitated to attack Bacon over the issue.

    In a closely divided House, Bacon’s seat is considered a toss-up by outside analysts and has seen millions of dollars spent on television by both candidates as it is a top target from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. He held on in 2020 thanks to ticket-splitting Biden-Bacon voters, and they’ll need to become Harris-Bacon voters in 2024 for him to survive.

    J.L. Spray, one of the state’s RNC members, described the district as “a purple dot” in a state that no Democratic presidential nominee has won since Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964. Although it might not necessarily be that purple anymore. One of the biggest trends among Omaha liberals in recent weeks is a simple yard sign with just a blue dot painted on, which is an effort to raise awareness of just how much the votes of local progressives matter — even if they do live in a red state.

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    Ben Jacobs

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  • Trump calls for prosecution of Google over search results he says favor Harris

    Trump calls for prosecution of Google over search results he says favor Harris

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    Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to the press at Trump Tower in New York City, U.S., September 26, 2024. REUTERS/David Dee Delgado

    David Dee Delgado | Reuters

    Donald Trump on Friday called for Google to be criminally prosecuted for what the Republican presidential nominee called the company’s bias toward his election opponent Vice President Kamala Harris in online search results.

    Trump in a social media post wrote that if the Department of Justice does not prosecute Google “for this blatant interference of Elections” he would request its prosecution “when I win the election and become President of the United States!”

    He seemed to be reacting to a new study by the right-leaning Media Research Center, which purportedly found that Google search engine results tended to show news articles that supposedly were positive to the Democrat Harris ahead of Trump’s own campaign website when a user searched for “Donald Trump presidential race 2024.”

    In his post on Truth Social, Trump wrote: “It has been determined that Google has illegally used a system of only revealing and displaying bad stories about Donald J. Trump, some made up for this purpose while, at the same time, only revealing good stories about Comrade Kamala Harris.”

    US Vice President and Democratic nominee for President Kamala Harris speaks at an event hosted by The Economic Club of Pittsburgh at Carnegie Mellon University on September 25, 2024 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 

    Jeff Swensen | Getty Images

    MRC founder Brent Bozell told Fox News Digital earlier this week that “Google is trying to stack the deck in favor of Kamala Harris.”

    CNBC has requested comment from Google’s parent company Alphabet, as well as the campaigns of Trump and Harris.

    This is breaking news. Please refresh for updates.

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  • Bellwether District Has Some Very Bad News For Trump

    Bellwether District Has Some Very Bad News For Trump

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    Nebraska’s second congressional district went for Obama in 2008 and Biden in 2020. New polling shows Kamala Harris leads Donald Trump there by 11 points.

    CNN reported on their poll:

    The Cornhusker State has long been a Republican presidential stronghold, but its 2nd District has twice in recent history awarded its vote to the Democratic nominee, breaking for Obama in 2008 and for Joe Biden

     in 2020.

    ….

    In Nebraska’s 2nd District, the poll finds, Harris’ broad lead includes a near-universal 96% among Democratic likely voters, with her numbers buoyed by the 61% support she holds among the district’s independent likely voters, as well as 10% among Republican likely voters. She leads Trump, 60% to 36%, among women, while Trump holds a much slimmer edge, 50% to 45%, among men.

    Trump and his allies have been trying recently to take away the second congressional district’s electoral college vote, and given Harris’s lead, it is clear why. The bigger problem for Trump is that the last two times the second district flipped to the Democratic candidate, the Republicans lost the election.

    The Democratic flips of that districts also mirror the two biggest winning popular vote margins in this century.

    The city of Omaha is in the second district and it has been moving away from the rest of the state politically, but an 11 point lead is very significant, and as these data points are starting come in they could represent Harris’s continued momentum toward winning the White House in November.

    To comment on this story, join us on Reddit.

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    Jason Easley

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  • Harris to visit U.S.-Mexico border while Trump meets with Ukraine’s Zelenskyy

    Harris to visit U.S.-Mexico border while Trump meets with Ukraine’s Zelenskyy

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    Harris to visit U.S.-Mexico border while Trump meets with Ukraine’s Zelenskyy – CBS News


    Watch CBS News



    On Friday, Vice President Kamala Harris will be in Arizona to visit the U.S.-Mexico border. She plans to criticize former President Donald Trump for his role in blocking a bipartisan border security and immigration bill earlier this year. Meanwhile Trump will be in New York, meeting with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy before heading to Michigan.

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  • As FTC Chair Lina Khan’s Term Expires, Democrats Are Torn Between Donors and Their Base

    As FTC Chair Lina Khan’s Term Expires, Democrats Are Torn Between Donors and Their Base

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    For months, speculation has raged in Washington over the future of Lina Khan, the Federal Trade Commission chair and face of the Biden administration’s crusade against monopoly power. Overturning decades of antitrust norms, charged by Khan with failing to curb extreme concentrations of corporate power, the administration has routinely scrutinized major acquisitions traditionally ignored by Khan’s predecessors, forcing companies like Lockheed Martin and Nvidia to abandon multibillion-dollar deals in court.

    Opponents of Khan—who is often described as a legal “wunderkind” or “prodigy,” though invariably as “young”—include a number of powerful investors and CEOs known as prominent backers of the Democratic Party; billionaires with ties to businesses long under the FTC’s microscope.

    The donors, which include LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman and media mogul Barry Diller, have openly urged Kamala Harris to replace Khan in the event she wins in November, a move that would likely spell disaster for president Joe Biden’s antitrust revolution.

    Diller, for his part, laid into Khan publicly in July, calling her a “dope” on national television, a remark that he later walked back, calling her “smart,” but “disrupting sensible business combinations.” To the ire of many of Khan’s supporters, the Harris campaign has remained silent on her future.

    Neither the Harris campaign nor the FTC responded to a request for comment. Diller did not immediately respond. Hoffman declined to comment.

    Roughly 80 percent of Democrats feel that the government should be doing more to take on corporate monopolies, compared to only 3 percent who say it should be doing less, according to new polling. Nearly 90 percent of Democrats, meanwhile, feel that lobbyists and corporate executives hold too much power over the government.

    The same poll, commissioned by the Tech Oversight Project, found that more than three-fourths of Democrats feel Big Tech wields monopoly power in ways that harm consumers and small businesses. Only 7 percent said the companies should face no repercussions, since they have continued to innovate.

    “Democratic voters want to build on the Biden-Harris administration’s record of protecting competition, holding monopolies accountable for breaking the law, and lowering the cost of living for everyday families,” says Sacha Haworth, the project’s executive director, who favors Khan as the “natural favorite” to carry on this campaign.

    Due perhaps in part to polling like this, there are strong indications that the billionaires are wasting their breath when it comes to the ousting of Khan. Last month, the Democratic Party adopted a platform that celebrated Khan’s crackdown on “corporate greed,” while calling for further investigations into the “potentially harmful effects of corporate consolidation” in Big Pharma and across the media industry. While Khan gave no speeches at the convention, the party’s promise to rid America of “monopolies that crush workers and small businesses and startups” was delivered—perhaps even more potently—by Biden’s secretary of commerce, Gina Raimondo, a consummate corporate advocate.

    Khan supporters, alarmed that Harris has yet to rally to the legal star’s side, erected a mock website this month, labeling her “Bad for Billionaires,” while satirizing some of the Democrats’ biggest donors, Hoffman and Diller among them. “Lina Khan must be fired,” the page declares, “so we can continue our untrammeled profiteering!”

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    Dell Cameron

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  • Kamala Harris Shatters Trump’s Claim That He Is A Protector Of Women

    Kamala Harris Shatters Trump’s Claim That He Is A Protector Of Women

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  • Vice presidential debate could make important impact in 2024 election, some analysts say

    Vice presidential debate could make important impact in 2024 election, some analysts say

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    Could VP debate be enough to swing the presidential election?


    Could VP debate be enough to swing the presidential election?

    03:55

    MINNEAPOLIS — The vice presidential debate is Tuesday night. Gov. Tim Walz and Senator JD Vance will be in the spotlight in front of millions of people. Some analysts agree this debate could change who wins the November election between former President Trump and Vice President Harris. 

    “I think the main focus of JD Vance’s debate performance is going to be on Minnesota,” said Professor Larry Jacobs from the University of Minnesota’s Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs. “It’s going to be on Tim Walz as governor as a proven radical liberal.”


    Analysts weigh in on upcoming vice presidential debate (part 1)

    07:33

    Jacobs said Walz’s background as a politician in Minnesota would all be a part of Vance’s attack. 

    He also says this debate could make a real impact in November, due to the race being so close.

    “A huge opportunity for one of the candidates to tilt the election,” Jacobs said.


    Analysts weigh in on upcoming vice presidential debate (part 2)

    06:38

    Republican analyst Amy Koch says she wouldn’t normally consider a vice presidential debate to have a big impact, but she views this one differently. “The vice presidential candidates have been in the spotlight far more, particularly Vance,” Koch said.

    She continued, saying Vance would have to make some amends and strides with female voters. 

    Democratic analyst Abou Amara says the independent voters could have a big sway in the election, and that’s where Walz’s focus should be. 


    Analysts weigh in on upcoming vice presidential debate (part 3)

    07:03

    “Walz is an everyday, regular guy,” Amara said. “He’s got to communicate in that way to reach some of those independents in the blue wall, and really contrast Vance as both extreme and elite.”

    CBS News will host the only planned vice presidential debate between Vance and Walz on Tuesday, October 1 at 9 p.m. ET on CBS and CBS News 24/7. Download the free CBS News app for live coverage, post-debate analysis, comprehensive fact checks and more.

    Esme Murphy


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    Esme Murphy, a reporter and Sunday morning anchor for WCCO-TV, has been a member of the WCCO-TV staff since December 1990. She is also a weekend talk show host on WCCO Radio. Born and raised in New York City, Esme ventured into reporting after graduating from Harvard University.

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    Esme Murphy

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  • FACT FOCUS: A look at claims made during the second night of the Democratic National Convention

    FACT FOCUS: A look at claims made during the second night of the Democratic National Convention

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    The second night of the Democratic National Convention was filled with excitement as a celebratory roll call marked Vice President Kamala Harris’ nomination to be the party’s candidate for president. As speaker after speaker addressed the convention extolling her qualities to lead the country, they also spelled out differences with her opponents, former President Donald Trump and Ohio Sen. JD Vance, at times misrepresenting the Republicans’ stances.

    Here’s a look at the facts.

    Missing context on Vance and the child tax credit

    Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer: “Senate Republicans pretend to care about middle-class families, but they voted no on expanding the child tax credit. And JD Vance didn’t even show up to vote.”

    THE FACTS: Vance did indeed skip an August vote on a bill to expand the child tax credit and restore some tax breaks for businesses.

    The bill failed to advance in the Senate as Republicans largely opposed the measure, arguing that they would be in position to get a better deal next year, The Associated Press reported at the time.

    But there’s more to the story.

    Vance has also said he would support expanding the child tax credit, currently at $2,000, to $5,000. He said the Senate vote was a “show vote,” when bills are designed to fail but allow parties to highlight issues before voters.

    The cost of Trump’s economic plan

    Schumer on Trump’s plan to create tariffs: “He wants to impose what is, in effect, a national sales tax on everyday products and basic necessities that we import from other countries. It will mean higher prices on just about every one of your daily needs. Donald Trump’s plan would cost a typical family $3,900 a year.”

    THE FACTS: Trump has proposed imposing a tariff of anywhere from 10% to 20% on all imports and up to 60% on imports from China.

    It’s Day 3 of the DNC, and there are 75 days until Election Day. Here’s what to know:

    Economists do expect it would raise prices on many goods. The Tax Policy Center, a joint project of the Urban Institute and the Brookings Institution, estimates it would reduce average incomes in the top 60% of earners by 1.8%. And the Center for American Progress Action Fund, a progressive advocacy group, has calculated that the higher tariffs would cost households an extra $3,900 a year.

    However, Trump has said the tariff revenue could be used to cut other taxes, which would reduce the overall cost of the policy.

    Trump’s changing views on the Affordable Care Act

    New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham: “Donald Trump and JD Vance want to dismantle our healthcare system, repeal the Affordable Care Act, and limit protections for preexisting conditions.”

    New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham speaking during the Democratic National Convention Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

    THE FACTS: Trump has repeatedly promised to replace former President Barack Obama’s health care law with a plan of his own. For example, three years after a Congress fully controlled by Republicans failed to repeal “Obamacare” in 2017, Trump urged the Supreme Court to overturn it.

    More recently, the Republican presidential nominee threatened to reopen the contentious fight.

    “The cost of Obamacare is out of control, plus, it’s not good Healthcare,” he wrote in a November 2023 post on his Truth Social site. “I’m seriously looking at alternatives. We had a couple of Republican Senators who campaigned for 6 years against it, and then raised their hands not to terminate it. It was a low point for the Republican Party, but we should never give up!”

    But Trump backed off a potential repeal in April. He said in a video posted to Truth Social that he is “not running to replace the ACA” and that he intends to make it “much better, stronger and far less expensive.”

    Another misrepresentation of Trump’s bleach comment

    What to know about the 2024 Election

    Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, on Trump during the COVID-19 pandemic: “And Donald, well, Donald told us to inject bleach.”

    THE FACTS: This claim was also made on the first day of the Democratic National Convention by Rep. Robert Garcia of California.

    It’s an overstatement. Trump actually asked whether it would be impossible to inject disinfectant into the lungs.

    “And then I see the disinfectant, where it knocks it out in one minute,” he said at an April 2020 press conference. “And is there a way we can do something like that, by injection inside or almost a cleaning, because you see it gets in the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs, so it’d be interesting to check that, so that you’re going to have to use medical doctors with, but it sounds interesting to me. So, we’ll see, but the whole concept of the light, the way it kills it in one minute. That’s pretty powerful.”

    ___

    Find AP Fact Checks here: https://apnews.com/APFactCheck.

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  • FACT FOCUS: A look back at some of the questionable claims made during the Democratic convention

    FACT FOCUS: A look back at some of the questionable claims made during the Democratic convention

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    The Democrats’ star-studded, four-day convention drew to a close as Vice President Kamala Harris accepted the party’s nomination for president. The festivities were high on entertainment and praise for Harris and running mate Tim Walz. But while most speakers stuck to the script — and the facts — the convention was not without false information or statements that begged for additional context.

    Here’s a look at the facts around some of those claims.

    Trump’s views on an abortion ban

    VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS said Trump would “ban medication abortion and enact a nationwide abortion ban with or without Congress.”

    THE FACTS: While Trump has said in the past that he would support a national ban on abortion, he said Thursday morning on Fox & Friends: “I would never. There will not be a federal ban. This is now back in the states where it belongs.”

    In April, he said he would leave the issue up to the states in a video on his Truth Social platform.

    Days later, asked by a reporter upon arriving in Atlanta whether he would sign a national abortion ban, Trump shook his head and said “no.”

    But just a month earlier Trump suggested he’d support a national ban on abortion around 15 weeks of pregnancy. He also often brags about appointing the Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v. Wade, ending the constitutional right to an abortion.

    Trump has previously supported a federal ban on abortion at 20 weeks of pregnancy. In a letter to anti-abortion leaders during his 2016 campaign, Trump expressed his commitment to this view by vowing to sign the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act.

    The Republican presidential nominee advocated for the bill again in 2018, at that year’s annual March for Life festival in Washington. The bill, which included exceptions for saving the life of a pregnant woman, as well as rape or incest, was passed by the House in 2017, but failed to move forward in the Senate.

    Trump told CBS News on Monday that he would not enforce the Comstock Act to restrict the sale of abortion medication by mail. The act, originally passed in 1873, was revived in an effort to block the mailing of mifepristone, the pill used in more than half of U.S. abortions.

    Trump and Project 2025

    COLORADO REP. JASON CROW: “Donald Trump’s Project 2025 would abandon our troops, abandon our veterans, our allies and our principles.”

    THE FACTS: Many speakers at the convention have linked Trump to Project 2025. Trump has repeatedly disavowed the conservative initiative, saying on social media he hasn’t read it and doesn’t know anything about it. At a rally in Michigan, he said Project 2025 was written by people on the “severe right” and some of the things in it are “seriously extreme.” He has also denied knowing who is behind the plan.

    Project 2025 has also said it is not tied to a specific candidate or campaign. And yet, it is connected in many ways to Trump’s orbit. Some of the people involved in Project 2025 are former senior officials from the Trump administration. The project’s former director is Paul Dans, who served as chief of staff at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management under Trump.

    Trump’s campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt was featured in one of Project 2025’s videos. John McEntee, a former director of the White House Presidential Personnel Office in the Trump administration, is a senior adviser. McEntee told the conservative news site The Daily Wire earlier this year that Project 2025’s team would integrate a lot of its work with the campaign after the summer when Trump would announce his transition team.

    What to know about the 2024 Election

    Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance, penned the forward of a yet unreleased book written by Kevin Roberts, president of The Heritage Foundation, which created Project 2025.

    __ CROW again: “Trump plans to do Putin’s bidding by abandoning Ukraine and walking away from our NATO allies. In chapters two and three, he plans to fire our national security and military professionals and then replace them with MAGA loyalists.”

    THE FACTS: In regards to the Russia-Ukraine war, Project 2025 lays out three schools of thought about U.S. involvement, one of them being that it should not continue. However, it does not advocate for any one over the other.

    Crow’s claim that national security and military professionals will be replaced with Trump supporters does ring true. Among its recommendations are that senior CIA leaders “must commit to carrying out the President’s agenda and be willing to take calculated risks.” It also states that the National Security Council should be made up of “personnel with technical expertise and experience as well as an alignment to the President’s declared national security policy priorities.”

    Trump’s alleged comments about those captured or killed in military service

    ARIZONA SEN. MARK KELLY: “Trump thinks that Americans who have made the ultimate sacrifice are suckers and losers.”

    THE FACTS: Kelly was among many DNC speakers who brought up similar claims. He was referencing allegations first reported in The Atlantic on Sept. 3, 2020, that Trump made disparaging remarks about members of the U.S. military who have been captured or killed, including referring to the American war dead at a World War I cemetery outside Paris in 2018 as “suckers” and “losers.”

    But the truth is that it hasn’t been proven definitively, one way or the other, whether Trump actually made these comments.

    The Republican presidential nominee said the day the Atlantic story came out that it is “totally false,” calling it “a disgraceful situation” by a “terrible magazine.”

    Speaking to reporters after he returned to Washington from a campaign rally in Pennsylvania soon after, Trump said: “I would be willing to swear on anything that I never said that about our fallen heroes. There is nobody that respects them more. No animal — nobody — what animal would say such a thing?”

    And yet, a senior Defense Department official with firsthand knowledge of the events and a senior U.S. Marine Corps officer who was told about Trump’s comments confirmed some of his remarks to The Associated Press after the Atlantic story was published, including the ones about “suckers” and “losers.”

    Walz’s accomplishments as governor

    MINNESOTA SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR, touting Tim Walz’s accomplishments as governor of the state: “Tim has delivered — paid leave, school lunches and the biggest tax cut in Minnesota history.”

    THE FACTS: Over the last two years, Walz has indeed signed legislation to create a paid family and medical leave program in Minnesota, and for free school breakfasts and lunches for all students regardless of income.

    Walz also signed what his administration and Democratic legislative leaders have touted as the largest tax cut in state history, about $3 billion worth as part of the two-year budget approved last year. It included a one-time refundable tax credit of $260 for single filers and up to $1,300 for a family with three children. It also established a child tax credit of up to $1,750 per child for lower-income families, subject to income limits. In addition, it exempted more people from state taxes on Social Security income, but left the tax in place for higher-income seniors.

    But critics take issue with his characterization of it as the biggest tax cut in state history. The Center of the American Experiment, a conservative think tank, points out that low-income Minnesotans don’t pay the state income tax, so in its view giving them tax credits amounts to income redistribution and welfare — not tax cuts.

    Republican legislators tried to hold out for permanent tax cuts for everyone, but Democrats control both chambers of the Legislature and went for targeted relief instead.

    Bill Clinton’s keeping score

    FORMER PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON on Wednesday: “Since the end of the Cold War in 1989, America has created 51 million new jobs. I swear I checked this three times. Even I couldn’t believe it. What’s the score? Democrats 50, Republicans one.”

    THE FACTS: The math shows Clinton is technically right, but the underlying story is more nuanced. There were four recessions since the end of the Cold War — each of them beginning during the Republican presidencies of George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush and Donald Trump. That’s the simplest explanation for the trend outlined by Clinton.

    Let’s get precise: The U.S. economy has added almost 51.6 million jobs since January 1989, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That includes a net 1.3 million jobs added under Republicans.

    It’s worth noting that this simple scoreboard is incomplete. There can be reasons for a recession that have nothing to do necessarily with the president — as market economies can have minds of their own. There can be bad policy choices in previous administrations that led to downturns happening later. And job growth generally comes from the combination of rising populations, improvements in workers’ skills and the actions of private employers. The U.S. economy is big and diverse enough that areas in the industrial Midwest struggled even as parts of the Sunbelt boomed.

    After George H.W. Bush endured a brief downturn, the economy recovered and 2.3 million jobs were added during his term. But Americans still felt the economy was poor and elected Clinton.

    Growth jumped during Clinton’s eight years as more women entered the labor force and 22.9 million jobs were added. But shortly after he left office, the tech bubble in the stock market burst and the U.S. economy entered into a brief recession. The economy shed jobs for a little over two years, then mounted a comeback only to slam headfirst into the mortgage bust and the 2008 financial crisis that produced the Great Recession and mass layoffs. Still, over eight years, George W. Bush added a little over 2.1 million jobs because the U.S. population was still growing.

    Democrat Barack Obama inherited the disastrous economy in early 2009 and endured a grindingly slow but successful recovery. The U.S. economy added 11.3 million jobs.

    Trump took the presidency and promised an unprecedented economic boom. The job market continued to build on its health during Obama’s final four years, only to get crushed by the coronavirus pandemic as shutdowns for health reasons led to unemployment. As a result, the country had 3.1 million fewer jobs when his term ended.

    President Joe Biden oversaw a recovery with additional pandemic aid and other investments that accelerated hiring, but it was accompanied by higher inflation that left much of the public feeling pessimistic about the economy. Still, his presidency — still ongoing — has added more than 15.8 million jobs.

    Whether Trump said women should be punished for having abortions

    ALEXIS MCGILL JOHNSON, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Action Fund, on Wednesday: “Do we want a president who said women should be punished for having abortions?”

    THE FACTS: Asked whether he would be comfortable with states deciding to punish women who access abortions after the procedure is banned, Trump said in an April interview with Time magazine: “The states are going to say. It’s irrelevant whether I’m comfortable or not. It’s totally irrelevant, because the states are going to make those decisions.”

    Trump said outright during his 2016 campaign that women who get illegal abortions should receive “some form of punishment.” The comment came during a heated exchange with MSNBC host Chris Matthews at a town hall taping in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

    But Trump quickly did an about-face. His campaign sought within hours to take back his comment in two separate statements, ultimately saying he believes abortion providers — not their patients — should be the ones punished.

    The first statement said he believed the issue should rest with state governments, while the second entirely rejected the idea that a woman should face repercussions for undergoing an illegal abortion.

    “If Congress were to pass legislation making abortion illegal and the federal courts upheld this legislation, or any state were permitted to ban abortion under state and federal law, the doctor or any other person performing this illegal act upon a woman would be held legally responsible, not the woman,” Trump said in the second statement. “The woman is a victim in this case as is the life in her womb.”

    Trump faced backlash from both abortion-rights supporters and anti-abortion activists, The Associated Press reported at the time.

    ___

    Associated Press writers Melissa Goldin in New York, Josh Boak in Chicago and Steve Karnowski in Minneapolis, contributed to this report.

    ___

    Find AP Fact Checks here: https://apnews.com/APFactCheck.

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  • Top Muslim-voter organization endorses Harris as Middle East conflict escalates

    Top Muslim-voter organization endorses Harris as Middle East conflict escalates

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    LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris has secured the endorsement of one of the nation’s largest Muslim American voter mobilization groups, marking a significant boost to her campaign since many Muslim and Arab American organizations have opted to support third-party candidates or not endorse.

    Emgage Action, the political arm of an 18-year-old Muslim American advocacy group, endorsed Harris’ presidential campaign on Wednesday, saying in a statement provided first to The Associated Press that the group “recognizes the responsibility to defeat” Donald Trump in November.

    The group, based in Washington, D.C., operates in eight states, with a significant presence in the key battlegrounds of Michigan and Pennsylvania. The organization will now focus its ongoing voter-outreach efforts on supporting Harris, in addition to down-ballot candidates.

    “This endorsement is not agreement with Vice President Harris on all issues, but rather, an honest guidance to our voters regarding the difficult choice they confront at the ballot box,” said Wa’el Alzayat, CEO of Emgage Action, in a statement. “While we do not agree with all of Harris’ policies, particularly on the war on Gaza, we are approaching this election with both pragmatism and conviction.”

    The endorsement follows months of tension between Arab American and Muslim groups and Democratic leaders over the Biden administration’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war. Many of these groups, including leaders of the “Uncommitted” movement focused on protesting the war, have chosen not to endorse any candidate in the presidential race.

    The conflict in the Middle East has escalated since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, which killed approximately 1,200 people. Israel’s offensive in response has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

    Israel in recent days also has expanded its air campaign against Hezbollah, with strikes on Lebanon killing at least 560 people, including many women and children, making it the deadliest bombardment since the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war.

    In an interview ahead of Emgage Action’s formal announcement, Alzayat described the decision to back Harris as “excruciatingly difficult,” noting months of internal discussions and extensive meetings and outreach with Harris’ policy team and campaign.

    Ultimately, the group found alignment with many of Harris’ domestic policies and is “hopeful” about her approach to the Middle East conflict if elected, Alzayat said.

    “We owe it to our community, despite this pain, despite the emotions, that we are one organization that is looking at things in a sober, clear-eyed manner and just giving our voting guidance,” Alzayat said.

    In Wednesday’s statement, Emgage Action endorsed Harris to prevent “a return to Islamophobic and other harmful policies under a Trump administration.”

    Many in the Muslim community cite Trump’s so-called “Muslim ban,” which is how many Trump opponents refer to his ban on immigrants from several majority-Muslim countries, as a key reason for opposing his return to the White House.

    Trump’s campaign dismissed the significance of the endorsement.

    What to know about the 2024 Election

    “Once again, national organizations’ endorsements aren’t matching up to what the people suffering from four years of Kamala Harris believe,” Victoria LaCivita, Trump’s communications director for Michigan, said Wednesday. She added that Trump had won the endorsement of Democrat Amer Ghalib, the Muslim mayor of Hamtramck, Michigan.

    “Voters across the country know that President Trump is the right candidate for ALL Americans, and he will ensure peace and safety in our country and around the world,” LaCivita said.

    Julie Chavez Rodriguez, Harris’ campaign manager, noted in a statement that the endorsement comes “at a time when there is great pain and loss in the Muslim and Arab American communities.”

    Harris will continue working “to bring the war in Gaza to an end such that Israel is secure, all the hostages are released, the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza ends, and the Palestinian people can exercise their right to freedom, dignity, security, and self-determination,” she said.

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  • The Latest: Candidates try to counter criticisms in dueling speeches

    The Latest: Candidates try to counter criticisms in dueling speeches

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    Derided by Donald Trump as a “communist,” Vice President Kamala Harris is playing up her street cred as a capitalist. Attacked by Harris as a rich kid who got $400 million from his father on a “silver platter,” Trump is leaning into his raw populism.

    The two presidential candidates delivered dueling speeches Wednesday that reflect how they’re honing their economic messages for voters in battleground states. Both are trying to counter criticism of them while laying out their best case for a public that still worries about the economy’s health.

    Follow the AP’s Election 2024 coverage at: https://apnews.com/hub/election-2024.

    Here’s the latest:

    Speaker Johnson demands Zelenskyy remove Ukraine’s ambassador to US after Pennsylvania visit

    House Speaker Mike Johnson is calling on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to fire his country’s ambassador to the U.S. as Republicans criticize the war-torn leader’s visit to a swing-state Pennsylvania site producing munitions for the Russia-Ukraine war as a political stunt.

    The Republican Johnson’s demand Wednesday came as Zelenskyy addressed the United Nations in New York on the eve of his visit to Washington, D.C., where he has plans Thursday to brief senators on Capitol Hill about the war effort before meeting with President Joe Biden at the White House.

    “The tour was clearly a partisan campaign event designed to help Democrats and is clearly election interference,” Johnson wrote in a letter to Zelenskyy.

    Johnson said no Republicans were invited to the plant tour arranged by Ambassador Oksana Markarova to Scranton, Pennsylvania, which is Biden’s hometown.

    Johnson called the visit an “intentionally political move” and said it “has caused Republicans to lose trust in Ambassador Markarova’s ability to fairly and effectively serve as a diplomat in this country. She should be removed from her post immediately.”

    Read more here.

    Majority of Chinese Americans plan to vote this November

    More than three-fourths of Chinese Americans say they plan to vote in the upcoming general election, according to a survey conducted by the Committee of 100 and the NORC Center for Public Affairs at the University of Chicago.

    Potential voter turnout is one of several findings released Wednesday from the survey of 504 Chinese American adults. Other questions examine the threats and discrimination members of the community face, along with concerns over the impact of China-U.S. relations on the community.

    Chinese Americans make up more than a quarter of the Asian American population, the fastest growing segment in the U.S., the survey said. In an election expected to be decided by just thousands of votes in a small number of states, voter turnout will be critical.

    Vivien Leung, an assistant professor of Political Science, Santa Clara University, who worked on the report estimated that the Chinese American turnout was 55 percent in 2020. She said the turnout was lower than for other Asian American Pacific Islander groups. “Understanding the mental health, discrimination and political perspectives of Chinese Americans is essential to create inclusive and informed policies,” said Cindy Tsai, Interim President, Committee of 100. The Committee of 100 is a New York-based advocacy group for Chinese Americans.

    A Democratic group is setting aside money to give to states for post-election litigation

    The Democratic Association of Secretaries of State says it’s setting aside $5 million to give to states’ top elections officers for post-election litigation.

    What to know about the 2024 Election

    The group is launching a legal defense fund to help the Democratic Secretaries of State in Maine, Michigan, Nevada and North Carolina with expected litigation over the results of the 2024 election. The step comes as former President Donald Trump has signaled that he’ll challenge a possible loss in court.

    “This effort will help ensure that Secretaries of State can do their jobs of administering free and fair elections, and ensure that voters have their voices heard at the ballot box,” Travis Brimm, the group’s executive director, said in a statement.

    Trump’s campaign says he’ll hold a rally in town that was site of July assassination attempt

    Trump next month plans to return to Butler, Pennsylvania, where he was struck by a bullet in an assassination attempt.

    The former president’s campaign said Wednesday that Trump will hold a rally Oct. 5 at the same place he did during the July 13 attack.

    The Republican presidential candidate plans to honor Corey Comperatore, the ex-fire chief who was shot and killed at the July rally, along with two other attendees who were injured by the shooter.

    “After not one, but two attempts on his life in the past nine weeks, President Trump is more determined than ever to see his mission through to the end,” Trump’s campaign said in a statement.

    Biden’s advice for Harris to win the election is for her to ‘be herself’

    President Joe Biden said his advice to Vice President Kamala Harris for winning the November election was to “be herself.”

    Biden was in New York on Wednesday and sat down with the co-hosts of ABC’s “The View.” He fielded a range of questions about the presidential race, ending his reelection campaign and tensions in the Middle East.

    Biden endorsed Harris for the Democratic presidential nomination and said she is “smart as hell.”

    “She has the energy. She has the intelligence. She has the grit. She has the stamina, and she has the guts to do the right thing,” he said.

    Biden, 81, also said he was “at peace” with his decision to end his campaign but remained confident he could have defeated Republican Donald Trump.

    Harris will visit the US-Mexico border on Friday

    Vice President Kamala Harris is visiting the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona on Friday as her campaign increasingly tries to make the issue of immigration more of a strength.

    That push could counter a line of attack from Harris’ opponent, former President Donald Trump.

    Two people familiar with the matter confirmed the trip but insisted on anonymity Wednesday to confirm details that had not been announced publicly.

    Trump has built his campaign partly around calling for cracking down on immigration and the southern border, even endorsing using police and the military to carry out mass deportations should he be elected in November.

    Since taking over for President Joe Biden at the top of the Democratic presidential ticket, Harris has leaned into her experience as a former attorney general of California, saying she frequently visited the border and prosecuted drug and people smuggling gangs in that post.

    As she campaigns around the country, the vice president has also frequently criticized top Republicans for voting down a sweeping, bipartisan immigration package in Congress earlier this year after Trump opposed it.

    — By Zeke Miller and Colleen Long

    Wisconsin mayor says he did nothing wrong when he removed an absentee ballot drop box

    The mayor of a central Wisconsin city who ran for office on his opposition to absentee ballot drop boxes said Wednesday he did nothing wrong when he put on work gloves, donned a hard hat and used a dolly to cart away a drop box outside City Hall.

    Wausau Mayor Doug Diny posed for a picture Sunday to memorialize his removal of the city’s lone drop box that had been put outside City Hall around the same time late last week that absentee ballots were sent to voters.

    “This is no different than the maintenance guy moving it out there,” Diny said Wednesday. “I’m a member of staff. There’s nothing nefarious going on here. I’m hoping for a good result.”

    The move, which prompted a protest in the city Tuesday night and anger among drop box advocates, is the latest example in swing state Wisconsin of the fight over whether communities will allow absentee ballot drop boxes. Several Republican-run municipalities, including six in Milwaukee County, two in Waukesha County and three in Dodge County, have opted against using drop boxes for the presidential election in November, while they’re being embraced in heavily Democratic cities including Milwaukee and Madison.

    The Wisconsin Supreme Court, then controlled by conservatives, banned the use of drop boxes in 2022. But in July, the now-liberal controlled court reversed that decision and said drop boxes could be used. However, the court left it up to each community to decide whether to install them.

    Vance says the war in Ukraine has taken resources ‘at a time when Americans are suffering’

    Vance says the “biggest problem” with the Russia-Ukraine war is that it “has distracted and consumed a lot of resources at a time when Americans are suffering.”

    During a call Wednesday with reporters about union support for the Trump-Vance campaign, the GOP vice presidential nominee echoed Trump’s claims that “Russia would have never invaded Ukraine” if Trump, not Biden, had been in office.

    And if Trump is returned to the White House, Vance said “everything is going to be on the table, but I think that nothing is going to definitively be on the table” in terms of Trump’s approach to negotiating an end to the war.

    Vance did not respond directly when asked about Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s recent criticism of him as “too radical” in an interview with The New Yorker. The Ohio senator has criticized U.S. support for Ukraine in the war, saying in his speech at the Republican National Convention this summer that there should be “no more free rides for nations that betray the generosity of the American taxpayer.”

    Vance says he doesn’t think he needs to prepare as much as Walz is for the debate

    Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance says he’s not planning to have a debate camp because “we have well developed views on public policy.”

    Speaking to reporters on a call with union supporters Wednesday, the Ohio senator said he feels no pressure to do “anything similar” to the debate preparation being done by Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic vice presidential nominee.

    “I don’t think we have to prepare that much” because “we don’t have to hide our record from the American people,” Vance said.

    Vance also said former President Donald Trump supports the rights of workers to unionize and collectively bargain, but he demurred from full-throated support by also saying states should choose their own labor laws that can support or reduce unionization efforts.

    Trump’s supporters gather at a manufacturing plant ahead of speech

    Trump was set to address a relatively small crowd inside a massive Charlotte-area manufacturing plant.

    The Republican former president’s supporters gathered among metal machines and and palettes of red, white and blue tubing. Trump’s podium was flanked by rows of work stations, metal beams and a large campaign sign that proclaimed, “JOBS! JOBS! JOBS!”

    Harris will do a sit down interview with MSNBC

    Vice President Kamala Harris will sit down with Stephanie Ruhle of MSNBC on Wednesday in Pittsburgh.

    The Democratic candidate is visiting the city to give a speech on the economy and manufacturing.

    Harris has faced criticism for avoiding media interviews during her abbreviated campaign for the presidency. The conversation with Ruhle will be her first one-on-one interview with a national network since becoming her party’s nominee. Harris previously sat down with CNN’s Dana Bash alongside Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, her running mate.

    Top Muslim-voter organization endorses Harris as Middle East conflict escalates

    Vice President Kamala Harris has secured the endorsement of one of the nation’s largest Muslim American voter mobilization groups, marking a significant boost to her campaign since many Muslim and Arab American organizations have opted to support third-party candidates or not endorse.

    Emgage Action, the political arm of an 18-year-old Muslim American advocacy group, endorsed Harris’ presidential campaign Wednesday, saying in a statement provided first to The Associated Press that the group “recognizes the responsibility to defeat” former President Donald Trump in November.

    The group, based in Washington D.C., operates in eight states, with a significant presence in the key battlegrounds of Michigan and Pennsylvania. The organization will now focus its ongoing voter-outreach efforts on supporting Harris, in addition to down-ballot candidates.

    A tale of crushing security lapses and missed chances to stop the man who shot Trump

    The acting director of the Secret Service was incensed at what had happened that July evening. “What I saw made me ashamed,” Ronald Rowe Jr. said. “I cannot defend why that roof was not better secured.”

    The unguarded roof, easily within shooting distance of the rally stage, is just one of the myriad questions behind the worst Secret Service security failure in decades. The more that investigators unpack from that day, the more missed opportunities that could have prevented the attack are revealed.

    As the United States grapples with a second attempt on Donald Trump’s life, in Florida, there remains a reckoning to be done from the Pennsylvania shooting on July 13 that killed one man and wounded three — the ex-president among them.

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  • Consumer Confidence in U.S. Economy Plummets in Latest Data

    Consumer Confidence in U.S. Economy Plummets in Latest Data

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    Credit: The United States Senate – Office of Senator Kamala Harris, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

    By Casey Harper (The Center Square)

    Americans’ confidence in the economy dropped sharply in September, the biggest one-month change since the COVID-19 pandemic, according to newly released data.

    The Conference Board’ Consumer Confidence Index, a marker of how confident Americans are in the economy, plummeted in September. The figure fell from 105.6 in August to 98.7 in September, the most significant drop since August of 2021.

    RELATED: Indictment: Routh Charged With Attempted Assassination of Trump

    “Consumer confidence dropped in September to near the bottom of the narrow range that has prevailed over the past two years,” Dana Peterson, chief economist at The Conference Board, said in a statement. “September’s decline was the largest since August 2021 and all five components of the Index deteriorated. Consumers’ assessments of current business conditions turned negative while views of the current labor market situation softened further.”

    The federal government announced earlier this year that it significantly overestimated its previous data on how many jobs the U.S. economy created last year, meaning the labor market was far weaker last year than the federal data previously showed.

    In fact, the U.S. economy created 818,000 fewer jobs than federal economists previously said, about a 30% reduction, the most significant jobs data revision in 15 years.

    “Consumers were also more pessimistic about future labor market conditions and less positive about future business conditions and future income,” Peterson added.

    Inflation has slowed since its breakneck pace earlier in the Biden administration, prompting the U.S. Federal Reserve to announce its first interest rate cut since 2020. However, prices remain elevated, having risen more than 20% since President Joe Biden took office.

    “This morning’s Conference Board Consumer Confidence report was surprisingly downbeat, dragged down by a continued deterioration of consumers’ assessment of the present labor market situation,” Parker Ross, Global Chief Economist at Arch Capital Group, wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

    “The metric from this report that I track most closely – the labor market differential (i.e. the net share reporting jobs plentiful less hard to get) – recorded its worst monthly decline in six months and extended a trend that suggests the unemployment rate will continue to rise,” he added.

    RELATED: Noncitizen Voting Ballot Measures in Eight States This Fall

    Wealthier Americans remained more confident, but poorer Americans were less confident.

    Notably, other consumer sentiment data has painted a rosier picture recently.

    “The drop in confidence was steepest for consumers aged 35 to 54. As a result, on a six-month moving average basis, the 35–54 age group has become the least confident while consumers under 35 remain the most confident,” Peterson said. “Confidence declined in September across most income groups, with consumers earning less than $50K experiencing the largest decrease. On a six-month moving average basis, consumers earning over $100K remained the most confident.”

    Syndicated with permission from The Center Square.

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  • ‘I have so many issues with our government in every way’: Chappell Roan confirms why she hasn’t endorsed Kamala Harris for president

    ‘I have so many issues with our government in every way’: Chappell Roan confirms why she hasn’t endorsed Kamala Harris for president

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    The influence of celebrity when it comes to election races should not be underestimated, and it isn’t something new either. The 2024 Presidential Election has seen celebrities come out in droves to voice their support for their candidate, but artist Chappell Roan is not getting involved.

    Vice President Kamala Harris has seen a huge turnout from the celebrity crowds as she runs for office, with online sessions such as White Dudes for Harris seeing the likes of Jeff Bridges, Mark Ruffalo, and Mark Hamill turn up to endorse her. The big golden goose that many were hoping, and fearing, would join the discussion was Taylor Swift, whose influence is not to be sniffed at. The artist has tried to steer clear of making a public decision in the past, but after Trump won the 2016 election she has been a lot more vocal, and has thrown her immense influence behind Harris.

    Of course, some celebrities wish to remain clear of the whole ordeal, either for their own privacy or, in Roan’s case, because they don’t have faith in the government in general. The singer has rocketed to fame in the last year, having just finished her tour in the UK over the previous weekend. Her hit song ‘Femininomenon’ has been co-opted by the Harris campaign which has called for a “femininomenon” at the polls, sharing images alongside images of Trump and Harris on their social media.

    Speaking to The Guardian about her position on the upcoming election, Roan stated,

    “I have so many issues with our government in every way. There are so many things that I would want to change. So I don’t feel pressured to endorse someone. There’s problems on both sides. I encourage people to use your critical thinking skills, use your vote – vote small, vote for what’s going on in your city.”

    The singer has also declined an invitation to the White House to perform at its Pride event, telling crowds at the Governor’s Ball festival in June, “We want liberty, justice, and freedom for all. When you do that, that’s when I’ll come.” Roan is a staunch ally of LGBTQ+ issues and trans rights, with £1 for every UK tour ticket sold going to the charity Kaleidoscope Trust. She states that her biggest hope for change is “Trans rights. They cannot have cis people making decisions for trans people, period.”

    The Mary Sue is supported by our audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn a small affiliate commission. Learn more about our Affiliate Policy

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    Laura Pollacco

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  • Video: Kamala Harris Talks About ‘Joy.’ But Are Undecided Voters Feeling It?

    Video: Kamala Harris Talks About ‘Joy.’ But Are Undecided Voters Feeling It?

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    Approximately three million undecided voters in seven battleground states will most likely decide the outcome of the 2024 presidential election, and surveys show that these voters are pessimistic about the country’s future. Jonathan Swan, a reporter covering the presidential campaign for The New York Times, examines how these voters are responding to Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald J. Trump.

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  • Trump, Harris race tight in the 7 battleground states: CBS News poll

    Trump, Harris race tight in the 7 battleground states: CBS News poll

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    Trump, Harris race tight in the 7 battleground states: CBS News poll – CBS News


    Watch CBS News



    CBS News’ latest polling finds that the 2024 presidential race can go either way. It also found that the number of voters saying the economy is good went up and Vice President Kamala Harris is up four points nationally over former President Donald Trump. CBS News executive director of elections and surveys Anthony Salvanto discusses the new poll and the race in the seven battleground states.

    Be the first to know

    Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.


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  • Janet Jackson fired manager who apologized for her Kamala Harris race comments, manager claims

    Janet Jackson fired manager who apologized for her Kamala Harris race comments, manager claims

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    A man who claims to be Janet Jackson’s former manager said the pop star and her brother, Randy Jackson, fired him because he tried to clean up her P.R. mess after she was quoted in an interview with the Guardian asserting that Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris is “not Black.”

    “Janet Jackson fired me due to disagreements between me, her, and Randy, after her meeting with the Guardian and her unbalanced statements,” Mo Elmasri told the Daily Beast in an emailed statement.

    “That’s all I can say,” Elmasri added, saying he could not talk by phone due to “the large number of calls” coming in. But Elmasri added to the Daily Beast: “All support to Kamala Harris.”

    Elmasri’s statement to the Daily Beast comes after Jackson’s official rep issued a statement to the media Sunday, saying that the “apology” made on behalf of Jackson from “manager” Elmasri was not authorized by her at all. In fact, this Jackson rep told People magazine and other outlets that Elmasri is not her manager, nor is he affiliated with her camp. The rep said that Randy Jackson is the singer’s manager.

    Jackson, 58, sparked online fury Saturday after her interview with The Guardian went viral. In the interview with the U.K. outlet, Jackson repeated a debunked right-wing conspiracy theory, promulgated by Donald Trump, that the Oakland-born, Berkeley-reared vice president is “not Black.”

    During the interview, Jackson was asked what she thought of Harris potentially becoming the first Black woman to be elected president. In response, Janet said: “Well, you know what they supposedly said?”

    “She’s not Black,” Jackson continued. “That’s what I heard. That she’s Indian.” When the reporter responded that Harris has dual heritage, Jackson falsely claimed, “Her father’s White. That’s what I was told. I mean, I haven’t watched the news in a few days.”

    Harris is both the first Black and Asian-American vice president. Her mother, Shyamala Gopalan, was born in India, while her father, Donald J. Harris, was born in Jamaica.

    After Jackson’s comments left the reporter “floored,” the singer backtracked a bit, by saying in a whisper: “I don’t know. Honestly, I don’t want to answer that because I really, truthfully, don’t know. I think either way it goes is going to be mayhem.”

    While the reporter said she didn’t think Jackson falls into “the hardcore QAnon-adjacent, Trump-loving conspiracy theorist” camp, her remarks echoed false and controversial statements Trump made during an interview in July at the National Association of Black Journalists convention in Chicago.

    “She was always of Indian heritage and she was promoting Indian heritage,” Trump said at the convention. “I didn’t know she was Black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn Black, and now she wants to be known as Black. So I don’t know, is she Indian, or is she Black?”

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    Martha Ross

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  • Can Democrats Finally Win a State That Torments Them?

    Can Democrats Finally Win a State That Torments Them?

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    Photo-Illustration: Intelligencer; Photo: Wikimedia Commons

    When Barack Obama squeaked by John McCain in North Carolina in 2008, it was the first time a Democratic presidential candidate had won there in decades. But the Tarheel State has remained just out of reach for Democrats ever since. Obama lost it by slightly over two points in 2012; Hillary Clinton by three-plus in 2016; and Joe Biden by a mere 1.44 points in 2020, when North Carolina represented Trump’s narrowest margin of victory in the country. (The state’s Democratic senate hopefuls have met a similar fate over the years.)

    But there’s reason for Kamala Harris’s campaign to be hopeful about breaking her party’s losing streak. North Carolina’s Democratic infrastructure looks much sturdier than it has in previous years. Polls show almost a pure toss-up race. And perhaps most promisingly, Mark Robinson is on the ballot. The Republican gubernatorial candidate and self-proclaimed “black Nazi” — whose extremism is a bit much even for the modern-day GOP, and whose campaign appears to be in freefall — just may drag Donald Trump down with him. To gauge Harris’s chances in North Carolina, I turned to Michael Bitzer, a professor of politics and history at Catawba College who has written (and tweeted) widely about the state’s recently tumultuous politics.

    Even before these latest revelations about Mark Robinson, there was an idea that Democrats might benefit from “reverse coattails” — that because Robinson is so extreme, more voters might turn out to oppose him, which would give Dems an advantage in the presidential race to boot. Do you think there’s anything to this theory?
    What has been pretty stunning to me is that the Harris–Trump polling numbers are a coin toss. It is within the margin of error, so there is no clear front-runner. But the numbers show such a healthy margin between Josh Stein and Robinson — you’re talking about a quarter of Republicans not voting for Robinson. Could there be enough potential toxicity to affect Trump, to affect down-ballot Republicans as well? I don’t think anybody truly knows until we get the ballots counted.

    The state does have a history of electing Democratic governors while not voting for Democratic presidential candidates.
    Very much so. Go back 20 years to 2004: George W. Bush wins the state by 12 points, and Democratic incumbent governor Mike Easley wins by 12 percentage points, so you’ve got a 24-point swing. Go back to 2020: It’s a six-point swing in the state between Donald Trump and Roy Cooper. So this fits the model and the history of North Carolina. The question is, how big a swing does it take to push that dynamic to flow through the rest of the ballot?

    And unlike some other southern states, North Carolina has elected a modern breed of Democrat, not the sort of ’60s- and ’70s-style Democrats that hung on in redder places. Maybe they’re not progressive, but they’re on the more liberal side.
    They’re very centrist. Roy Cooper’s precincts, where he won and where Trump won — the vast majority of them are in rural counties of North Carolina, but also in what I call the urban suburbs, the classic suburban areas inside an urban county but outside the big city.

    North Carolina has a reputation as a state where Democratic presidential hopes go to die. There seems to be renewed optimism this year that 2024 could break the streak, and I’ve seen you make that point. Why do you think that is? Demographics? People just getting tired of Trump? Is it Kamala? Or some combination of all those three?
    I think it’s a combination of all of them. I would point to the fact that this is a turnout-driven state. Registered Democrats usually meet the state-turnout rate, but registered Republicans are six points ahead consistently in all the major elections that we’ve had since 2010. I think there’s a generational dynamic, where if voters under the age of 40 show up to their political strength — by my analysis, they are a center-left type of voting bloc, and that could have an impact. Whether Trump has outworn his welcome and where the Nikki Haley primary voters are willing to defect and cross the political aisle to vote for Harris — I think that there’s a combination of things developing in this state that could tip us off the knife’s edge one way or the other.

    Some key swing states haven’t changed much demographically in the last ten years, but North Carolina has. Democrats are always so hopeful in part because they think, Hey, a bunch of liberal-leaning college graduates are moving there, but it never quite works out.
    They have been waiting for that demographic wave to crest, but they’ve never been willing to put in the resources and the infrastructure, and it looks like Harris has made that kind of investment. Biden started opening up field offices. She has expanded those field offices. The Trump campaign has kind of outsourced their field operations. One interesting shift from four years ago is the percentage of voters residing in the central cities versus the urban suburbs have flipped, and the central cities are about 70/30 Democratic. If you increase the voter turnout, where central cities have lagged in the past several elections, you’re pulling in Democratic votes that you’ve been leaving on the table.

    And you think this infrastructure and all those field offices could help with that. 
    It is the most ambitious ground-game operation I’ve seen since Obama’s ’08 campaign.

    I’ve read that Trump’s ground game, which as you said is being outsourced to the likes of Elon Musk, is raising eyebrows from Republicans. It seems like a big risky maneuver, and nobody knows if it will work. What have you heard about it?
    It is certainly a novel approach.

    To put it diplomatically.
    They’re utilizing and coordinating efforts to target low-propensity voters — rural, young white males, for example — and that sector of the electorate could be influential because it only takes a point here, a point there to shift this dynamic one way or the other. But if you’re trying to pull in or tap out the rural dynamic and Democrats are in rich, central cities pulling in much more … I hesitate to guess, because we don’t know how all this is going to play out until Election Night.

    The lack of Democratic ground game you’ve observed before this year — do you think that’s just because North Carolina was never the party’s biggest Electoral College priority? Or was it just some sort of state organizational dysfunction?
    Well, I don’t think it was necessarily state dysfunction.

    Maybe national.
    Yeah. There wasn’t the priority and the commitment made, particularly by national organizations, to invest here on the ground. In 2022, for example, you had Cheri Beasley, a Black woman, running at the top of the ticket for the U.S. Senate. You would think that that would motivate Black voters. Black voters actually had a low voter turnout, and Black women had the lowest voter turnout within the race. Election after election after election, the same dynamic plays itself out, and if you’re going to bang your head against a brick wall five or six times, you’ve got to learn that maybe the brick wall needs to be attacked in another way.

    It’s reminiscent of Florida, which Democrats have all but ceded.
    Right, because I think Florida is very much calcified. It’s a close state, but it’s so hard and you’ve really got to make the investment. I think in North Carolina, maybe there’s the recognition this year from Biden and now from Harris that “Hey, if we put the effort in, maybe we can flip this.” And then Trump has to run some other wild gamut to get those 16 electoral votes from some other states. And the map just shrinks year after year.

    It puts him on the defensive in places he doesn’t want to be.
    Right.

    There are lots of concerns about Trumpian operatives in Georgia and others meddling with the certification of the results at the county and state level. And the North Carolina Republican Party has quite a reputation for partisanship. I haven’t heard as much about shenanigans going on there on the state level, but is there concern from Democrats that this could get ugly?
    North Carolina is unique in that our secretary of State, who is a Democrat, does not have jurisdiction over elections. It is a separate administrative agency that has five members on the board. Because of the governor’s party, it’s three Democrats, two Republicans. All of the counties also reflect that division: three Democrats, two Republicans. So it would be hard to have any county-level shenanigans going on.

    If this election is extremely tight, though, there is a provision in the state constitution that might allow the legislature to insert itself. Article six, section five of our state constitution says a contested election for any office “established by Article Three of this constitution shall be determined by joint ballot of both houses.” Whether that includes the presidential race or not is for grabs. If they wanted to do some investigative work into questions of the election returns, I think everybody’s hands would go up into the air as to where that might play itself out.

    I don’t even want to think about that possibility.
    It’s there.

    And this is made possible because Republicans hold a supermajority by one seat in the House, right?
    And Senate Republicans have a solid supermajority of 30 seats. So 72 in the state House, 30 in the state Senate.

    And that House supermajority came together because one representative, Tricia Cotham, flipped from Democrat to Republican, which ensured that North Carolina passed a 12-week abortion ban. Democrats think that law is much too strict. Do you sense that there’s been a backlash that will lead to a higher turnout the way it has in so many other places around the country?
    I think it is certainly an issue motivating Democrats. They rank that fairly high in most of the polls I’ve seen as an important issue that they want to address in this election. It gets washed out because Republicans place it lower and independents are in between the two partisan identifiers, but it’s certainly something that is motivating Democrats with a renewed sense of energy.

    But there’s nothing on the ballot about abortion this year, right?
    Correct.

    Polls have been quite off in North Carolina in the presidential elections, as they have been in some other swing states. They largely predicted a Biden victory in 2020, some by a pretty wide margin. To what extent, as a close observer of this stuff, do you think that problem has been addressed?
    When I teach polling, and particularly in my campaigns and elections class this semester, I tell students that the margin of victory in North Carolina is going to be within the margin of error. It is just simply that close. And so I think with all the issues that polling has nowadays, just accept that we’re a toss-up state.

    In a way, there’s no point to these polls. It’s going to be a one- or two-point race — you can take that to the bank.
    Yeah. We’ve just got to accept fate and, as I say, let the voters have their voice. That’s the best poll you can take.

    Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly described North Carolina state representative Tricia Cotham’s party switch.

    This interview has been edited for length and clarity.


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    Benjamin Hart

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  • ‘Too Late’ Or Too Scared? Donald Trump Ducks & Dodges Kamala Harris Challenging Him To Second Debate

    ‘Too Late’ Or Too Scared? Donald Trump Ducks & Dodges Kamala Harris Challenging Him To Second Debate

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    Source: Xinhua News Agency / Getty

    Kamala Harris Accepts the Debate, Trump Turns Tail

    Donald Trump is running scared—and it’s not just from those lawsuits and criminal cases—he’s ducking and dodging a second presidential debate with Vice President Kamala Harris. The former president backpedaling proves once again that he’ll tell others to fight while he flees the action, just like on Jan. 6.

    Kamala Harris came out swinging when she accepted CNN’s invitation to a second debate scheduled for October 23, just under two weeks before the 2024 presidential election. In true fighter fashion, Harris took to X (formerly Twitter) and taunted her opponent, writing,

    “I will gladly accept a second presidential debate on October 23. I hope @realDonaldTrump will join me” (X).

    But did Trump take the bait? Of course not.

    Trump: “It’s Too Late” for a Debate Rematch

    Instead of stepping up for another round, Trump scurried to his comfort zone—a rally in Wilmington, North Carolina. According to Politico, he told supporters, 

    “She’s done one debate, I’ve done two. It’s too late to do another.”

    His excuse? Early voting had already begun in states like Minnesota, Virginia, and South Dakota, so why debate now? “It’s too late. The voting is cast, the voters are out there,” he said. As if facing his opponent would be too much to handle when ballots are already flying in. Puh-lease!

    Sounds like someone’s afraid of taking another L in front of America.

     *Kamala Harris Silk Press Hair Flip*

    Harris’s Team: “Donald Shouldn’t Be Scared”

    ABC News first presidential debate

    Source: The Washington Post / Getty

    The Vice President’s campaign, smelling blood in the water, wasted no time throwing shade back at Trump. In Newsweek, Jen O’Malley Dillon, Harris’s campaign chair, kept it real in a statement:

    “Donald Trump should have no problem agreeing to this debate. It is the same format and setup as the CNN debate he attended and said he won in June.”

    The implication was clear—Trump’s dodging because he knows he might not come out on top this time.

    Remember how he taunted Biden after their Presidential debate? He even kept mentioning—excuse me—ridiculing sick Biden during his debate with Harris when he thought he had won. 

    What a sore loser. 

    Let’s also not forget Trump’s infamous boast after the first debate on September 10, when he faced Harris. He confidently said he won, even though most observers handed the victory to Harris. 

    In Truth Social, Trump’s response was posted to Harris’s call for a rematch, claiming that the only reason she wanted another debate was because he “won” the first one.

     “When a prizefighter loses a fight, the first words out of his mouth are, ‘I WANT A REMATCH,’” Trump wrote. 

    He’s not convincing anyone but the most die-hard MAGA crowd.

    The Real and Reactions: Trump is “Scared”

    Tim Ryan, former Ohio representative and frequent Trump critic, wasn’t about to let this pass either. In The Guardian, he slams Trump’s refusal to debate, saying it’s not just strategy—it’s fear. 

    “Behind the beard and the tan and the hair there are two scared little boys.” 

    Now, let’s get into the nitty-gritty of why Trump’s running scared. After all, he’s got a lot to lose. His first debate performance in June against President Joe Biden was seen by many as a win, but Biden’s lackluster showing ended up leading to his withdrawal from the race. 

    With Harris stepping into the spotlight and outperforming him in their first head-to-head in Philadelphia, Trump’s campaign knew another round could further dent his carefully cultivated image as the “tough guy” who never backs down.

    Harris Flexes: Campaign Dominates Fundraising

    The Harris campaign has been on the offensive, raking in triple the funds Trump’s team pulled in August, showing that momentum is firmly on their side. And Team Harris isn’t letting up, pushing the narrative that the American people deserve a second debate before the November 5 election. 

    Jen O’Malley Dillon, Biden’s campaign manager, shared a statement in Newsweek: 

    “It would be unprecedented in modern history for there to just be one general election debate.” 

    And she’s got a point. In previous election cycles, voters were offered multiple debates to see the candidates spar on various issues.

    Trump Says No Thanks, Voters Left in the Dark

    US-VOTE-POLITICS-DEBATE-HARRIS-TRUMP

    Source: MATTHEW HATCHER / Getty

    By dodging another debate, Trump risks giving the impression that he’s not up to the challenge—something Harris’s campaign is more than happy to remind voters of.

    The battle lines are drawn, and Harris is ready to fight. But Trump is deciding to bail, just like he’s done with several business flops. We’ve seen how confidently he confronted Biden, but Harris has him SHOOK! And rightfully so, based on the polling numbers. 

    Guess we’ll see if that strategy works for him—or if running from a fight only makes the L’s pile up faster.

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    Lauryn Bass

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  • Kamala Harris promises economic speech this week

    Kamala Harris promises economic speech this week

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    Vice President Kamala Harris raised $27 million at a packed New York City fundraiser on Sunday, her largest fundraising haul since she took over at the top of the ticket from President Joe Biden, according to a Harris campaign aide. Though Harris has far more money than former President Donald Trump, the money will be needed to compete with pricey advertising by deep-pocketed outside groups that support Trump, said the aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private fundraising details.Video above: Presidential candidates target Jewish, less politically-motivated votersThe blockbuster fundraiser was held at Cipriani Wall Street in a massive Greek Revival ballroom with over a dozen columns. Much of the crowd stood shoulder to shoulder as Harris needled Trump for refusing to debate her again.”My opponent seems to be looking for an excuse,” Harris told the crowd. “I feel very strongly that we owe it to the American people, to the voters, to meet once more before Election Day.”She reiterated that later, telling reporters after landing outside Washington, “We have more to discuss.”Trump has rejected more debates, saying Saturday that “it’s just too late.” “Voting is already started,” he said at a rally in Wilmington, North Carolina. Voters cast the first in-person ballots last week in Minnesota, South Dakota and Virginia, the states with the first early in-person voting opportunities. About a dozen more states will follow by mid-October.Harris also said she would deliver a speech Wednesday outlining her economic vision, saying there is “more we can do to invest in the aspirations and ambitions of the American people while addressing the challenges they face.”She cited the high cost of home ownership and stubbornly high grocery bills as examples.”I grew up a middle-class kid and I will never forget where I came from,” she said.By fleshing out her economic agenda in more detail, Harris can address an issue that’s front of mind for voters after prices soared during Biden’s presidency and distance herself from the president’s economic track record. Trump has criticized her for being slow to release detailed policy proposals of her own since she rose to the top of the ticket. Harris has said she’d push for middle-class tax cuts and tax hikes on the wealthy and corporations, and she adopted Trump’s proposal to end taxes on tipped wages, though she’d limit her plan to low- and middle-income taxpayers. She’s also criticized Trump’s plan to impose large tariffs on most imported goods, which she says would severely raise the cost of goods. Neither Harris nor Trump has a decisive edge with the public on the economy, according to the latest poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. The survey suggests Harris is gaining ground on an issue that was once a clear strength for Trump. About 4 in 10 registered voters say Republican Trump would do a better job handling the economy, while a similar number say that about the Democratic vice president, according to the poll. About 1 in 10 voters don’t trust either candidate, and a similar share has equal faith in them.The new poll found that the economy is one of the most important issues for about 8 in 10 voters as they consider which candidate to support, dwarfing other top issues like health care and crime.Harris has backed away from the liberal positions she took during her ill-fated 2020 presidential campaign, including proposals to ban fracking, establish a single-payer health care system and decriminalize illegal border crossings.

    NEW YORK —

    Vice President Kamala Harris raised $27 million at a packed New York City fundraiser on Sunday, her largest fundraising haul since she took over at the top of the ticket from President Joe Biden, according to a Harris campaign aide.

    Though Harris has far more money than former President Donald Trump, the money will be needed to compete with pricey advertising by deep-pocketed outside groups that support Trump, said the aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private fundraising details.

    Video above: Presidential candidates target Jewish, less politically-motivated voters

    The blockbuster fundraiser was held at Cipriani Wall Street in a massive Greek Revival ballroom with over a dozen columns. Much of the crowd stood shoulder to shoulder as Harris needled Trump for refusing to debate her again.

    “My opponent seems to be looking for an excuse,” Harris told the crowd. “I feel very strongly that we owe it to the American people, to the voters, to meet once more before Election Day.”

    She reiterated that later, telling reporters after landing outside Washington, “We have more to discuss.”

    Trump has rejected more debates, saying Saturday that “it’s just too late.”

    “Voting is already started,” he said at a rally in Wilmington, North Carolina. Voters cast the first in-person ballots last week in Minnesota, South Dakota and Virginia, the states with the first early in-person voting opportunities. About a dozen more states will follow by mid-October.

    Harris also said she would deliver a speech Wednesday outlining her economic vision, saying there is “more we can do to invest in the aspirations and ambitions of the American people while addressing the challenges they face.”

    She cited the high cost of home ownership and stubbornly high grocery bills as examples.

    “I grew up a middle-class kid and I will never forget where I came from,” she said.

    By fleshing out her economic agenda in more detail, Harris can address an issue that’s front of mind for voters after prices soared during Biden’s presidency and distance herself from the president’s economic track record. Trump has criticized her for being slow to release detailed policy proposals of her own since she rose to the top of the ticket.

    Harris has said she’d push for middle-class tax cuts and tax hikes on the wealthy and corporations, and she adopted Trump’s proposal to end taxes on tipped wages, though she’d limit her plan to low- and middle-income taxpayers. She’s also criticized Trump’s plan to impose large tariffs on most imported goods, which she says would severely raise the cost of goods.

    Neither Harris nor Trump has a decisive edge with the public on the economy, according to the latest poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. The survey suggests Harris is gaining ground on an issue that was once a clear strength for Trump.

    About 4 in 10 registered voters say Republican Trump would do a better job handling the economy, while a similar number say that about the Democratic vice president, according to the poll. About 1 in 10 voters don’t trust either candidate, and a similar share has equal faith in them.

    The new poll found that the economy is one of the most important issues for about 8 in 10 voters as they consider which candidate to support, dwarfing other top issues like health care and crime.

    Harris has backed away from the liberal positions she took during her ill-fated 2020 presidential campaign, including proposals to ban fracking, establish a single-payer health care system and decriminalize illegal border crossings.

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  • Kamala Harris So Deeply Psychologically Wounded Trump That He’s Refusing To Debate Again

    Kamala Harris So Deeply Psychologically Wounded Trump That He’s Refusing To Debate Again

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    Mary Trump explained that her uncle Donald still has not recovered from the narcissistic wound caused by Kamala Harris at the debate, which is why he is refusing to debate again.

    Harris campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon announced on Saturday that Harris has accepted a CNN invitation to debate in October:

    The American people deserve another opportunity to see Vice President Kamala Harris and Donald Trump debate before they cast their ballots. It would be unprecedented in modern history for there to just be one general election debate. Debates offer a unique chance for voters to see the candidates side by side and take stock of their competing visions for America.

    Vice President Harris is ready for another opportunity to share a stage with Donald Trump , and she has accepted CNN’s invitation to a debate on October 23. Donald Trump should have no problem agreeing to this debate. It is the same format and setup as the CNN debate he attended and said he won in June, when he praised CNN’s moderators, rules, and ratings.

    Trump said at his North Carolina rally that some supporters walked out on while he was still talking that it was too late to hold another debate.

    On Sunday, the ex-president’s niece, Mary Trump explained the real reason why her uncle won’t debate again, “He’s still suffering from the narcissistic injury Vice President Harris inflicted on him at the first debate, which will be the only debate because Donald will never ever allow himself to be in that kind of vulnerable position again.”

    Video:

     

    Trump won’t debate again, not because of timing, but because Kamala Harris did so much damage to him mentally that he doesn’t have the mental strength and ability to face her again. Harris many have mentally broken Trump to the point where he would rather lose the election than face her again.

    To comment on this story, join us on Reddit.

    Jason Easley
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    Jason Easley

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