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  • 8 takeaways from Trump’s State of the Union address

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    WASHINGTON — In his first State of the Union address of his second term, President Donald Trump on Tuesday night declared that “our nation is back — bigger, better, richer and stronger than ever before.” He also proclaimed that the state of the nation is “strong.”

    Trump’s speech to a joint session of Congress — at 108 minutes, a new record long for a State of the Union — touched on a wide range of topics, including the economy, immigration, foreign affairs and the country’s upcoming 250th anniversary. At times, he lashed out at congressional Democrats for not applauding his policies, while Republicans cheered on the president at every turn.

    Here are eight takeaways from the address. For an in-depth recap, visit Spectrum News’ live blog.

    Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., reacts as President Donald Trump gives his State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026. (Kenny Holston/The New York Times via AP, Pool)

    Trump defends immigration crackdown, clashes with Dems in attendance

    The president took several opportunities to highlight what his administration has done to reduce illegal immigration. He contended that “zero illegal aliens have been admitted to the United States” over the past nine months through the border.  

    Trump later asked attendees to stand if they believed “the first duty of the American government is to protect American citizens, not illegal aliens” and condemned Democrats for not showing their approval for the statement.  

    “You should be ashamed of yourselves for not standing up,” Trump said. “That is why I’m also asking you to end deadly sanctuary cities that protect the criminals and enact serious penalties for public officials who block the removal of criminal aliens — in many cases, drug lords, murderers all over our country.” 

    Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., was at one point shown pointing her finger back at Trump and appearing to say, “You should be ashamed” in response.  

    Trump blames Democrats for affordability concerns

    After blaming former President Joe Biden for inflation, Trump put the onus on Democrats for affordability concerns.

    “You caused that problem,” Trump said to Democrats, prompting Republican lawmakers to stand and applaud. 

     He called Democratic-led criticism about affordability a “dirty, rotten lie.” 

    The president touted his economic record over the last year. He said inflation has fallen to its lowest level in more than five years, dropping to 1.7% in the last quarter of 2025. He also said gas prices had fallen to below $2 per gallon in some parts of the country. 

     He took credit for declining mortgage rates and a rising stock market.  

    Trump calls Supreme Court tariff decision ‘very unfortunate,’ pledges to use alternatives to impose import duties

    Trump took a measured tone when talking about the Supreme Court ruling issued Friday that invalidated his use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose sweeping tariffs on most U.S. trading partners around the globe. 

     “Just four days ago, an unfortunate ruling from the United States Supreme Court. It just came down, very unfortunate ruling,” Trump said.  

    The language was strikingly different from how he described the decision, as well as the justices whom he had appointed and who ruled against his tariffs, in a news conference on the day the decision was announced. 

    Four justices were in attendance at the State of the Union: Chief Justice John Roberts, who authored Friday’s opinion, and Justices Brett Kavanaugh, Elena Kagan and Amy Coney Barrett. Roberts and Barrett – along with Justice Neil Gorsuch – sided with liberal justices in ruling against Trump’s usage of IEEPA to levy the import duties.  

    Trump has said he plans to impose a 15% global tariff on top of existing import duties, and on Tuesday he contended that “congressional action will not be necessary.” One of the statutes that the Trump administration has said would be used to impose tariffs puts a 150-day cap on their implementation “unless extended by an Act of the Congress.” 

    President Donald Trump delivers the State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress in the House chamber at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026. (Kenny Holston/The New York Times via AP, Pool)

    President Donald Trump delivers the State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress in the House chamber at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026. (Kenny Holston/The New York Times via AP, Pool)

    Trump said tech companies will have to ‘provide for their own power needs’

    The president said his administration planned to address concerns over the amount of power used by data centers with a “unique strategy” to make tech companies construct their own electricity infrastructure.  

    “We’re telling the major tech companies that they have the obligation to provide for their own power needs,” he said. “They can build their own power plants as part of their factory so that no one’s prices will go up, and in many cases, prices of electricity will go down for the community.”  

    The president noted that many Americans have been growing increasingly concerned about the power demands of companies involved in artificial intelligence.  

    Trump did not provide details about the logistics of the plan other than calling it a “new rate payer protection pledge.” 

    Trump says Iran has yet to say they will never have a nuclear weapon

    On Iran, Trump noted that his administration is currently in negotiations with the country’s leadership but said they have yet to say “those secret words” that they “will never have a nuclear weapon.” 

    Trump went on to say that his “preference” is to solve the situation with Iran through diplomacy but suggested other options are on the table if that doesn’t work. 

    “But one thing is certain: I will never allow the world’s No. 1 sponsor of terror, which they are by far, to have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said. “Can’t let that happen.” 

    Trump has been urging Iran to make a nuclear deal with the U.S. and officials from both sides have been involved in talks in Geneva. The president responded to a reporter’s questions at an unrelated event last week by confirming that limited strikes against Iran were an option and has been sending U.S. resources to the area.  

    Trump’s comments on Iran came as he was talking about his efforts to end wars and usher in peace around the world. He started by touting his administration’s strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites this past summer. 

    Trump blames Democrats for partial shutdown of Department of Homeland Security

    As Democrats and Republicans continue to wrangle over immigration enforcement reform to restore funding to the Department of Homeland Security, Trump blamed Democrats for the partial government shutdown, which was in its 11th day. 

    “They have closed the agency responsible for protecting Americans from terrorists and murderers,” Trump said.  

    He demanded the “full and immediate restoration of all funding” for DHS, which oversees the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and “for helping people clean up their snow. We have no money because of the Democrats.” 

    The Northeast has been hit with blizzard conditions in recent days. FEMA helps reimburse local governments for snow removal costs during designated periods of record snowfall. 

    Shortly before the speech Tuesday, legislation to fund the department failed to advance in the Senate yet again as every Democrat present except Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania voted against it. There has been little sign of movement toward an agreement to reopen DHS since it shut down 10 days ago.

    Trump again expresses voter fraud claims, calls for new requirements

    The president used his address to reiterate his long-held and frequently mentioned qualms with elections in America while pressing lawmakers to pass a Republican bill seeking to implement new proof of citizenship and photo identification requirements to vote.  

    Without citing evidence, Trump claimed that “cheating is rampant” in U.S. elections before going on to call for all voters to show a photo ID and proof of citizenship to vote and an end to most voting by mail.  

    “Why would anybody not want voter ID? One reason: because they want to cheat,” Trump claimed, again without citing evidence.  

    He asserted such a prospect was widely popular, which comes as the White House has been sharing polling on the voter ID issue. 

    Republicans and Trump have been pushing a bill called the SAVE America Act that would require a person to provide proof of citizenship when registering to vote and “present an eligible photo identification document before voting.” It passed the House but faces a more difficult path in the Senate, where it would need some Democratic support to overcome the chamber’s filibuster rule.  

    Trump has long claimed there was fraud in the 2020 election despite audits, courts and the president’s former attorney general not finding evidence of widespread fraud. 

    President invokes America 250 to begin, conclude remarks

    In closing out his State of the Union, Trump returned to the theme that he focused on at the start of his remarks: the nation’s upcoming 250th anniversary.  

    “Less than five months from now, our country will celebrate an epic milestone in American history,” Trump said during the first few minutes of his speech.  

    The U.S. has planned a number of events this year to mark the anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. 

    “The revolution that began in 1776 has not ended,” Trump said in concluding his remarks. “It still continues because the flame of liberty and independence still burns in the heart of every American patriot, and our future will be bigger, better, brighter, bolder and more glorious than ever before.”

    The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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    Christina Santucci, Susan Carpenter, Maddie Gannon

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  • Senate Banking panel GOP chair: Powell didn’t commit crime

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    WASHINGTON — Democrats and one Republican on a key committee are seeking to hold up advancing President Donald Trump’s choice to be the next Federal Reserve chair until the administration’s investigation into the current one is put to rest.

    It comes as the top Republican on the panel expressed confidence that Kevin Warsh’s nomination will move forward soon, even as he said current Fed Chair Jerome Powell did not commit a crime. 

    What You Need To Know

    • This week, all Democratic members of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs — which plays an essential role in the process of confirming nominees for the Federal Reserve — sent a letter to the panel’s Republican chair, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, urging him not to hold a hearing on the president’s pick for the next head of the Fed until investigations launched under the Trump administration into Powell and Fed Governor Lisa Cook have been closed

    • It echoed what one Republican on the committee, Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, whose support is likely critical, expressed after Trump announced his pick of former Federal Reserve official Kevin Warsh to be the next chair last week

    • Powell’s announced last month that the Justice Department is investigating him regarding renovations to the Fed’s office buildings and his testimony to Congress about it

    • Scott said in an interview this week that he does not believe Powell committed in crime in his testimony; He also expressed confidence Warsh’s nomination would move forward 
    • Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent declined to rule out the possibility that the administration would seek to sue Warsh if he doesn’t lower interest rates during an appearance in front of the Senate Banking Committee on Capitol Hill Thursday

    This week, all Democratic members of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs — which plays an essential role in the process of confirming nominees for the Federal Reserve — sent a letter to the panel’s Republican chair, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, urging him not to hold a hearing on the president’s pick for the next head of the Fed until investigations launched under the Trump administration into Powell and Fed governor Lisa Cook have been closed. 

    “The nomination comes after months of repeated efforts by President Trump and his Administration to influence the Fed by intimidation, including by opening criminal investigations into Fed Governor Lisa Cook and Fed Chair Jerome Powell,” the 11 Democrats on the committee wrote in the letter. “These ongoing efforts by the President to control the Fed — which must be able to exercise independent judgment — undermine public confidence in any nomination for chair at this time.”

    It echoed what one Republican on the committee, Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, whose support is likely critical, expressed after Trump announced his pick of former Federal Reserve official Kevin Warsh to be the next chair last week. 

    “My position has not changed: I will oppose the confirmation of any Federal Reserve nominee, including for the position of Chairman, until the DOJ’s inquiry into Chairman Powell is fully and transparently resolved,” Tillis wrote on X despite noting that he believes Warsh is a “qualified nominee with a deep understanding of monetary policy.”

    Tillis — who announced his retirement from Congress at the end of his term after a high-profile spat with the president — initially pledged to to oppose any nominee for the Fed, including Trump’s upcoming pick for chair, in the wake of Powell’s announcement last month that the Justice Department is investigating him regarding renovations to the Fed’s office buildings and his testimony to Congress about it. The revelation caused a firestorm on Capitol Hill. The administration has also sought to fire Cook over mortgage fraud allegations — which she denies — in a case that is now in front of the Supreme Court.

    Trump has consistently criticized Powell since he returned to the White House, making clear his disapproval of the Fed chair for not lowering interest rates as much or as quickly as he would like. The president has held off on moving to try to oust him, however, often citing the fact that Powell’s term as chairman is up in May. 

    Despite noting he is glad the country is set to get a new Federal Reserve chair, Scott said in a notable statement Wednesday he did not believe Powell committed a crime during his testimony in front of the committee the South Carolina Republican chairs about the central bank’s renovation project. 

    “I found him to be inept at doing his job, but ineptness or being incompetent is not a criminal act,” Scott told Fox News in an interview regarding Powell. “I believe what he did was make a gross error in judgment. He was not prepared for that hearing. I do not believe that he committed a crime during the hearing.”

    Scott went on to express confidence that Warsh’s nomination will be able to move forward despite the demands from Tillis and the panel’s Democrats. 

    “I believe that we’re going to resolve that issue, we’re going to move forward, and Thom Tillis will be voting for Kevin Warsh as the next chairman of the Federal Reserve,” he said. 

    Trump announced his pick of Warsh days ago after weeks of speculation about whom he would tap for the role as the president has left no doubts that he hopes the person would seek to lower interest rates. 

    Trump has said that he didn’t ask Warsh to commit to cutting rates ahead of time — referring to such a request as “inappropriate” — but has made clear he believes his pick wants to and will. 

    Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, however, declined Thursday to rule out the possibility that the administration would seek to sue Warsh if he doesn’t lower interest ratesduring an appearance in front of the Senate Banking Committee on Capitol Hill Thursday. 

    “That is up to the president,” Bessent said during a Senate Banking Committee hearing.

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    Maddie Gannon

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  • Trump doubts U.S.-Venezuela war, won’t comment on land strikes

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    WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump dismissed the idea of the U.S. going to war against Venezuela, even as his administration’s strikes against vessels in the region and decision to move a carrier strike group to the area have raised speculation. 

    At the same time, Trump did not rule out land strikes in the Latin American country, declining to detail any plans, but said he believed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro could soon be out of power. 

    What You Need To Know

    • President Donald Trump dismissed the idea of the U.S. going to war against Venezuela, even as his administration’s strikes against vessels in the region and decision to move a carrier strike group to the area have raised speculation

    • At the same time, Trump did not rule out land strikes in the Latin American country, declining to detail any plans, but said he believed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro could soon be out of power

    • Over the last two months the Trump administration has carried out more than a dozen strikes against vessels at sea it says are smuggling drugs from places such as Venezuela as part of Trump’s declared war on cartels and the U.S. has built up a large presence in the region

    • The repeated strikes have raised some concern on Capitol Hill about the administration’s authority to wage them without Congress’ involvement as well as whether it has sufficient intelligence about who it is targeting and evidence that the boats are carrying drugs

    “I doubt it, I don’t think so,” Trump said when asked in an interview on CBS News’ “60 Minutes” that was conducted Friday and aired Sunday if the U.S. was going to war with Venezuela.

    He went on to reiterate his frequently expressed criticisms of the Venezuela, including that it has “emptied their prisons into our country” — for which there is no evidence to support — and is facilitating the flow of drugs into the U.S.

    Asked then if his moves in the region were about stopping the flow of drugs or ousting Maduro, the president said they were about “many things,” not rejecting the idea that getting rid of the Venezuelan leader — whom the U.S. has brought narcoterrorism charges against — was involved. He responded affirmatively when asked if Maduro’s days as Venezuela’s leader are numbered.

    “I would say yeah, I think so, yeah,” Trump said. 

    Trump would not say, however, whether he would escalate the strikes his administration has been carrying out against vessels in the region to target land in Venezuela but suggested his answer shouldn’t be taken as a signal of where he is leaning either way. 

    “I’m not saying it’s true or untrue,” Trump said before stressing that he wouldn’t talk to a reporter about such a potential move. 

    Over the last two months the Trump administration has carried out more than a dozen strikes against vessels at sea that it says were smuggling drugs from places such as Venezuela, with the latest announcement of another boat being hit coming just this weekend. The strikes began mostly on ships in the Caribbean near Venezuela but have expanded recently to the eastern Pacific. 

    The attacks have killed more than 60 people, according to figures shared by the administration when announcing each hit, and has been presented as a key part of Trump’s declared war on cartels. The president in the interview stressed his belief that Venezuela in particular has “been treating us very badly” when it comes to drugs and noted the role of Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.

    The repeated strikes have raised some concern on Capitol Hill about the administration’s authority to wage them without Congress’ involvement as well as whether it has sufficient intelligence about who it is targeting and evidence that the boats are carrying drugs. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., who blasted the administration last week for what he said was Democrats being left out of a briefing on the strikes given to Republican senators, encouraged it in an interview over the weekend to “come clean” about the legal basis and justifications for the attacks.

    “And the fact is, if, as the administration says, these are all bad guys, and yeah, they’re all drugs on these boats, interdict these boats and show the world,” Warner said Sunday on CBS News’ “Face the Nation.”

    House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., meanwhile, argued in an interview on Fox News on Sunday that the administration has briefed top lawmakers of both parties, known as the “Gang of Eight,” and has “exquisite intelligence” about the strikes that is “reliable.” He said, however, that he could not get into classified information. 

    Along with the strikes, the administration’s move to build a robust U.S. military presence in the Caribbean and off the coast of Venezuela in recent weeks, including its decision to deploy the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group to the Latin American region, has stirred up talks about whether Trump is preparing to escalate efforts. Asked about the moves last week, a close ally of the president, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., called U.S. land strikes in Venezuela a “real possibility” and said he believes Trump has made a decision regarding Maduro that it’s “time for him to go.” 

    Trump has also said he authorized the CIA to carry out covert operations inside Venezuela.

     

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    Maddie Gannon

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  • Trump heads to Asia where he will meet with China’s Xi

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    WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump departed Washington Friday night for Asia with trade and U.S. relations with China top of mind. 

    The nearly weeklong trip will include visits to three countries as well as a refueling stop in Qatar, touch two separate summits and include individual meetings with multiple heads of state. But all eyes are likely to be fixated on the end of his trip when he is set to hold a high-stakes sit-down with Chinese President Xi Jinping amid a recently reinflamed trade war between the world’s two largest economies and with the threat of massive new tariffs looming.

    What You Need To Know

    • President Donald Trump departed Washington on Friday night for Asia with trade and U.S. relations with China top of mind
    • The nearly weeklong trip will include visits to three countries as well as a refueling stop in Qatar, touch two separate summits and include individual meetings with multiple heads of state

    • But all eyes are likely to be fixated on the end of his trip when he is set to hold a high-stakes sit-down with Chinese President Xi Jinping amid a recently reinflamed trade war between the world’s two largest economies and with the threat of massive new tariffs looming

    • Trump is set to meet with the leaders of Qatar, Malaysia, Japan, South Korea and China and take part in events for the ASEAN and APEC summits

    Briefing reporters on a phone call, senior U.S. officials said Trump will sign a “series of economic agreements” over the course of the trip, including what they described as “forward looking and tough” trade deals as well as a new agreement on critical minerals. On the first leg of the visit, Trump is also set to preside over a “significant peace agreement,” the officials added. 

    Before arriving in Malaysia on Sunday morning, Trump will speak with the emir and prime minister of Qatar aboard Air Force One during a refueling stop at Al Udeid Air Base, a White House official said early Saturday. Secretary of State Marco Rubio would join the president for the meeting with Qatari leaders, the official said.

    Once in Malaysia, the U.S. president will meet with its prime minister, ​​Anwar Ibrahim, and then attend a working dinner with leaders from a bloc of countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, also known as ASEAN, as part of the group’s 2025 summit, press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Thursday. 

    Trump will head to Japan on Monday and meet with its newly elected leader and the country’s first female prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, in Tokyo on Tuesday, Leavitt added. While there, senior U.S. officials said the president will also pay a visit to U.S. troops in the region. 

    He will set off Wednesday for Busan, South Korea, where he will sit down with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and take part in two events for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, or APEC, summit, including delivering keynote remarks at a CEO luncheon and joining a working dinner, according to Leavitt. 

    APEC, a forum established in 1989 to focus on the economies of nations in the Asia-Pacific, includes 21 countries, including China, Russia, Australia, Canada, Mexico and the U.S.

    Thursday is when Trump is scheduled to hold his first in-person meeting of his second term with Xi, Leavitt said, before he heads back to the White House. 

    Trump spent this week leading up to the meeting projecting confidence it would lead to a successful outcome, with a lot on the line for both countries. 

    Officials were able to temporarily cool a trade war that exploded this spring between the U.S. and China and saw each country place tariffs of well over 100% on one another. But tensions flared again after China’s announcement earlier this month that it was placing new export controls on its rare earth minerals. The move to put restrictions on access to its critical minerals, which are considered essential for manufacturing and technology moving forward, led Trump to vow to increase the tariffs he’s placed on the country by 100 percentage points, resulting in a total rate of 157%, if a deal isn’t worked out by Nov. 1.

    China processes nearly 90% of the world’s rare earths, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and Trump brought Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of Australia, a country fertile with rare earth resources of its own, to the White House this week to sign a critical minerals deal in a bid to counter Beijing’s commanding presence in the space. 

    In the immediate wake of the announcement, the U.S. president also hinted at calling off the yet-to-be-scheduled meeting with his Chinese counterpart but tides shifted again just days later when he pledged “all will be fine” with China and insisted Xi “just had a bad moment.”

    This week, Trump has insisted his administration will be able to reach a “very fair deal” with China on trade and has touted his relationship with his Chinese counterpart. Two of his top trade officials are already engaging in talks in Asia with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng.

    “I think we’re going to come out very well, and everyone’s going to be very happy,” Trump declared to reporters Thursday regarding the upcoming meeting. 

    Trump also said he will discuss China’s role in the flow of fentanyl into the U.S. with his Chinese counterpart. 

    Despite calling on European nations to halt buying oil from Russia as he hopes to hinder its economy as part of his effort to end the war in Ukraine and putting higher tariffs on the U.S. ally of India for doing so, Trump has yet to take the same action against China. But he told reporters this week he plans to bring the topic up with Xi.

    “What I’ll really be talking to him about is, how do we end the war with Russia and Ukraine, whether it’s through oil or energy or anything else?” Trump said in the Oval Office on Wednesday, the same day his administration announced new sanctions on Russian oil companies. 

    Trump also told reporters that day he believed he and Xi could reach deals on critical minerals, soybeans and “maybe even nuclear.” 

    Democrats and some Republicans are also fuming over his administration’s decision to lend an economic hand to Argentina, even after the Latin American country cut export taxes on agricultural products, including soybeans. China has been the biggest export market for U.S. soybeans, and lawmakers argue that boosting Argentina is hurting U.S. farmers. 

    In Asia, the U.S. leader is also likely to talk trade with Japan and South Korea. 

    The administration cut a deal earlier this year with Japan that is set to include the country investing billions in the U.S. but Trump will now be talking details with a new prime minister. 

    Meanwhile, the trade deal that the U.S. made with South Korea still has specifics to be worked out, and the meeting between Trump and his South Korean counterpart comes just weeks after the Trump administration’s immigration raid at a Hyundai plant in Georgia led to the arrest of more than 300 South Korean workers.

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    Maddie Gannon

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  • Funding bill fails in Senate again on shutdown Day 3 with no deal in sight

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    WASHINGTON — The Senate on Friday once again failed to pass a short-term funding bill to reopen the federal government, making it likely that the shutdown now in its third day will stretch into a new week. 

    What You Need To Know

    • The Senate on Friday once again failed to pass a short-term funding bill to reopen the federal government, making it likely that the shutdown now in its third day will stretch into a second week
    • Two Democratic senators and one independent who caucuses with Democrats crossed party lines to join all but one Republican in backing the bill, which seeks to keep the government funded through mid-November and passed the GOP-House earlier this month; The same three also joined with the GOP in backing the bill two previous times
    • Republicans control both chambers of Congress and the White House; however, because their support is needed for a funding bill to pass in the Senate, Democrats are demanding changes to address the “health care crisis” in America they say was created by the GOP

    • The House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries made clear to reporters on Thursday that his party wants extensions on subsidies for those with health insurance plans through the Affordable Care Act set to expire at year’s end

    • Potentially complicating matters on Democrats’ demand to extend the Affordable Care Act subsidies, Johnson on Friday said Republicans want to bring “reforms” to the program, also referred to as Obamacare

    Two Democratic senators and one independent who caucuses with Democrats crossed party lines to join all but one Republican in backing the bill, which passed the GOP-House earlier this month and seeks to keep the government funded through mid-November. The same three also joined with the GOP in backing the bill two previous times. Two senators, one Democrat and one Republican, did not vote. Friday’s vote marked the Senate’s fourth attempt at ushering the funding measure through the upper chamber. 

    Republican leader Sen. John Thune of South Dakota signaled earlier that he would save the next try for next week, telling reporters at a press conference “hopefully over the weekend they’ll have a chance to think about it,” referring to Democrats.

    After Friday’s vote, House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana declared that Tuesday of next week through the following Monday would be a district work period, meaning lawmakers in his chamber will not return to the Capitol. 

    The Democratic leader Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York lamented at a press conference Friday afternoon that Republicans have “wasted a week.”

    State of play

    Senators are now expected to head home for the weekend with little glimmer of a deal in sight. Thune indicated Friday morning that as of now, he is still banking on enough Democrats relenting under the pressure of repeated votes and flipping sides to turn the lights back on. 

    “We will have a vote in another hour or two – it will be the fourth time the Democrats will have an opportunity to vote to keep the government open,” Thune said before the vote. “Now, at some point, reason, good sense, common sense, has to take effect here, because that’s really what this is.”

    But so far there has been no sign of such a scenario, with no new Democrats flipping in Friday’s vote. But per Senate rules, Republicans need 60 votes for the bill to pass, meaning seven Democrats – or eight if Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky continues to vote no – need to support the measure. 

    Along with the GOP-supported, short-term funding patch, senators have also rejected a counter bill Democrats offered that would reopen the government and address their health care concerns. 

    Republicans control both chambers of Congress and the White House. However, because their support is needed for a funding bill to pass in the Senate, Democrats are demanding changes to address the “health care crisis” in America they say was created by the GOP.

    Specifically, Democrats also want extensions on subsidies for those with health insurance plans through the Affordable Care Act, which have lowered costs for millions of Americans but are set to expire at year’s end, in the temporary funding patch. 

    The House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York made clear to reporters on Thursday that his party wants a permanent extension of the health care credits. 

    “Everyone is about to experience dramatically increased premiums, copays, and deductibles because of the Republican health care crisis – everyone in America,” Jeffries said at a press conference on Friday. “And as that happens, they’ll know that this is a result of Donald Trump and failed Republican policies who have launched the largest assault on health care in American history.”

    Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., have stressed they are ready to engage in bipartisan negotiations over funding and are slamming Republicans for being unwilling to do so. For the third-straight day, Johnson insisted again on Friday that the short-term funding bill passed in his chamber was as “clean” as can be – meaning it aims to keep spending at the current level previously passed by Congress and doesn’t contain tacked-on policies supported by Republicans – and therefore, there is nothing in it that can be negotiated. 

    Republicans say they are willing to have conversations about the health care subsidies but argue that the issue doesn’t need to be dealt with until closer to the end of the year when they expire and that the government needs to be kept open first. 

    Responding to a question about Democrats wanting agreements in writing, Johnson on Friday said the other side of the aisle wants “immediate, easy answers” on things that “take a long time to deliberate.”

    Potentially complicating matters on Democrats’ demand to extend the Affordable Care Act subsidies, Johnson said Republicans want to bring “reforms” to the program, also known as Obamacare.

    “But we have more reforms coming to try to fix Obamacare, which is not working for the people,” he said. “But you need common sense, responsible Republicans who are serious about policy to fix that for the people, and that’s what we’re working to do.”

    Thune reiterated the sentiment, saying he couldn’t make commitments on the subsidies because “that’s not something that we can guarantee that there are the votes there to do.” 

    The president’s position

    The shutdown has the potential to impact the economy, with hundreds of thousands of workers expected to be furloughed. And President Donald Trump has marveled at the “unprecedented opportunity” he says Democrats in Congress handed him to enact potentially permanent layoff and cuts to “Democrat Agencies” during the shutdown. 

    The president said he was meeting with his Office of Management and Budget chief, Russ Vought to discuss just that.

    White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, who referred to the potentially permanent layoffs as an “unfortunate consequence” of the shutdown at Friday’s press briefing, said earlier this week that the firings were “imminent” and could be in the thousands. 

    “Unfortunately, we’re having to do a massive review of the bureaucracy to be good stewards of the American taxpayer dollar, and it’s the Democrats who have forced the White House and the president into this position to shut the government down,” Leavitt said Friday. 

    Despite being active on social media, Trump has not held public events over the last couple of days of the shutdown, leading Jeffries to accuse him Friday of being in a “witness protection program.” 

    Leavitt called that “ridiculous fodder” and pointed to the president’s work behind the scenes. 

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    Maddie Gannon

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  • Fox News to host Trump town hall in Georgia focused on women’s issues

    Fox News to host Trump town hall in Georgia focused on women’s issues

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    Fox News will hold a town hall with former President Donald Trump next week focused specifically on issues impacting women, a voting bloc that polls show he has struggled to reach.  

    The network announced the one-hour town hall event in a press release on Friday.

    The event will be held in Cumming, Georgia, a key battleground state, and will be moderated by Fox News host Harris Faulkner. It will be pre-taped on Tuesday before airing on Wednesday at 11 a.m. EST. The audience will be made up entirely of women and will hit on issues such as the economy, abortion, immigration and health care, the network said, pointing to a poll it conducted in September showing those topics high on the list of ones women care about. 

    “Women constitute the largest group of registered and active voters in the United States, so it is paramount that female voters understand where the presidential candidates stand on the issues that matter to them most,” Faulkner said in a release. “I am looking forward to providing our viewers with an opportunity to learn more about where former President Trump stands on these topics.”

    Polls show Trump’s Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, holds a sizable edge with female voters heading into the November election. An NBC News poll in September found the vice president with a more than 20 percentage-point lead among the voting bloc. 

    Fox News noted it has offered to host Harris for town hall “multiple times” since she became the Democratic presidential nominee and the invitation still stands. 

    The news comes one day after CNN invited Harris and Trump for separate town hall events in lieu of a Oct. 23 debate between the two that the network initially offered. Harris quickly accepted the network’s offer. Trump has not yet responded to the invitation, nor has he responded to a request from Spectrum News about the event.

    Fox also recently invited both candidates to debate in late October. But in a post on his social media platform on Wednesday night, Trump said that “THERE WILL BE NO REMATCH,” claiming that he won both the debate against Harris last month and a CNN-hosted debate against then-Democratic nominee President Joe Biden in June, which precipitated the incumbent’s exit from the race following a shaky performance.

    “The problem with another debate is that it’s just too late, voting has already started,” Trump said last month in declining the CNN debate, blaming Harris for “turning down” an invitation to debate with Trump on Fox News. “But now she wants to do a debate right before the election.”

    Trump and Biden’s final debate of the 2020 election cycle took place on Oct. 22. Their first debate didn’t happen until Sept. 29.

    Harris’ campaign has admonished Trump for not agreeing to another debate, calling his stance on Thursday “a disservice to the American people.”

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  • Trump meets with Ukraine’s Zelenskyy in New York

    Trump meets with Ukraine’s Zelenskyy in New York

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    Former President Donald Trump on Friday touted his relationship with both the Russian and Ukrainian leaders and reiterated his pledge to “settle” the war between the two countries if he is elected in November before he officially takes office. 

    What You Need To Know

    • Former President Donald Trump touted his relationship with both the Russian and Ukrainian leaders and reiterated his pledge to “settle” the war between the two countries if he is elected in November before he officially takes office
    • Trump’s remarks came ahead of a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelesnkyy in New York on Friday
    • Zelenskyy on Friday told reporters he believes he and Trump share a “common view” that Putin cannot prevail in Ukraine 
    • The 2024 election cast a shadow over Friday’s meeting and Zelenskyy’s visit to the U.S. this week as the result on Nov. 5 could have significant implications for the future of U.S. support for Ukraine amid its battle with Russia
    • Vice President Kamala Harris has pledged to stand with Ukraine and warned against isolationism in an implicit criticism of her Republican rival, Trump, and some in the GOP who have followed his lead in their views of America’s place on the world stage

    Trump’s remarks came ahead of a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in New York on Friday. 

    “I think long before Jan. 20, before I would take the presidency — it’s Jan. 20, but long before that — I think that we can work out something that’s good for both sides,” Trump said during brief remarks to the press. 

    With Zelenskyy standing by his side during the remarks, Trump spoke highly of the Ukrainian leader, calling him a “piece of steel” and noting that he has “been through a lot.” The former president also went on to assert that he has a “very good relationship” with Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

    His relationship with both, Trump said, would allow him to nail down a deal to end the more than 2½-year-old war. 

    “I think if we win, I think we’re going to get it resolved very quickly,” Trump said. “But, you know, it takes two to tango, and we’re going to have a good meeting today, and I think the fact that we’re even together today is a very good sign.” 

    Trump also asserted that Zelenskyy stood up for him by saying the former president “did nothing wrong” on a 2019 phone call between the two that was at the center of Trump’s first impeachment.

    For his part, Zelenskyy on Friday told reporters he believes he and Trump share a “common view” that Putin cannot prevail in Ukraine. He noted the two had not met in person in five years and acknowledged the uncertainty around the election. 

    “That’s why I decided to meet with both candidates,” Zelenskyy added. 

    The 2024 election cast a shadow over Friday’s meeting and Zelenskyy’s visit to the U.S. this week, where he attended the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly and huddled with lawmakers, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee for president, in Washington. 

    The result on Nov. 5, both in the presidential race as well as contests that will decide which party controls the House and Senate, could have significant implications for the future of U.S. support for Ukraine amid its war with Russia. 

    Harris has pledged to stand with Ukraine and warned against isolationism in an implicit criticism of her Republican rival, Trump, and some in the GOP who have followed his lead in their views of America’s place on the world stage. 

    “So then, the United States supports Ukraine, not out of charity but because it is in our own strategic interest,” Harris said Thursday. “We will continue to provide the security assistance Ukraine needs to succeed on the battlefield.” 

    Trump has lobbed criticisms at Ukraine and Zelenskyy on the campaign trail this week, describing the country as “demolished” and “in rubble” with its people “dead” and questioning the amount of aid the U.S. is providing to its war effort. 

    “We continue to give billions of dollars to a man who refuses to make a deal, Zelenskyy,” Trump said at a campaign event this week. 

    In an interview with The New Yorker this week, Zelenskyy pushed back on the former president’s assertions that he could settle the war in Ukraine and criticized Trump’s running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance as “too radical.” 

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  • GOP-led states sue to block Biden’s student debt relief plan

    GOP-led states sue to block Biden’s student debt relief plan

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    Seven Republican-led states have filed a new lawsuit seeking to block President Joe Biden’s latest and yet-to-be-finalized proposal to forgive student debt, this time accusing his Department of Education of moving to implement the plan imminently without notifying the public. 

    What You Need To Know

    • Seven Republican-led states have filed a new lawsuit seeking to block President Joe Biden’s latest and yet-to-be-finalized proposal to forgive student debt
    • In the suit, the attorneys general from Missouri, Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, North Dakota and Ohio claim they obtained documents showing that Education Secretary Miguel Cardona is “unlawfully” attempting to wipe out billions in loans and “quietly” instructed contractors to begin doing so via the new relief program as soon as this week
    • The lawsuit marks just the latest legal blow the Biden administration has suffered in its efforts to take on debt from higher education – a major campaign promise of the president who is set to leave office in less than five months
    • Despite the legal setbacks, the administration says it has canceled more than $168 billion in student loans for 4.8 million borrowers


    In the suit, the attorneys general from Missouri, Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, North Dakota and Ohio claim they obtained documents showing that Education Secretary Miguel Cardona is “unlawfully” attempting to wipe out billions in loans and “quietly” instructed contractors to begin doing so via the new relief program as soon as this week.

    “This is the third time the Secretary has unlawfully tried to mass cancel hundreds of billions of dollars in loans. Courts stopped him the first two times, when he tried to do so openly,” the lawsuit reads. “So now he is trying to do so through cloak and dagger.” 

    Spectrum News has reached out to the Department of Education for comment. 

    The lawsuit marks just the latest legal blow the Biden administration has suffered in its efforts to take on debt from higher education – a major campaign promise of the president who is set to leave office in less than five months. 

    The yet-to-be-finalized plan has been in the works since the Supreme Court struck down Biden’s original and broad proposal to forgive up to $20,000 in student debt for all Americans making under a certain income. 

    The new and narrower proposal, outlined by Biden during a trip to Wisconsin in April, would provide at least some level of loan forgiveness for more than 30 million people. It focuses on specific categories of borrowers: those who now owe more on their students loans than when they entered repayment due to interest; certain borrowers who have been in repayment for more than 20 or 25 years; those who would be eligible for forgiveness based on actions already taken but have not applied; and those who enrolled in low-financial value programs, such as an institution that failed the department’s accountability standards. 

    The plan was expected to be finalized this fall and the administration began emailing people who may be eligible for relief earlier this summer. 

    The president’s program to lower monthly payments for student borrowers based on income, called the SAVE plan, is also facing legal battles. Just last week, the Supreme Court kept the plan on pause while lawsuits seeking to block it play out.

    In a press release on the latest lawsuit, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey touted that he and colleagues “successfully halted” the Biden administration’s first two plans to cancel debt. 

    “They may be throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks, but my office is meeting them every step of the way,” he said. 

    Despite the legal setbacks, the administration says it has canceled more than $168 billion in student loans for 4.8 million borrowers.

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    Maddie Gannon

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  • Biden: Israeli PM not doing enough to secure cease-fire deal

    Biden: Israeli PM not doing enough to secure cease-fire deal

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    President Joe Biden said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was not doing enough to secure a cease-fire and hostage release agreement in the war in Gaza as the U.S. looks to get a final deal in place. 

    “No,” Biden said Monday when asked by reporters whether Netanyahu was doing enough.

    What You Need To Know

    • President Joe Biden said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was not doing enough to secure a cease-fire and hostage release agreement in the war in Gaza as the U.S. looks to get a final deal in place
    • The comment came after the bodies of six hostages, including an American-Israeli citizen, were found in a tunnel in Gaza over the weekend
    • Asked by reporters on Monday if the U.S. was planning on presenting a final deal to Israel and Hamas this week, the president replied “We’re very close to that” 
    • Earlier this summer, Biden told reporters that both Israel and Hamas had agreed to the general framework of a plan that the U.S. president laid out in a speech in May, but in the weeks since, White House officials have said the U.S., Qatar and Egypt were working on the final details of implementing the plan

    Biden spoke to reporters as he returned to the White House to meet with his team in the Situation Room on developments in the region.

    The comment came after the bodies of six hostages, including an American-Israeli citizen, were found in a tunnel in Gaza over the weekend after they were killed by Hamas. 

    The development led to Israelis taking to the streets to call on their prime minister to accept a ceasefire and hostage release proposal that the U.S., Qatar and Egypt have been trying to put in place for months. 

    Earlier this summer, Biden told reporters that both Israel and Hamas had agreed to the general framework of a plan that the U.S. president laid out in a speech in May. But in the weeks since, White House officials have said the U.S., Qatar and Egypt were working on the final details of implementing the plan. 

    Asked by reporters on Monday if the U.S. was planning on presenting a final deal to Israel and Hamas this week, the president replied “We’re very close to that.” 

    “Hope springs eternal,” he said when a reporter followed up asking why he believes this time will be successful, invoking a phrase he has often used in regards to this conflict. 

    Following his meeting in the Situation Room Monday morning, Biden told reporters as he was leaving the White House to hit the campaign trail that his team is in “the middle of negotiations” on a deal. He added that the negotiations are with his colleagues from Qatar and Egypt – who have been partners with the U.S. in trying to get a deal – and “not with him,” referring to Netanyahu. 

    “We’re still in negotiations, not with him, but with my colleagues from Qatar and from Egypt,” he said. 

    In a press conference on Monday, the Israeli prime minister pushed back on what he said was pressure from around the world, adding that Biden or anyone serious about achieving peace would ask Hamas to make concessions at this point rather than asking Israel to make more. 

    Biden, who has had a rocky relationship with his Israeli counterpart throughout the war, told reporters when he returned from the campaign trail on Monday that he will “eventually” speak to Netanyahu. 

    The president spoke with the parents of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, the American-Israeli hostage killed by Hamas and found over the weekend, saying in a statement he is “devastated and outraged.”

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  • Harris accepts Democratic presidential nomination, charts ‘a new way forward’

    Harris accepts Democratic presidential nomination, charts ‘a new way forward’

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    There were signs, funny costumes, and silly hats. There was a roll call vote that turned into a dance party. There were chants and cheers from “U-S-A” to “We’re Not Going Back,” and even “Lock Him Up.”

    There was an oversized copy of Project 2025. There were accolades about records as a prosecutor, as a U.S. Senator and as vice president. There were speeches about freedom and democracy, about abortion and education and every issue in between. There were protests and demonstrations and arrests.

    There were Obamas. There were Clintons. There was Joe Biden, passing the torch to his former running mate and vice president. There were would-be, passed-over running mates. There was a pep talk, as actual running mate Tim Walz channeled his high school football coaching days — complete with a fight song andcameo from his former players. 

    There were accolades and anecdotes from governors, senators, congressmen, activists, advocates, vice presidential hopefuls, former presidential candidates, and everything in between.

    There were celebrities, from Lil Jon to Kerry Washington, Mindy Kaling to Steph Curry (and his Olympic gold medal to boot) and even his coach in Golden State, Chicago Bulls legend Steve Kerr. There were musical performances, from Stevie Wonder’s “Higher Ground” to John Legend and Sheila E. paying tribute to Prince with “Let’s Go Crazy,” a nod to Minnesota’s Walz.

    And there were more than a few pointed comments about former President Donald Trump and his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance.

    But at the end of the final night of the Democratic National Convention, it came down to Vice President Kamala Harris, accepting the party’s nomination for president of the United States — becoming the first Black and South Asian woman to accept a major party’s nomination — and making the case for her vision of America’s future.

    Harris, who before ascending to Capitol Hill then the vice presidency, was a career prosecutor. And, as a prosecutor, she said she “charged every case not in the name of the victim, but in the name of the people, for one reason: in our system of justice, a harm against any one of us is a harm against all of us.”

    “To be clear,” she said, “my entire career, I’ve only had one client: the people.” 

    “And so on behalf of the people, on behalf of every American, regardless of party, race, gender, or the language your grandmother speaks, on behalf of my mother and everyone who has ever set out on their own unlikely journey, on behalf of Americans like the people I grew up with, people who work hard, chase their dreams and look out for one another, on behalf of everyone whose story could only be written in the greatest nation on Earth, I accept your nomination to be president of the United States of America.”

    ‘From the courthouse to the White House’: Harris leans on experience as a prosecutor

    Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris during the Democratic National Convention Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

    “The path that led me here in recent weeks was no doubt unexpected, but I’m no stranger to unlikely journeys,” Harris said of her march to the Democratic nomination, recounting the journey of her mother, Shymala, who immigrated to California from India with the “unshakable dream to be the scientist who would cure breast cancer.”

    Harris said that her mother was intended to return home for a traditional arranged marriage — but then she met Donald Harris, a student who emigrated from Jamaica. “They fell in love and got married, and that act of self-determination made my sister Maya and me.”

    She idolized her mother (“a five-foot-tall brown woman with an accent,” she said) who insisted that young Kamala never complain about injustice but “do something about it.”

    Harris said that when she learned that her high school best friend Wanda was being sexually abused by her stepfather, she did something. She said she insisted Wanda stay at the Harris family home, and she did.

    Harris told the audience that fighting for the American people, “from the courthouse to the White House, that has been my life’s work.”

    “I will tell you, these fights were not easy, and neither were the elections that put me in those offices,” Harris said. “We were underestimated at practically every turn, but we never gave up, because the future is always worth fighting for.”

    ‘Now is the time to get a hostage deal and a cease-fire deal done’: Harris calls for an end to the war in Gaza

    Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during the Democratic National Convention Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

    After vowing to keep the country’s military strong and pledging to stand up to Russian President Vladimir Putin and defend the people of Ukraine, Harris turned to the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, an issue that has been somewhat of a third-rail within Democratic politics — as evidenced by the protests in Chicago over the course of the DNC’s four days.

    Harris said that she and President Joe Biden are working “around the clock” to get a deal done to end the fighting in Gaza.

    “Now is the time to get a hostage deal and a cease-fire deal done,” she said, before vowing steadfast support for Israel.

    “And let me be clear — I will always stand up for Israel’s right to defend itself and I will always ensure Israel has the ability to defend itself, because the people of Israel must never again face the horror that a terrorist organization called Hamas caused on Oct. 7, including unspeakable sexual violence and the massacre of young people at a music festival.”

    She then immediately turned to the situation in Gaza.

    “At the same time, what has happened in Gaza over the last 10 months is devastating. So many innocent lives lost. Desperate, hungry people fleeing for safety over and over again, the scale of suffering is heartbreaking. President Biden and I are working to end this war, such that Israel is secure, the hostages are released, the suffering in Gaza ends and the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, security, freedom and self-determination.”

    That last line garnered one of the largest cheers of the night.

    “And know this, I will never hesitate to take whatever action is necessary to defend our forces and our interests against Iran and Iran-backed terrorists,” she vowed. “I will not cozy up to tyrants and dictators like Kim Jong Un, who are rooting for Trump — who are rooting for Trump. Because they know he is easy to manipulate with flattery and favors, they know he won’t hold autocrats accountable because he wants to be an autocrat himself.”

    “Because in the enduring struggle between democracy and tyranny, I know where I stand and I know where America belongs,” she concluded.

    On immigration, Harris says U.S. ‘can create an earned pathway to citizenship and secure our border’

    AP Photo

    Harris said her goal was to have the U.S. “live up to our proud heritage as a nation of immigrants and reform our broken immigration system” by implementing a “earned pathway to citizenship” while simultaneously securing the border.

    She pointed to the failed bipartisan border deal negotiated earlier this year with some of the most right-wing Republicans in the Senate as evidence of her intentions. That deal would have included tougher asylum standards and hiring more border agents, immigration judges and asylum officers.

    Former President Trump opposed it, and other Republicans, like House Speaker Mike Johnson, joined him in that effort.

    “I refuse to play politics with our security, and here is my pledge to you as president, I will bring back the bipartisan border security bill that he killed, and I will sign it into law,” Harris said, noting “after decades in law enforcement, I know the importance of safety and security, especially at our border.”

    Harris has endorsed comprehensive immigration reform, seeking pathways to citizenship for immigrants in the U.S. without legal status, with a faster track for young immigrants living in the country illegally who arrived as children.

    As he watched the speech, Trump responded on social media, calling the border bill “one of the worst ever written” and claimed that Harris “wants to spend all of our money on Illegal Immigrants,” calling her a “RADICAL MARXIST.” 

    On abortion rights, Harris blames Trump for overturning Roe

    Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during the Democratic National Convention Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

    Harris said Americans cannot be prosperous unless they can make their own decisions about their own lives — including women’s control over their own bodies.

    “Too many women are not able to make those decisions,” Harris said, more than two years after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, which guaranteed a woman’s right to an abortion.

    Harris, who has championed the Biden administration’s abortion rights efforts, said she had met with women across the country who shared stories of miscarrying in parking lots and losing their ability to have children because doctors are too afraid to treat pregnant women.

    “Couples just trying to grow their family, cut off in the middle of IVF treatments, children who have survived sexual assault, potentially being forced to carry a pregnancy to term,” she said.

    She contended that Trump will continue to erode women’s rights by limiting access to birth control, ban medication abortion and enact a nationwide abortion ban with or without Congress. She said he also plans to create a national anti-abortion coordinator that would force states to report on women’s miscarriages and abortion.

    “Simply put, they are out of their minds,” she charged.

    ‘Let us write the next great chapter’: Harris urges Americans to move forward with optimism

    Balloons are released after Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris spoke on the final day of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024. (Mike Segar/Pool via AP)

    Shyamala Harris had another lesson for her daughters: “‘Never let anyone tell you who you are. You show them who you are.’ America, let’s show each other, and the world who we are.”

    This is the moment, Harris said, to demonstrate the hope, the privilege, the pride of being an American.

    “Everywhere I go, in everyone I meet, I see a nation that is ready to move forward, ready for the next step in the incredible journey that is America.”

    She continued the narrative, pushed throughout the convention, that a Trump presidency was about negativity and moving backward.

    “We are the heirs to the greatest democracy in the history of the world,” she said. “And on behalf of our children and our grandchildren and all those who sacrificed so dearly for our freedom and liberty, we must be worthy of this moment.”

    “Let’s get out there, let’s vote for it, and together, let us write the next great chapter in the most extraordinary story ever told.”

    AP Photo

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  • Takeaways: Tim Walz accepts the VP nomination as ‘freedom’ takes center stage

    Takeaways: Tim Walz accepts the VP nomination as ‘freedom’ takes center stage

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    Across the many speakers on the third night of the Democratic convention — from a former president to the national youth poet laureate, from the former House Democratic leader to the current one, senators, representatives, governors and even Oprah Winfrey — “freedom” was a common theme.

    “Let us choose truth,” Winfrey said. “Let us choose honor. And let us choose joy. But more than anything else, let us choose freedom. Why? Because that’s the best of America.”

    And freedom came in many forms, whether it was speakers pledging to protect reproductive and LGBTQ rights, railing against book bans, or underlining the right to free and fair elections as they invoked the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.

    “It’s not freedom to tell our children what books they’re allowed to read. No, it’s not,” said Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a finalist to be Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate. “And it’s not freedom to tell women what they can do with their bodies. And hear me on this: It sure as hell isn’t freedom to say you can go vote, but [former President Donald Trump] gets to pick the winner.”

    Or as Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, who is openly gay, put it: “I’ve got a message for the Republicans and the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court: You can pry this wedding band from my cold, dead, gay hand.”

    Wednesday night even featured Republicans telling other Republicans that they had the freedom to cross party lines to vote their conscience.

    “To my fellow Republicans, you are not voting for a Democrat, you are voting for democracy,” said former Trump administration official Olivia Troye. “You aren’t betraying our party, you are standing up for our country.”

    “If you vote for Kamala Harris in 2024, you’re not a Democrat,” concurred former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, who said he faced a slew of attacks for standing up to Trump’s efforts to subvert the state’s election results. “You’re a patriot.”

    While the climax of the penultimate night of the DNC was Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s vice presidential acceptance speech — and Harris’ running mate’s introduction to the American people — it was the message of “freedom” that stole the spotlight.

    “Freedom,” Walz said, was what let him start his family when he and his wife struggled with fertility.

    “When we Democrats talk about freedom, we mean the freedom to make a better life for yourself and the people that you love,” he said.

    And National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman said freedom is what unites all Americans: “We are one family regardless of religion, class or color. For what defines a patriot is not just a love of liberty but our love for one another. This is loud in our country’s call because while we all love freedom, it is love that frees us all.”

    Bill Clinton says Harris ticket a ‘breath of fresh air,’ takes jabs at Trump

    AP Photo

    Former President Bill Clinton, the  made his case for a Kamala Harris presidency while taking several digs at former President Donald Trump.

    “Kamala Harris is the only candidate in this race who has the vision, the experience, the temperament, the will and, yes, the sheer joy to get something done,” Clinton said. “What does her opponent do with his voice? He mostly talks about himself, right? So the next time you hear him, don’t count the lies. Count the ‘I’s.’”

    Among the jabs he took at Trump, Clinton asked: “Do you want to build a strong economy from the bottom up and the middle out? Or do you want to spend the next four years talking about crowd size?”

    Clinton also said he wondered what world leaders watching Trump on the campaign trail are “supposed to make to these endless tributes to the late, great Hannibal Lecter?”

    But Clinton also found a way to poke fun at himself. Noting that Harris worked at McDonald’s while in college, the former president said, “I’ll be so happy when she actually enters the White House as president because she will break my record as the president who spent the most time at McDonald’s.”

    ‘Choose joy’: Oprah Winfrey, in surprise DNC appearance, endorses Harris, rallies Democrats

    AP Photo

    In a surprise appearance on Wednesday night, Oprah Winfrey made a vigorous appeal to independent and undecided voters to get behind Vice President Kamala Harris. She spoke of the “best of America” and using “common sense” to decide who to vote for, while taking a couple of implicit jabs at the GOP ticket. This was Winfrey’s first time speaking at a national political convention.

    “Since I was eligible to vote, I’ve always voted my values and that is what is needed in this election now more than ever,” Winfrey said. “Decency and respect are on the ballot in 2024.”

    Winfrey noted that she herself is registered as an independent voter who is “proud to vote again and again and again,” taking a swipe, without naming him, at former President Donald Trump’s recent comment to Christians that they just need to vote in this one election. (Trump and his campaign sought to clarify that, despite the alarm from Democrats and democracy advocates, he was talking about evangelical Christians not voting en masse.)

    The former daytime television host and Chicago native also used her remarks to tell the story of Tessie Prevost Williams, who helped integrate public schools in New Orleans in 1960 and who died last month. 

    “And soon and very soon, we’re going to be teaching our daughters and sons about how this child of an Indian mother and a Jamaican father – two idealistic, energetic immigrants – immigrants – how this child grew up to become the 47th president of the United States,” Winfrey said of Harris. 

    ‘The honor of my life’: Walz accepts vice presidential nomination

    Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, second from right, poses with his wife Gwen Walz, from right, son Gus Walz and daughter Hope Walz after speaking during the Democratic National Convention Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

    “It’s the honor of my life to accept your nomination for vice president of the United States,” Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said at the start of his speech.

    Walz shared his story of growing up in a small Nebraska town, joining the Army National Guard and becoming a high school teacher and football coach.

    He said his players and students inspired him to run for Congress in 2006, when he won in a historically red district.

    “They saw in me what I had hoped to instill in them: a commitment to the common good, an understanding that we’re all in this together and the belief that a single person can make a real difference for their neighbors,” Walz said.

    Walz listed his proudest accomplishments from his time as governor, including cutting taxes, passing paid family and medical leave, investing in law enforcement and affordable housing, lowering prescription drug costs, and guaranteeing free school breakfast and lunches for students. 

    “While other states were banning books from their schools, we were banishing hunger from ours,” he said.

    He also signed a bill into law protecting abortions and other reproductive health care. 

    “Because in Minnesota, we respect our neighbors and the personal choices they make,” Walz said. “And even if we wouldn’t make those same choices for ourselves, we’ve got a golden rule: Mind your own damn business.”

    Walz framed his pitch of Democrats’ “freedom agenda” around his struggle with having children with his wife Gwen.

    “If you’ve never experienced the hell that is in fertility, I guarantee you you know somebody who has, and I can remember praying each night for a phone call, the pit in your stomach when the phone had rung, and the absolute agony when we heard the treatments hadn’t worked,” Walz said. “It took Gwen and I years, but we had access to fertility treatments, and when our daughter was born, we named her Hope.”

    He then turned to his wife, daughter and son Gus. “You are my entire world and I love you.”

    “I’m letting you in on how we started a family, because this is a big part about what this election is about: freedom. When Republicans use the word freedom, they mean that the government should be free to invade your doctor’s office. Corporations, free to pollute your air and water, and banks, free to take advantage of customers,” Walz said. “But when we Democrats talk about freedom, we mean the freedom to make a better life for yourself and the people that you love, freedom to make your own health care decisions, and, yeah, your kids freedom to go to school without worrying about being shot dead in the hall.”

    Walz’s family joined him on stage after the speech, as Neil Young’s ‘Rockin’ in the Free World’ played.

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  • Biden celebrates the release of Americans held in Russia

    Biden celebrates the release of Americans held in Russia

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    Delivering remarks in the White House State Dining room on Thursday just hours after news of a massive prisoner swap involving the U.S. and Russia broke, President Joe Biden declared the efforts to bring home three Americans and one green card holder a “feat of diplomacy and friendship.” 

    “And now, their brutal ordeal is over,” Biden said on Thursday, flanked on either side by family members of the Amerians being released, “and they’re free.” 

    What You Need To Know

    • Delivering remarks in the White House, President Joe Biden declared the efforts to bring home three Americans and one American Green Card holder a “feat of diplomacy and friendship”
    • Biden started his remarks by mentioning the three Americans and one green card holder being released by name, a list that includes Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, Marine veteran Paul Whelan, Alsu Kurmasheva and Vladimir Kara-Murza
    • He noted that he and the family members joining him on Thursday had just spoken with the now-freed prisoners by phone in the Oval Office 
    • Biden emphasized how the swap is an example of the importance of America’s relationship with other countries overseas in what appeared to be a criticism of some Republicans and his predecessor and the 2024 Republican nominee, former President Donald Trump, who have taken on a more isolationist foreign policy view 
    • Trump, for his part, posted to his Truth Social account questioning the parameters of the deal, alleging that “we never make good deals, at anything, but especially hostage swaps,” and also did not share a positive sentiment for the release of hostages


    The president started his remarks by individually naming and describing the Americans and green card holder being released, a list that includes Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, Marine veteran Paul Whelan, and journalists Alsu Kurmasheva and Vladimir Kara-Murza, noting that “All four have been imprisoned unjustly in Russia.” 

    “This is an incredible relief for all the family members gathered here and it’s a relief to the friends and colleagues all across the country who have been praying for this day for a long time,” Biden said. 

    He went on to say that he and the family members joining him on Thursday had just spoken with the now-freed prisoners by phone in the Oval Office, adding they are out of Russia and were flown to Turkey, where the transfer took place.  

    “Welcome almost home,” Biden recalled telling the freed Americans when asked by a reporter at the end of his remarks on Thursday what he said to them over the phone.


    In all, the exchange, the largest between the U.S. and Russia since the Cold War, involved seven nations and set 24 people free. As part of the deal, 16 people being held in Russia – which includes the three Americans, one American green card holder, five German citizens and seven Russians deemed political prisoners by the U.S. – were released in exchange for eight people held in the U.S., Germany, Norway, Slovenia, and Poland. 

    Biden lauded the role of Turkey – which National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said earlier provided “critical logistical support” – as well as Germany, Norway, Slovenia, and Poland in Thursday’s swap. 

    “They all stepped up, and they stood with us,” Biden said on Thursday. “They stood with us, and they made bold and brave decisions, released prisoners being held in their countries who were justifiably being held, and provided logistical support to get the Americans home.”

    Multiple times throughout his remarks, the president emphasized the importance of America’s allies overseas, citing Thursday’s prisoner exchange as a prime example and appearing to implicitly take a jab at Republicans and his predecessor running for reelection, former President Donald Trump, some of whom have taken a more isolationist view of the United States’ place on the world stage. 

    “So, for anyone who questions whether allies matter, they do, they matter,” Biden said. 

    At the end of his remarks, a reporter asked the president about Trump’s claims that he could secure the release of Americans being held without giving anything in return, to which Biden quipped: “Why didn’t he do it when he was president?”

    Trump, for his part, posted to his Truth Social account questioning the parameters of the deal, alleging that “we never make good deals, at anything, but especially hostage swaps.” The former president also did not share a positive sentiment for the release of hostages.


    Biden on Thursday added that it “says a lot about us” that the deal included freeing Russian political prisoners. 

    “They stood up for democracy and human rights, their own leaders threw them in prison,” Biden said. “The United States helped secure their release as well.”

    “We are in the United States – we stand for freedom, for liberty, for justice — not only for our own people but for others as well,” he continued.

    Sullivan on Thursday told reporters at the White House press briefing that the massive deal was “vintage Joe Biden” and that the president was “personally engaged in diplomacy.”  

    “I would say that if you had not had Joe Biden sitting in the Oval Office, I don’t think this would have happened,” he said. 

    Sullivan added that Biden was working on the deal the day he dropped his bid for a second term in the White House and endorsed his vice president, Kamala Harris, which followed a painful few weeks for the president in which some in his party were calling on him to step out of the race. 

    Biden has made bringing home wrongfully detained Americans around the world a major priority, even citing it a goal for his last six months in office during his Oval Office address to explain his decision to drop out last week. 

    The president successfully secured the return of former U.S. Marine Trevor Reed and WNBA star Brittney Griner in separate swaps with Russia during his presidency. In all, Biden on Thursday said he has brought home 70 Americans who were wrongfully detained abroad. 

    The vice president, who is now the likely 2024 Democratic nominee for president, addressed the swap while on the tarmac in Houston before boarding her plane to return to Washington. The vice president said the Americans who were imprisoned and their families showed “incredible courage,” calling the trials that kept them behind bars a “sham.” 

    “As we celebrate today’s news, we must also keep front of mind that there are other Americans that are unjustly being held in places around the world,” Harris said. “And we will never stop fighting for their release.”

    “That is my solemn commitment to my fellow Americans,” she later said.

    Sullivan on Thursday referred to Harris as a “core member of the team that helped make this happen,” noting that she took part in meetings on the topic in the Oval Office and spoke about it with the German chancellor at the Munich Security Conference earlier this year. 

    During her brief remarks on Thursday, Harris said she spoke with the widow of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny who died in Russian custody earlier this year. The U.S., Sullivan told reporters on Thursday, was originally working on a potential deal that would have included Navalny before he died. 

    “In fact, on the very day that he died, I saw Evan’s parents, and I told them that the president was determined to get this done even in light of that tragic news and that we were going to work day and night to get to this day,” Sullivan said. 

    The president ended his remarks by noting that Friday was the 13th birthday of the daughter of Kurmasheva, a journalist and one of the Americans being released. Biden put his arm around the daughter and had the room sing “Happy Birthday” to her before remarking that she can now spend her birthday with her mother.

    Biden and Harris are set to greet the Americans on Thursday night when they land in the U.S.

    Spectrum News’ Justin Tasolides contributed to this report. 

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    Maddie Gannon

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  • Trump, Harris out with new ads as both look to shape race

    Trump, Harris out with new ads as both look to shape race

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    Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump on Tuesday both released fresh TV advertisements as the competing campaigns look to find their footing in a dramatically changed — and bound to be contentious — presidential election in just 98 days. 

    The new ads from both sides focus on the vice president and come after President Joe Biden’s decision to drop his reelection bid and endorse Harris, setting off a race to shape the narrative around the new candidate likely to be the Democratic presidential nominee. 

    What You Need To Know

    • Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump both released fresh TV advertisements on Tuesday
    • Harris’ ad accuses Trump of wanting to take the country backward, while the Republican hits the VP on immigration and the border
    • The Harris campaign ad is the first in a new $50 million battleground state paid media blitz ahead of the Democratic National Convention, set to kick off on Aug. 19
    • Trump’s team has spent $12 million to air ads through the beginning of August, according to AdImpact
    • Later Tuesday, Harris unveiled a new video ad taking Trump to task on immigration, accusing him of killing the bipartisan border bill crafted by the Senate 


    The ad from the Harris campaign, called “Fearless,” highlights the vice president’s history as a courtroom prosecutor and attorney general of California, noting she “put murderers and abusers behind bars” and took on big banks. 

    “Because Kamala Harris has always known who she represents,” the ad continues, before going on to accuse Trump of wanting to “take our country backward,” building on a theme Harris has sought to establish during her first week on the trail when she has often said the election is about a vision for the future versus the past. 

    “But we are not going back,” the ad concludes in Harris’ voice. 

    “Throughout her career as a courtroom prosecutor, Attorney General, United States Senator, and now as Vice President, Kamala Harris has always stood up to bullies, criminals and special interests on behalf of the American people – and she’s beaten them,” Harris’ campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon said in a statement. “She’s uniquely suited to take on Donald Trump, a convicted felon who has spent his entire life ripping off working people, tearing away our rights, and fighting for himself.”

    The one-minute spot will run during the Olympics Games and other programming such as The Bachelorette, The Daily Show and Love & Hip Hop, according to Harris’ team. It’s the first ad in the Harris campaign’s new $50 million battleground state paid media blitz ahead of the Democratic National Convention, set to kick off on Aug. 19. 

    Trump’s team on Tuesday, on the other hand, released its first major TV ad targeting Harris just over a week since she became Democrats’ likely nominee. 

    The 30-second spot seeks to hit the vice president on immigration and the southern border, starting with a video of her dancing and referring to her as “America’s border czar,” a phrase Republicans have latched onto to criticize Harris and one Democrats have sought to aggressively push back against. Biden tasked Harris, his vice president, with leading the charge to tackle the root causes of migration. 

    The ad goes on to say that under the vice president, “over 10 million [are] illegally here” and “a quarter of a million Americans [are] dead from fentanyl.” 

    The spot then highlights an interview Harris did with NBC News’ Lester Holt three years ago in which the anchor pressed the vice president on criticism for not visiting the border. 

    “Kamala Harris. Failed. Weak. Dangerously liberal,” the ad concludes with the words appearing on the screen. 

    The ad is part of a $12 million reservation the Trump team has made through Aug. 12 across the six biggest swing states, according to AdImpact, a firm that tracks data on advertisements. 

    Both ads out on Tuesday build on storylies the campaigns have already sought to establish in just the first week since it appeared likely that it would be Trump and Harris facing off in November. 

    The vice president has pointed to her background as a prosecutor and contrasted it with Trump’s legal troubles, including the guilty verdict in his New York hush money trial in May. Trump has often pointed to the Biden-Harris administration’s handling of the border as polls show the issue has surged in importance to voters. 

    Arrests for illegal border crossings hit all-time highs during Biden and Harris’ time in office. Encounters have significantly dropped in recent weeks after Biden took executive action to put restrictions on asylum. 

    Not to be outdone on the issue of immigration, later Tuesday, Harris unveiled a new video ad attacking Trump on the issue, accusing him of killing the bipartisan border bill crafted by the Senate earlier this year. The measure was crafted by Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford, a Republican, Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, an independent, and Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy, a Democrat, but it was killed by Republicans after House Speaker Mike Johnson declared it “dead on arrival,” pressured by Trump who did not want to give Biden a win on the issue.

    The video highights Harris’ support for increasing the number of border patrol agents, investing in new technology to detect fentanyl and providing funding to stop human traffickers — all provisions of the bill — while painting Trump as the person who convinced Republicans to block the bill.

    It also highlights Trump’s felony conviction and criminal charges, with the narrator saying: “Kamala Harris prosecuted transnational gang members and got them sent to prison. Trump is trying to avoid being sentenced to prison.”

    “There’s two choices in this election: The one who will fix our broken immigration system, and the one who’s trying to stop her,” the narrator continues.

    “After killing the toughest border deal in decades, Donald Trump is running on his trademark lies because his own record and ‘plans’ are extreme and unpopular,” Harris campaign spokesperson Ammar Moussa said in a statement. “As a former district attorney, attorney general, and now vice president, Kamala Harris has spent her career taking on and prosecuting violent criminals and making our communities safer. She’ll do the same as president.”

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    Maddie Gannon

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  • Takeaways from Day 1 of the Republican National Convention

    Takeaways from Day 1 of the Republican National Convention

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    The first day of the Republican National Convention was, perhaps, one of the most dizzying days in recent memory — coming on the heels of an already tumultuous weekend after the attack on former President Donald Trump’s Pennsylvania rally.

    One shockwave came before the convention even formally started, when U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the classified documents case against Trump, calling the appointment of Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith — who also brought the federal election subversion case against Trump — unlawful. Despite the Justice Department vowing to appeal the decision, which could result in it being overturned, the judge’s order is a massive victory for Trump.

    Hours later, Trump named Ohio Sen. JD Vance — a fierce critic-turned-convert and staunch ally — as his running mate, ending months of speculation as to which Republican loyalist would join his ticket as he looks to win back the White House from President Joe Biden.

    And both Trump and Vance were formally nominated as the Republican candidates for president and vice president, setting up a showdown with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris with 113 days to go until Election Day.

    Trump made an appearance toward the end of the night, with rally attendees seeing him for the first time with a bandage on his right ear after it was grazed by a would-be-assassin’s bullet.

    Serenaded by Lee Greenwood singing his seminal patriotic hit “God Bless the U.S.A.,” Trump stood with Vance, House Speaker Mike Johnson and other top Republican officials, as well as family members like Donald Trump Jr. and his fiancée Kimberly Guilfoyle and allies like former Fox News host Tucker Carlson.

    The crowd showered him with cheers of “USA! USA!” and “fight, fight, fight,” echoing comments he made after the shooting on Saturday.

    Despite outward calls for unity from Trump and other officials, including Republican National Committee chair Michael Whatley, in the wake of Saturday’s assassination attempt, that courtesy did not extend to Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, with numerous speakers using incendiary rhetoric to attack the Democratic administration.

    As Republicans gathered in Milwaukee, Biden, meanwhile, sat for a wide-ranging interview with NBC News’ Lester Holt at the White House, which included questions about his “bullseye” comment about Trump from earlier this month, which Republicans criticized in the wake of Trump’s shooting.

    Here are some takeaways from the first day of the Republican National Convention:

    Classified documents case dismissed

     

    This image, contained in the indictment against former President Donald Trump, shows boxes of records stored in a bathroom and shower in the Lake Room at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla. (Justice Department via AP)

    While not a part of the RNC per se, the ruling in the classified documents case no doubt helped lead to the jubilant mood in Milwaukee on Monday.

    The decision by U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who was nominated to the bench by Trump, is a massive victory for the former president, who faced dozens of felony charges accusing him of mishandling classified documents after leaving office and hampering the federal government’s efforts to retrieve them. Trump pleaded not guilty last year and has denied any wrongdoing.

    “The Framers gave Congress a pivotal role in the appointment of principal and inferior officers,” Cannon wrote in her ruling. “That role cannot be usurped by the Executive Branch or diffused elsewhere — whether in this case or in another case, whether in times of heightened national need or not.”

    “Upon careful study of the foundational challenges raised in the Motion, the Court is convinced that Special Counsel’s Smith’s prosecution of this action breaches two structural cornerstones of our constitutional scheme–the role of Congress in the appointment of constitutional officers, and the role of Congress in authorizing expenditures by law,” she added.

    Cannon faced widespread scrutiny for delays in bringing the case against Trump. The case was set to go to trial in May, but it was indefinitely delayed as she reviewed motion after motion put forth by Trump’s attorneys.

    “Both the Appointments and Appropriations challenges as framed in the Motion raise the following threshold question: is there a statute in the United States Code that authorizes the appointment of Special Counsel Smith to conduct this prosecution?” Cannon wrote. “After careful study of this seminal issue, the answer is no.”

    “In the end, it seems the Executive’s growing comfort in appointing ‘regulatory’ special counsels in the more recent era has followed an ad hoc pattern with little judicial scrutiny,” she added.

    In a statement, Peter Carr, a spokesperson for the special counsel, confirmed the Justice Department authorized an appeal, which could result in Cannon’s decision being overruled by a higher court.

    “The dismissal of the case deviates from the uniform conclusion of all previous courts to have considered the issue that the Attorney General is statutorily authorized to appoint a special counsel,” Carr said.

    In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said the ” dismissal of the Lawless Indictment in Florida should be just the first step” in moving to dismiss all the cases against him, which he baselessly called “Witch Hunts.”

    “The Democrat Justice Department coordinated ALL of these Political Attacks, which are an Election Interference conspiracy against Joe Biden’s Political Opponent, ME,” Trump charged. “Let us come together to END all Weaponization of our Justice System, and Make America Great Again!”

    Read more about the ruling here

    The pick is in: Ohio Sen. JD Vance

    Lt. Gov. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, nominates Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, during the Republican National Convention Monday, July 15, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

    Former President Donald Trump selected Ohio Sen. JD Vance, a Trump critic-turned-convert, to be his running mate in November’s election, succeeding former Vice President Mike Pence as Trump’s No. 2.

    “After lengthy deliberation and thought, and considering the tremendous talents of many others, I have decided that the person best suited to assume the position of Vice President of the United States is Senator J.D. Vance of the Great State of Ohio,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Monday afternoon. “J.D. has had a very successful business career in Technology and Finance, and now, during the Campaign, will be strongly focused on the people he fought so brilliantly for, the American Workers and Farmers in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Minnesota, and far beyond.”

    Trump called Vance about 20 minutes before he made his social media post to let him know his selection, sources confirmed to Spectrum News.

    Shortly after Trump announced his pick, Vance was officially selected by delegates at the Republican National Convention to be the party’s nominee for vice president. He was approved by a voice vote without opposition.

    Moments earlier, Vance entered the convention floor at Milwaukee’s Fiserv Forum to cheers, hugs and handshakes alongside his wife, Usha Vance, an attorney who he met while both attending Yale Law School.

    He was nominated by Ohio Lt. Gov. Jon Husted, who described Vance as “a man who loves America and will represent our people with moral courage, strength and honor.”

    “JD is a living embodiment of the American Dream,” Husted said. “He came from humble beginnings and even as his life took him to places he might never have imagined, he never forgot where he came from. Ohio values are in his blood.”

    In an interview with Fox News’ “Hannity” on Monday night, his first since becoming Trump’s running mate, Vance said the call from Trump was “a moment I’ll never forget.”

    The Biden campaign immediately slammed the pick, labeling Vance as the favored choice of billionaires and corporations and as a Trump loyalist who will “bend over backwards to enable Trump and his extreme MAGA agenda, even if it means breaking the law and no matter the harm to the American people,” as Biden campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon said on a press call on Monday afternoon.

    “A clone of Trump on the issues,” President Joe Biden said at Maryland’s Joint Base Andrews before boarding Air Force One for a campaign trip to Las Vegas. “I don’t see any difference.”

    On the press call, Reproductive Freedom for All president Mini Timmaraju called Vance an “extreme anti-abortion politician” and O’Malley Dillon warned that Vance’s addition to the Republican ticket makes it “more clear than ever that our rights, our freedoms and our democracy are on the line.”

    Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump and Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, appear during the Republican National Convention Monday, July 15, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

    Vance, a Trump critic-turned-convert, has emerged as a leader on the Republican Party’s rightmost reaches and a favorite among some of the more radical figures in Trump’s world. Prior to winning his Senate race in 2022, Vance was a Marine and venture capitalist who wrote a bestselling memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy,” that garnered bipartisan praise for its depiction of his tumultuous upbringing in Middletown, Ohio, and path to Yale University Law School.

    “I was a convert in 2019 to the cause of Trump’s America First agenda,” Vance said in a speech at the National Conservatism Conference in Washington last week. “I was cognizant of the fact that, because I was a convert, Trump had not yet taken over the Republican Party, even in Washington, D.C., even in 2019 even though he was the president of the United States.”

    “There were people who were aggressively pushing back against his influence, who were already planning a return to basically reimplementing the Wall Street Journal editorial page’s preferred positions in 2019. I think that’s over now.”

    In 2016, Vance notably called Trump an “idiot,” “noxious” and “reprehensible,” labeling himself as “a Never Trump guy” and telling a friend that Trump could be “America’s Hitler” as the then-businessman made his first run for president. Now, as Trump is just days away from receiving the Republican nomination for the first time, he has chosen the man who has become one of his most loyal supporters in Washington as his running mate.

    “I always wish his memory was as bad as Joe Biden’s, because he would forget about what I said about him in 2016,” Vance said in his speech last week.

    Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, right, points toward Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally, March 16, 2024, in Vandalia, Ohio. (AP Photo/Jeff Dean)

    Republicans were quick to praise Trump’s pick, with House Speaker Mike Johnson saying in a statement that Vance “possesses a profound understanding of the anxieties of working families and has both the lived experience and the policy expertise to help President Trump deliver a government worthy of the people it is supposed to serve.” New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, a member of House leadership and a vice presidential contender herself, said Trump “made a strong VP choice” and called Vance “a strong America First leader and proven conservative.”

    If elected, Vance would be the youngest vice president since Richard Nixon, who was just a few months younger when he took office in 1953 as part of the Eisenhower administration. Vance has three children with his wife, Usha Vance. She previously clerked for Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts and for now-Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh when he served on a lower court.

    The Ohio senator, who turns 40 in August, will now be pitted against Vice President Kamala Harris as both junior partners will attempt to make the case to the American people that they are fit to assume the presidency if the 78-year-old Trump or the 81-year-old Biden can no longer serve. Both campaigns have agreed to a CBS News debate later this summer.

    Trump officially becomes GOP nominee

    While not a surprise in the slightest, Trump received enough delegates on Monday to formally become the Republican presidential nominee.

    The delegation from Florida, led by his son, Eric Trump, gave him enough votes to put him over the top.

    Speakers invoke Trump’s shooting…

    Sen. Tim Scott, R-SC, speaking during the first day of the Republican National Convention, Monday, July 15, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

    The assassination attempt on Donald Trump was top of mind for many of the speakers at Monday night’s event.

    Few of the speeches Monday electrified the crowd as much as the one delivered by South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott — a former 2024 presidential hopeful-turned-staunch Trump backer — got the crowd on their feet by invoking shooting at Trump’s rally on Saturday.

    “If you didn’t believe in miracles before Saturday, you better be believing right now!” he told the crowd in an exchange heavily laden with his Christian faith. “And our God still saves, he still delivers, and he still sets free. Because on Saturday the devil came to Pennsylvania holding a rifle, but an American lion got back up on his feet and he roared!”

    “Oh yeah, he roared!” Scott said to cheers from the crowd of “fight, fight, fight,” echoing Trump’s comments — a cheer that RNC attendees used throughout the day.

    Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a far-right firebrand and staunch ally of Trump, opened her speech at the RNC by calling it a “somber moment” for the country in the aftermath of the assassination attempt on Donald Trump.

    “Evil came for the man that we love and admire so much,” Greene said, adding: “I thank God that his hand was on President Trump.

    She also paid tribute to Corey Comperatore, the ex-fire chief and Trump supporter who was killed in the attack, saying he “embodied the spirit of America First” and said Republicans should “honor Corey’s memory by building the country he wanted.”

    …but unity was hard to come by for Biden and Democrats

    Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-GA., speaking on the first day of the Republican National Convention, Monday, July 15, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

    As he kicked off the evening session of the first day of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley called for unity in the aftermath of the “horrifying assassination attempt” against former President Donald Trump.

    “We are praying for President Trump. We are praying for the injured. We are praying for the family of Corey Comperatore,” he said. “We must unite as a party and we must unite as a nation. We must show the same strength and resilience as President Trump and lead this nation to a greater future world.”

    But that courtesy did not extend to Biden and the Democrats, clearly.

    The very next speaker, the next speaker, Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson, did not appear to have gotten the memo on the greater “unity” message of the convention, quickly calling Democratic policies a “clear and present danger to America,” accusing his opposition party of having a “fringe agenda” that includes “biological males competing against girls and the sexualization and indoctrination of our children.”

    “Democrats have forgotten American families, they have abandoned the working-class,” Johnson charged, adding that under Trump, those forgotten Americans are forgotten no more.”

    (Speaking to PBS News later Monday, Johnson later blamed the teleprompter loading a previous version of his speech.)

    Johnson wasn’t the only Republican to invoke anti-trans rhetoric for cheers from the crowd. Greene shifted gears after her comments about Trump’s shooting to condemn the “establishment in Washington,” which she said has “sold us out.”

    “They promised unity and delivered division,” Greene said. They promised peace and delivered war. They promised normalcy, and they gave us Transgender Visibility Day on Easter Sunday.” (President Joe Biden’s proclamation marking Transgender Day of Visibility on Easter Sunday was not intentional; the holiday is marked on March 31 every year, and Easter Sunday falls on different days each year, it just happened to fall on the same day in 2024.)

    “And let me state this clearly: There are only two genders,” she said to cheers.

    Sen. Katie Britt, R-AL., speaks on the first day of the Republican National Convention, Monday, July 15, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

    Alabama Sen. Katie Britt, who delivered the Republican rebuttal to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union speech earlier this year, charged that the Democratic incumbent is “in decline” and “Donald Trump is the change we need.”

    “We see how Biden and Harris keep making things worse,” she said. “And we know the current president is not capable of turning things around.”

    “His weakness is costing us. Our opportunity, our prosperity, our security, our safety — each diminished, all in decline,” Britt said. “Just like the man in the Oval Office.”

    Scott said that President Joe Biden is “asleep at the wheel and we’re heading over a cliff,” blaming him for a number of issues, including “weakness” that “has invited world wars all around our world.”

    “America is not a racist country,” Scott later said to cheers, adding: “But if you are looking for racism today, you’d find it in cities run by Democrats.”

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    Joseph Konig

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  • ‘I’ve got to finish this job,’ Biden vows at crucial NATO press conference

    ‘I’ve got to finish this job,’ Biden vows at crucial NATO press conference

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    America, Joe Biden said, has never been here before.

    The country has never had a presidential candidate from a leading party that threatens democratic and governmental norms — one, Biden said, who has promised to eliminate the Department of Education, to shake civil service to its core, and one Biden has called a “congenital liar.”

    “That’s why I’m not handing off to another generation: I’ve got to finish this job. I’ve got to finish this job, because there’s so much at stake,” Biden said Thursday as he stood before the Washington press corps.

    What You Need To Know

    • President Joe Biden again pledged to remain in the hunt for the 2024 Presidential election on Thursday, in a press conference following a three-day NATO summit

    • Biden touted his foreign and domestic policy chops, noting that the U.S. has a framework for peace between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, and added that the American economy continues to improve under his watch

    • Biden did, however, misstep when he referred to his vice president, Kamala Harris, as “Vice President Trump,” blending their names after a question about the two

    • However, Biden did not stem the bleeding entirely; members of his party have continued to call for him to step aside, even after the press conference concluded

     

    It was Biden’s first major press conference in two weeks, since his debate performance against presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump — an exhibition that went so poorly that friends, megadonors and even members of his own party began to call for Biden to step away from the 2024 presidential nomination. 

    This press conference was an opportunity for Biden to demonstrate policy competence that escaped him throughout major portions of the debate — and in many cases, he passed, covering broad strokes and smaller nuances on foreign defense, policy and diplomacy matters, particularly with regard to Ukraine, Russia and China. 

    Though the press conference wasn’t a cure-all — multiple Congressional Democrats joined the chorus of calls for Biden to step down from the ticket shortly after it concluded — it was another part of the labor the incumbent Democratic president has undertaken to convince members of his party and American voters that he’s still able to perform his presidential duties.

    “I mean, my schedule has been full-bore,” Biden said of his recent slew of events, both prior to the debate – which included international travel – and after. “Where’s Trump been? riding around in his golf cart, filling out a scorecard?” 

    After the debate, Trump celebrated his performance with a rally, then took a nine-day break before returning to the campaign trail. Meanwhile, Biden held to a schedule that included both campaign events in key swing states and hosting a three-day NATO summit, celebrating the 75th anniversary of the treaty organization’s formation.

    Though he admitted that he’s got to “pace myself more,” Biden repeated his belief that he is the “best-qualified person to do the job.”

    In 2020, then-candidate Biden called himself a “bridge” to a “new generation of leaders,” and it was reported that he viewed himself as a single-term president.

    When asked Thursday why his plans changed, and why he was running again, Biden said that the “gravity of the situation” was what changed, as both political and cultural division domestically and temperatures rose in conflicts across the globe. 

    Biden highlights his foreign policy chops, touts domestic record

    While Biden had some flubs in the closely watched event, the president delivered compelling responses to many of the questions, notably on deeply complex foreign policy issues.

    Biden began the press conference with remarks celebrating the NATO summit, including the work done to bolster Ukraine’s defenses against Russian attacks.

    Putin thought that Ukraine would fall within a week of their assault, Biden said. “Today, Kyiv still stands. And NATO stands stronger than it has ever been.”

    He then moved onto domestic issues. The economy, he said, has stood strong — that inflation is at its lowest point of growth in three years, that prices are falling on common purchases. Trump’s plan to increase tariffs on imported goods, however, would be little more than a tax on goods for American families. The southern border has seen a 50% decrease in migrant encounters since he took executive action — action he took after Trump urged Congressional Republicans to squash a bipartisan border effort.

    And the war between Israel and Hamas, in the Gaza Strip, is nearing a turning point.

    “For months, the United States has worked to secure a ceasefire in Gaza,” Biden said, noting that the U.S. has crafted a framework to end hostilities and bring Israeli hostages home. “That framework is now agreed upon by both Israel and Hamas,” he said, though he added that “there’s still gaps to close.”

    “We’re making progress — the trend is positive. I’m determined to get this deal done and bring an end to this war,” Biden said.

    Biden flubs praise for Harris, but expresses confidence she’s ‘qualified’ to lead ‘on day one’

    While he celebrated his achievements, Biden couldn’t escape making another uncomfortable gaffe at the top of his speech, confusing his own vice president’s name for that of his expected opponent.

    “I wouldn’t have picked Vice President Trump to be vice president if she wasn’t qualified to be president,” Biden said. His moment of mistaken identity came shortly after he was asked about what concerns, if any, he had about Vice President Kamala Harris’s ability to beat Trump.

    Later, when asked to elaborate on his confidence in Harris, Biden acknowledged a previous comment that she would be ready to serve “on day one,” adding that she has the ability “to handle almost any issue on the board.”

    Throughout his presidency, Biden has repeated a key two-word phrase to both his supporters and detractors: “Watch me.” It’s been a challenge to them and to himself, a call for the American people to judge him on his accomplishments and to vote accordingly.

    Biden reflected on that when asked how he can reassure Americans that he won’t have another “bad night,” as he described his halting, meandering debate performance. 

    “If I slow down and I can’t get the job done, that’s a sign I shouldn’t be doing it,” Biden said.

    At this point, Biden has spent more than 50 years on the national political stage, first as a U.S. Senator, then as Vice President, before taking over the Oval Office. He was asked what it would mean for his legacy — which he has taken decades to build — should he stay in the race and lose the White House to Donald Trump.

    “Well look,” he started, then paused. After a moment, he began again.

    “I’m not in this for my legacy,” Biden said. “I’m in this to complete the job I started.”

    Biden signals he’d be open to neurological exam if doctors call for it

    After the president’s performance in Atlanta last month amplified calls for him to take another cognitive test – something the White House says he has done three times since he assumed the presidency, each one alongside his typical annual physical – Biden repeatedly used a variation of the same line: That he takes a cognitive test everyday when carrying out the duties of presidency.

    On Thursday, he reiterated a variation of that line but this time left the door slightly more open. 

    “Every single day, I’m surrounded by good docs – if they think there’s a problem, I promise you – or even if they don’t think it’s a problem, they think I should have a neurologic exam again, I’ll do it,” Biden said. “But no one is suggesting that to me now.” 

    Biden noted that even if he did take one “no one is going to be satisfied,” suggesting people would still find things to question about the legitimacy of the exam. 

    DNC delegates can ‘do whatever they want,’ but Biden notes overwhelming primary wins

    Asked whether he considered delegates at next month’s Democratic National Convention free to vote for someone else if they have second thoughts about the current commander in chief, Biden said they could “do whatever they want” before noting that he won “overwhelming” support in the primary elections. 

    “If all of a sudden I show up at the convention, everybody says we want somebody else – that’s the democratic process,” he said, before whispering for effect: “It’s not gonna happen.”

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    Maddie Gannon

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  • House GOP subpoenas top White House aides over Biden’s health

    House GOP subpoenas top White House aides over Biden’s health

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    James Comer, R-Ky., the chairman of the House Oversight Committee, is demanding that three top White House aides appear before his panel later this month to discuss President Joe Biden’s mental fitness. 

    What You Need To Know

    • The chairman of the House Oversight Committee James Comer, R-Ky., is demanding that three top White House aides appear before his panel later this month to discuss President Joe Biden’s mental fitness
    • Comer, who is leading an impeachment inquiry into Biden that has yet to yield any evidence of wrongdoing, issued subpoenas on Wednesday to Anthony Bernal, a top adviser tp first lady Jill Biden, Annie Tomasini, White House deputy chief of staff, and Ashley Williams, a senior adviser to the president
    • White House spokesperson Ian Sams told multiple outlets the move was a “baseless political stunt”
    • The president’s health and cognitive fitness have been in the spotlight since last month’s debate, which sparked concern within the Democratic party about Biden’s ability to defeat former President Donald Trump in November


    Comer, who is leading an impeachment inquiry into Biden that has yet to yield any evidence of wrongdoing, issued subpoenas on Wednesday to Anthony Bernal, a top adviser to first lady Jill Biden, Annie Tomasini, White House deputy chief of staff, and Ashley Williams, a senior adviser to the president requesting they sit for depositions.

    In letters sent to the three staff members, the GOP committee chair claimed that the aides may be “running interference on behalf of the President and perhaps doing some of the President’s job for him.”

    “President Biden is clearly unfit for office, yet his staff are trying to hide the truth from the American people,” Comer charged in a separate statement. “Key White House staff must come before our committee so we can provide the transparency and accountability that Americans deserve.” 

    News of the subpoenas was first reported by Axios. In a statement, White House spokesperson Ian Sams told Axios: “Like everything Congressman Comer has done over the past year, these subpoenas are a baseless political stunt intended for him to get media attention instead of engage in legitimate oversight.”

    The letters ask the staff to respond to the subpoenas by July 17. 

    The president’s health and cognitive fitness have been in the spotlight since last month’s debate, in which Biden, 81, appeared to be low energy and at times stumble and lose his train of thought. His performance sparked concern within the Democratic party about Biden’s ability to defeat former President Donald Trump in November and led to calls from some for the president to drop his bid. 

    As of Thursday, nearly a dozen sitting Democratic members from both chambers of Congress have publicly called on Biden to exit the 2024 race. The president has been steadfast in his intent to stay the course and has been on a campaign to shore up support, recently speaking with Democratic mayors, governors, the Congressional Black Caucus, union leaders, top donors and more. 

    Biden faces what is seen as a key test Thursday evening, when he is set to hold a rare solo press conference at the conclusion of the NATO summit in Washington. 

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    Maddie Gannon

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  • Biden team deploys ‘aggressive’ July plan after debate

    Biden team deploys ‘aggressive’ July plan after debate

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    President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign is laying out an “aggressive” strategy for July, including launching a new media blitz and battleground state swing, after the president’s disappointing debate performance last week rocked the political world. 

    What You Need To Know

    • President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign is laying out an “aggressive” strategy for July, including launching a new media blitz and battleground state swing, after the president’s disappointing debate performance shook the political world 
    • As part of its strategy for the month, Biden’s team will spend $50 million on a fresh ad blitz focused on reproductive health, the economy and democracy
    • During the Republican National Convention later this month, he will speak at the NAACP and UnidosUS conferences in Las Vegas in swing state Nevada
    • The campaign also specifically notes that Biden will “engage in frequent off-the-cuff moments,” appearing to address calls for the president to do more unscripted events without a teleprompter 


    As part of its strategy for the month, Biden’s team will spend $50 million on a fresh ad blitz focused on reproductive health, the economy and democracy, the campaign noted in a new memo. The ads will run in battleground states around high viewership events, particularly the season premiere of ABC’s “The Bachelorette,” the Olympics Games and the Republican National Convention, which kicks off in Milwaukee later this month.

    The campaign is also looking to take on concerns raised by some Democrats following Biden’s performance against former President Donald Trump last week in Atlanta, including that he needs to get out in front of voters on the campaign trail to show stamina and participate in more unscripted events. 

    After hitting Wisconsin on Friday and Pennsylvania over the weekend – two stops added to his schedule in the wake of the debate – in July, the president will also set off on a swing through the southwest battlegrounds. During the Republican National Convention later this month, he will speak at the NAACP and UnidosUS conferences in Las Vegas in swing state Nevada. The four White House principals, a group that also includes the vice president, second gentleman and first lady, will travel to every battleground state this month. 

    The campaign also specifically notes that Biden will “engage in frequent off-the-cuff moments,” pointing to the president’s stop at a Waffle House to pick up food after last week’s debate as an example.  

    The incumbent president’s performance in the first general election debate of the 2024 cycle, in which he appeared to be low energy and at times stumble and lose his train of thought sparked a chorus of calls from some in the Democratic party for Biden to engage more with the press and rely less on the teleprompter – a tool he uses in nearly all speeches at the White House and on the campaign trail – to show voters last Thursday was just one “bad night,” as his team as consistently framed it. 

    The president’s reelection campaign will also spend $17 million on its efforts to reach voters on the ground in battleground states, setting a goal of knocking on more than 3 million doors over July and August. 

    It all comes as the fallout from the debate for the Biden camp escalated this week, with three House Democrats now officially calling on the president to pull out of the race while other Democratic lawmakers stepped up their willingness to question Biden’s place as the party’s nominee this November. 

    The Biden team has been in clean up mode, with the White House announcing new public events on the president’s schedule, including a sit-down interview with ABC on Friday and a solo press conference next week, and Biden calling key congressional allies and convening Democratic governors for a meeting earlier this week. 

    At the White House’s Fourth of July celebration on Thursday, the president declared that he wasn’t going anywhere in terms of the race in response to something shouted by a supporter in attendance.

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    Maddie Gannon

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  • Biden team deploys ‘aggressive’ July plan after debate

    Biden team deploys ‘aggressive’ July plan after debate

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    President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign is laying out an “aggressive” strategy for July, including launching a new media blitz and battleground state swing, after the president’s disappointing debate performance last week rocked the political world. 

    What You Need To Know

    • President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign is laying out an “aggressive” strategy for July, including launching a new media blitz and battleground state swing, after the president’s disappointing debate performance shook the political world 
    • As part of its strategy for the month, Biden’s team will spend $50 million on a fresh ad blitz focused on reproductive health, the economy and democracy
    • During the Republican National Convention later this month, he will speak at the NAACP and UnidosUS conferences in Las Vegas in swing state Nevada
    • The campaign also specifically notes that Biden will “engage in frequent off-the-cuff moments,” appearing to address calls for the president to do more unscripted events without a teleprompter 


    As part of its strategy for the month, Biden’s team will spend $50 million on a fresh ad blitz focused on reproductive health, the economy and democracy, the campaign noted in a new memo. The ads will run in battleground states around high viewership events, particularly the season premiere of ABC’s “The Bachelorette,” the Olympics Games and the Republican National Convention, which kicks off in Milwaukee later this month.

    The campaign is also looking to take on concerns raised by some Democrats following Biden’s performance against former President Donald Trump last week in Atlanta, including that he needs to get out in front of voters on the campaign trail to show stamina and participate in more unscripted events. 

    After hitting Wisconsin on Friday and Pennsylvania over the weekend – two stops added to his schedule in the wake of the debate – in July, the president will also set off on a swing through the southwest battlegrounds. During the Republican National Convention later this month, he will speak at the NAACP and UnidosUS conferences in Las Vegas in swing state Nevada. The four White House principals, a group that also includes the vice president, second gentleman and first lady, will travel to every battleground state this month. 

    The campaign also specifically notes that Biden will “engage in frequent off-the-cuff moments,” pointing to the president’s stop at a Waffle House to pick up food after last week’s debate as an example.  

    The incumbent president’s performance in the first general election debate of the 2024 cycle, in which he appeared to be low energy and at times stumble and lose his train of thought sparked a chorus of calls from some in the Democratic party for Biden to engage more with the press and rely less on the teleprompter – a tool he uses in nearly all speeches at the White House and on the campaign trail – to show voters last Thursday was just one “bad night,” as his team as consistently framed it. 

    The president’s reelection campaign will also spend $17 million on its efforts to reach voters on the ground in battleground states, setting a goal of knocking on more than 3 million doors over July and August. 

    It all comes as the fallout from the debate for the Biden camp escalated this week, with three House Democrats now officially calling on the president to pull out of the race while other Democratic lawmakers stepped up their willingness to question Biden’s place as the party’s nominee this November. 

    The Biden team has been in clean up mode, with the White House announcing new public events on the president’s schedule, including a sit-down interview with ABC on Friday and a solo press conference next week, and Biden calling key congressional allies and convening Democratic governors for a meeting earlier this week. 

    At the White House’s Fourth of July celebration on Thursday, the president declared that he wasn’t going anywhere in terms of the race in response to something shouted by a supporter in attendance.

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    Maddie Gannon

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  • Biden hosts Democratic governors amid debate fallout

    Biden hosts Democratic governors amid debate fallout

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    President Joe Biden on Wednesday held a high-stakes meeting with more than 20 Democratic governors as fallout from his disappointing debate performance against former President Donald Trump last week in Atlanta – and the White House’s effort to push past it – intensifies. 

    New York Gov. Kathy Hochul emerged from the meeting declaring that Biden was “in it to win it.”

    “And all of us said we pledged our support to him because the stakes could not be higher,” she continued. 

    What You Need To Know

    • President Joe Biden met with more than 20 Democratic governors as fallout from his disappointing debate performance against former President Donald Trump last week in Atlanta – and the White House’s effort to push past it – intensifies 
    • The meeting, set to take place Wednesday night, will mark Biden and the White House’s latest push to assuage concerns about the president’s candidacy and place at the top of the Democratic party following the debate 
    • Earlier on Wednesday, Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris joined a call with campaign staff and Chief of Staff Jeff Zients held a call with White House staff
    • It comes just a day after Democratic concerns over Biden’s reelection bid began to escalate in public, with Rep. Lloyd Doggett of Texas becoming the first sitting Democratic lawmaker to call for the president to step out of the 2024 race


    Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz told reporters outside the West Wing that a “path to victory in November is the number one priority,” saying the president has had “our backs” and “the governors have his back.” 

    “We’re worried because the threat of a Trump presidency is not theoretical,” he said. “We’ve served with Donald Trump as president and the threats to our nation were real.”

    Asked if the president was fit for office, Walz said “Yes, fit for office.” 

    Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, however, acknowledged the party was “behind.” 

    “We know we have work to do,” Moore told reporters. “We know that as we’re standing right here, we’re behind.” 

    Moore called the meeting “honest” and “candid,” adding the governors told the president about the concerns they are hearing from people on the ground. 

    “We always believe that when you love someone, you tell them the truth,” he said. 

    A readout of the convening from the Biden campaign said the president “reiterated his determination to defeat the existential threat of Donald Trump at the ballot box in November and sought the advice and expertise of Democratic governors.” 

    “All participants reiterated their shared commitment to do everything possible to make sure President Biden and Vice President Harris beat Donald Trump in November,” the statement continued. 

    The meeting, which took place Wednesday night, marked Biden and the White House’s latest push to assuage concerns about the president’s candidacy and place at the top of the Democratic party following the debate.

    Earlier on Wednesday, Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris joined a call with campaign staff, in which he assured them he is staying in the race and thanked his team for their work, a source familiar with the campaign told Spectrum News. 

    “I’m in this race to the end and we’re going to win because when Democrats unite, we will always win,” the source said Biden told staff on the call. 

    Biden’s Chief of Staff Jeff Zients, meanwhile, held a call with all White House staff on Wednesday  in which he acknowledged that the last few days have been “challenging” and stressed the importance of “coming together,” Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters. 

    Biden and Harris also had a private lunch together at the White House on Wednesday. 

    The meeting comes just a day after Democratic concerns over Biden’s reelection bid began to escalate in public, with Rep. Lloyd Doggett of Texas becoming the first sitting Democratic lawmaker to call for the president to step out of the 2024 race. On Wednesday, a second House Democrat, Rep. Raúl Grijalva of Arizona, formally urged Biden to step away as well. Several others publicly sharpened their questions on Biden’s candidacy and two House Democrats said Biden would lose to Trump in November. 

    By Wednesday afternoon, Jean-Pierre confirmed Biden had spoken with Congressional leaders and allies – something he did not do immediately after the debate – including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., and Democratic South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn. Clyburn is credited with helping Biden win the Democratic nomination in 2020. 

    And in what has been seen as an effort to address a concern expressed by some Democratic allies of the president – that Biden needs to do more unscripted events and interact with the press more frequently – the White House announced several new events added to the president’s schedule, including campaign trips to two battleground states, a sit-down interview with ABC and a solo press conference at next week’s NATO summit. 

    Many of the governors who attended Wednesday’s meeting are acting as surrogates for Biden on the campaign trail and some have been floated as potential candidates if the president were to step out of the race.  

    Democratic governors that attended in person on Wednesday included California’s Gavin Newsom, Delaware’s John Carney, Illinois’s JB Pritzker, Kentucky’s Andy Beshear, Massachusetts’ Maura Healey, Michigan’s Gretchen Whitmer, Rhode Island’s Dan McKee. More than a dozen attended virtually.

    Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser was also in attendance on Wednesday. Hochul, Walz and Moore were the only governors who came to speak with reporters after the meeting. 

    One Democratic governor, Tony Evers, from the key battleground state of Wisconsin – where Biden is campaigning on Friday – told Spectrum News he did not plan on joining the meeting.

    Spectrum News’ Charlotte Scott contributed to this report. 

     

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    Taylor Popielarz

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  • Biden issues executive order limiting asylum

    Biden issues executive order limiting asylum

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    President Joe Biden on Tuesday issued an executive order that gives him the authority to limit crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border when a certain threshold is reached, an aggressive move to restrict encounters at the border — which have declined in recent months — and address a key issue on voters’ minds ahead of November’s election.

    The president’s actions will bar migrants who cross the border illegally from seeking asylum, shutting down the border when encounters hit a certain number, according to a senior administration official.

    What You Need To Know

    • President Joe Biden on Tuesday issued a restrictive executive order aimed at tightening security at the U.S.-Mexico border, the first actions taken since a bipartisan immigration bill was scuttled earlier this year

    • The president’s actions will bar migrants who cross the border illegally from seeking asylum, shutting down the border when encounters hit a certain number, according to a senior administration official

    • The restrictions will go into effect when the number of daily illegal crossings tops 2,500, and will stay in effect until two weeks after there are seven consecutive days of less than 1,500 daily encounters between ports of entry
    • The move was met with some support from Biden’s own party, but progressive Democrats and Republicans alike decried the action


    “We must face a simple truth, to protect America as a land that welcomes immigrants, we must first secure the border and secure it now,” Biden, flanked by members of Congress as well as local and state officials, said while announcing the executive order at a White House event on Tuesday. 

    “The simple truth is, there is a worldwide migrant crisis and if the United States doesn’t secure our border, there is no limit to the number of people who may try to come here,” he continued. 

    The restrictions will go into effect when the number of daily illegal crossings tops 2,500, and will stay in effect until two weeks after there are seven consecutive days of less than 1,500 daily encounters between ports of entry, as determined by the Secretary of Homeland Security. There are some humanitarian exceptions, including for unaccompanied children, victims of trafficking, an acute medical emergency or an imminent threat to life or safety.

    Migrants who make appointments using the CBP One app, created by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection which handles roughly 1,450 appointments per day, would also be exempt.

    Daily encounters are higher than the 2,500 figure, so it could be implemented as soon as it’s signed.

    A senior administration official said that the goal of Biden’s actions is to “significantly increase consequences for those who cross the southern border unlawfully, without authorization.”

    The president brought in members of Congress, governors and mayors who have been vocal on the issue to join him for the announcement. Among those in attendance was Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro mayorkas, about a dozen Texas mayors, a Texas sheriff, Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Rep. Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y.

    The White House hailed the fact that “most” of the guests at Tuesday’s event are from border communities. While not on the border, New York has grappled with an influx of migrants, struggling to provide shelter and process asylum claims. 

    “They know the border is not a political issue to be weaponized,” Biden said of those he invited on Tuesday. “They don’t have time for the games played in Washington.” 

    It’s the most restrictive immigration policy put into place by any modern Democratic president, and Biden’s first major step to address border security since Republicans killed a bipartisan border security compromise earlier this year. 

    “I’ve come here today to do what the Republicans in Congress refuse to do: take the necessary steps to secure our border,” Biden said to open his remarks. 

    The legislation – negotiated over weeks by Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford, a Republican, Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy, a Democrat, and Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, an independent — died after former President Donald Trump came out against it. 

    “It was the strongest  border security agreement in decades but then, Republicans in Congress – not all but – walked away from it. Why? Because Donald Trump told him to,” Biden said, adding he didn’t want to fix the issue but rather use it to attack him. 

    “That’s the height of hypocrisy and the most cynical type of politics you can possibly expect,” Suozzi told reporters of Republicans’ response to the border bill after Tuesday’s event. 

    Biden on Tuesday also did not hold back in criticizing his predecessor and 2024 competition, referencing past comments and policies of Trump. 

    “I’ll never demonize immigrants, I’ll never refer to immigrants as poisoning the blood of the country and further I’ll never separate children from their families at the border,” the president said. 

    Prior to the announcement on Tuesday, Trump’s campaign panned Biden’s plan as “mass amnesty to destroy America.” On a press call, former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement Thomas Homan and Trump aides Jason Miller and Stephen Miller framed the order as part of a conspiratorial scheme by Biden and Democrats to flood the country with immigrants and turn them into Democratic voters. That claim is in line with the Great Replacement Theory, a false conspiracy theory that has inspired racist mass shootings in the U.S. and elsewhere.

    “The other thing that’s very important about this plan is it is a pro-child slavery, pro-child trafficking, pro-child sexual servitude,” Trump campaign senior advisor Jason Miller said on the call prior to Biden’s announcement, citing the exceptions in the executive order for unaccompanied minors and victims of trafficking. “So the message to the cartels and the smugglers is you have the greenest of green lights to smuggle and traffick children into this country into various forms of servitude, slavery, sex trafficking, labor trafficking and other forms of abuse, imprisonment and torture.”

    The action will no doubt face legal challenges, but an administration official said that they “look forward” to defending the rule. The American Civil Liberties Union already vowed Tuesday that it would sue the Biden administration over the order, saying it puts “tens of thousands of lives at risk.”

    “This action takes the same approach as the Trump administration’s asylum ban,” the ACLU wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. “We will be challenging this order in court.”

    “I would expect them to sue,” Suozzi said when asked about potential legal challenges. “That’s why Congress has to act.” He added that the White House “vetted it” and “thought it through” on how to pass legal challenges.  

    The move was met with some support from Biden’s own party, particularly from those who backed the bipartisan border bill killed by Republicans.

    At the White House on Tuesday afternoon, Kelly called the order “a very good step forward” that will “make a big difference” at the border.

    “It’s important that the president is planning to take decisive action given the fact that extreme MAGA Republicans have decided to try to weaponize the challenges at the border,” said House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., at a press conference Tuesday morning.

    Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., chided his Republican colleagues for not taking action to enact legislation to address the border, saying that it “would have been the more effective way to go.”

    Schumer went on to say that Biden preferred to take the legislative route to address immigration, but: “given how obstinate Republicans have become, turning down any real opportunity for strong border legislation, the president is left with little choice but to act on his own.”

    The chairs of the Blue Dog Coalition, a group of moderate House Democrats, called Biden’s action an “overdue step” but said that more needed to be done in order to secure the border, calling on the White House and other members of Congress to take action.

    “This job is far from over,” declared Washington Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Pérez, Maine Rep. Jared Golden and Alaska Rep. Mary Peltola, along with North Carolina Rep. Don Davis.

    Biden on Tuesday said the executive order is “not enough” and called on Congress to approve funding to hire new border security agents, immigration judges, asylum officers and machines that can screen and stop fentanyl from being smuggled into the U.S. 

    But progressive Democrats and Republicans alike decried the action — though for wildly different reasons.

    Texas Sen. John Cornyn, a member of Senate GOP leadership, questioned the timing of why Biden waited to unveil the order before responding to his own query by charging: “The simple answer is he’s not serious.”

    House Speaker Mike Johnson expressed a similar sentiment, calling Biden’s action “window dressing” while charging that the president and Mayorkas, who his chamber impeached earlier this year, “engineered” a border crisis.

    “If he was concerned about the border, he would have done this a long time ago,” Johnson said, while acknowledging that he had not yet seen the president’s order. “The devil will definitely be in the details here, I can assure you.”

    In a joint statement, House GOP leadership chalked the move up to a “political stunt.” 

    Polls show immigration has increasingly become a main concern of voters. A recent poll from the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found a majority of adults think Biden’s presidency has hurt the country on immigration and border security. 

    Meanwhile, Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, called Biden’s actions “extremely disappointing.”

    “Democrats cannot buy into cruel enforcement-only measures that have failed for 30 years,” she wrote on social media ahead of the announcement. “We need real, humane reform that expands legal pathways.”

    “I’m disappointed that this is a direction that the President has decided to take,” California Rep. Nanette Barragan, the chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, told reporters on Tuesday. “We think it needs to be paired with positive actions and protections for undocumented folks that have been here for a long time.”

    “For those who say the steps I’ve taken are too strict, I say to you be patient,” Biden adding that in the “weeks ahead” he will speak about how the U.S. can make our immigration system more fair. 

    “Doing nothing is not an option,” he added. “We have to act.”

    Spectrum News’ Joseph Konig contributed to this report.

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    Justin Tasolides

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