WASHINGTON (AP) — Never before in a presidential election cycle has there been so much discussion of the child tax credit — a tool many Democrats and Republicans have endorsed as a way to lift children and young families out of poverty.
Just three years ago, child poverty rates fell significantly when President Joe Biden’s administration raised the child tax credit and made even the poorest families eligible. But the expansion only lasted a year. Congress declined to renew it.
There is hope for another increase in the tax credit, regardless of who wins Tuesday’s presidential election, but tension remains over who should qualify.
Democrats seek a massive — and costly — expansion of the social safety net. Vice President Kamala Harris has pitched a major increase to the child tax credit as part of her presidential campaign. Rather than providing the benefit through a tax refund, she wants to send monthly payments to parents, even those who aren’t working and pay no income tax. Republicans have expressed support for increasing the tax credit but also concern that for some parents, it could become an incentive not to work.
For all its economic prosperity, childhood poverty remains pervasive in the United States. Children under 5 are the age group most likely to encounter poverty and eviction, and more than one in six young people under 18 live below the federal poverty line. Meanwhile, it’s getting more expensive to raise a child, with the cost of groceries, child care and housing going up.
“Expanding the child tax credit is the single most effective option on the table for reducing child poverty in America,” said Christy Gleason of Save the Children, a global humanitarian organization focused on the well-being of children. “Families are demanding it. Voters are demanding it.”
Currently, the child tax credit gives families a $2,000 discount on their tax bill for every child under the age of 17 in their care. Families that pay less than $2,000 in income tax get a smaller benefit, and parents who are out of the workforce get none.
Harris has made expanding the tax credit central to her campaign’s messaging on the economy. Her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, has a resume that includes passing a state child tax credit.
Former President Donald Trump doubled the amount of the child tax credit during his administration. His presidential campaign declined to provide specifics on his plans for the child tax credit except to say he would weigh significantly increasing it.
Trump’s running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, raised the possibility of increasing the child tax credit to $5,000 so that more parents can stay home with their children in an interview on CBS’ Face the Nation. But some Republicans have been leery about expanding it to parents who are not working outside the home.
After voting down a child tax credit bill in August, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said for stay-at-home parents the benefit amounts to “cash welfare instead of relief for working taxpayers.”
The stakes of that debate are high for parents who are unable to work because of a disability, or because they are caring for children or elderly parents. Many have been excluded from the benefit because they are not earning income.
Kandice Beckford, 25, is among those. She was a medical assistant at Howard University Hospital in Washington, D.C., last year when her pregnancy made her too sick to work, forcing her to quit.
She was homeless even when she was earning a paycheck, bouncing between the homes of friends and relatives. When she left the hospital after giving birth in April, she still had no permanent place to stay. There was little she could do except connect with social service agencies — and pray.
“I’m a godly woman, so I really tried to leave most of that in God’s hands,” Beckford said. “It was worrisome, but I tried not to let it overpower my life and my thinking.”
Beckford’s story underscores the financial precarity many families — and single mothers in particular — face in raising children. If she doesn’t return to work this year, she won’t qualify for any benefit.
The Harris proposal would make every household eligible regardless of income, providing $6,000 in benefits to families with newborns and $3,600 for each child after that. She wants to pay it out in monthly payments so families would not have to wait for a tax return. Harris plans to raise taxes on corporations and the wealthiest Americans to pay for the plan, in part by allowing tax credits adopted under the Trump administration in 2017 to expire.
As president, Trump doubled the child tax credit from $1,000 to $2,000 and raised the income cap, allowing families earning up to $400,000 to receive the benefit. The child tax credit passed under his administration will expire at the end of next year. If the next Congress and president do not act, the credit will fall back to $1,000 a child.
In 2021, as part of his American Rescue Plan, President Joe Biden expanded the credit to $3,000 per child — and $3,600 for children under the age of 6 — and made it available to every household with citizen children, regardless of their income. It cut child poverty in half by one measure. But those gains were erased when it expired.
In September, Beckford finally got into a shelter for women and their children in Maryland and was connected with a social service agency that has helped her with many of the expenses a new baby brings, including a stroller and car seat, clothing and toys.
When asked about her dreams for her daughter Inari, Beckford ticked off a list: She wants Inari to be smarter than her and to get “the best education there is to have.” Inari is already exceeding her development milestones, and Beckford is relishing in her growth.
Her last wish was something that sounded basic, but has proven elusive for Beckford and so many other American mothers.
“I want her to have a stable life,” Beckford said.
___
Associated Press writer Josh Boak contributed to this report.
___
The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
__
This story has been corrected to note that Biden expanded the child tax credit in his American Rescue Plan, not the Inflation Reduction Act.
We’re in the final stretch of the 2024 presidential election and both sides are pulling out all the stops to get those all-important undecided voters. The Harris/Walz campaign is exploring an unconventional option: a map in Epic Games’ mega online multiplayer hit Fortnite.
The “Freedom Town, USA” map available at 7331-5536-6547 is a little different from the usual Fortnite matches. Forbes senior contributor Paul Tassi played the new map and reported that there aren’t any guns in Freedom Town (probably for obvious reasons). Instead, the game focuses on racing with cars and parkour style. The map also has some campaign signs and decorations for Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Tim Walz’s presidential run.
Video games have become a cornerstone of the Harris/Walz campaign. Harris’ camp has its own Twitch page that’s been broadcasting games like World of Warcraft and the latest Madden title as a way to spark discussions with the voting public. The Fortnite map, however, doesn’t look like it’s doing a great job of getting the message out to players. As of this story’s publishing, the map only has less than 300 active players.
Political ads and recruitment in video games isn’t just limited to this campaign cycle. Then-candidate Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign introduced the concept to politics when they purchased ads in 18 games including Need for Speed: Carbon and Madden NFL 13 on Microsoft’s Xbox Live service and the mobile version of Tetris, according to NPR.
Donald Trump has a dangerous and dehumanizing hatred for immigrants. (Unless they’re Elon Musk, of course. But I digress.) Remember his infamous diatribe back in 2015, where he claimed Mexicans were “bringing drugs and bringing crime and their rapists?” Things haven’t got better from there. Although Trump’s language has gotten more incoherent as he continues to show signs of mental decline, the disrespect remains.
Recently, while campaigning in the battleground state of Arizona, Trump let loose another tirade. According to him, “When Kamala came in, she dismantled our border and threw open the gates to an invasion of criminal migrants. We’re a dumping ground. We’re like a garbage can for the world. That’s what’s happened.” In actual fact—but when has Donald Trump ever cared about facts—attempted border crossings fell during the Biden administration.
Trump went on to rant, “It’s the first time I’ve ever said that. Every time I come up and talk about what they’ve done to our country, I get angry and angrier. First time I’ve ever said garbage can, but you know what? It’s a very accurate description.”
Donald Trump has built himself up as a patriotic candidate but where is the patriotism here? And Tim Walz, running mate to Kamala Harris, thinks the same thing. Like many others, he was shocked by what he heard, although this sort of language is sadly par for the course with Trump.
“This country that so many died protecting, that is the beacon of the world on democracy and human rights, he calls it the garbage can of the world,” Walz said in Phoenix, Arizona. “That is so pathetic and unpatriotic that it’s almost unbelievable. He is literally trash talking this country now… Let’s start naming it what it is: Donald Trump hates this country and everything he does is for Donald Trump.”
Walz isn’t the only one appalled by Trump’s continuing attempts to tear America down. Anthony Scaramucci, the former White House Director of Communications, wrote on X, “More fascist Language. America and Americans are too good to stand alongside of this.” The last fascist language bombshell hit last week courtesy of The Atlantic, when Joe Kelly relayed a conversation between himself and Trump where Trump wished he had “Hitler’s generals.”
More fascist Language. America and Americans are too good to stand alongside of this.
Trump comes up with new slur against US: ‘We’re the garbage can for the world’ | The Independent https://t.co/PHwaOvrpI7
Hot on the heels of Trump’s “garbage can” remarks came a “joke” by so-called comedian Tony Hinchcliffe at a Trump rally in New York. He said on Sunday, “I don’t know if you know this but there’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. I think it’s called Puerto Rico.” The joke met with backlash, including from Republicans. (And it wasn’t even the only racist joke of the event. All in all it was a disgusting display—and Hinchcliffe has not apologized.) Trump and his cronies have made it perfectly clear over the past few days what they really think of America and its citizens, if you needed any further proof.
The Mary Sue is supported by our audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn a small affiliate commission. Learn more about our Affiliate Policy
Pick your poison: Over the weekend, depending on your political flavor, you could have chosen between listening to a comedian hurl insults on stage at Madison Square Garden as part of a campaign rally; watching a sitting U.S. representative and a vice-presidential contender play video games and talk about scrapping the filibuster via Twitch; hearing a presidential candidate’s thoughts on whale psychology; or listening to a vulnerability researcher (?) and a presidential candidate gab about birth order.
Our sharpest political minds these are not.
It’s almost like everyone is avoiding talking about the actual issues—things like how to reduce inflation, how to bring government spending under control, how to make Social Security solvent, how to create an orderly and just immigration process, or how to improve the quality of our schools. The podcasting industry has, between the last election cycle and now, taken a glorious wrecking ball to cable news, creating a whole bunch of scrappy independent upstarts that presidential candidates (and their political consultants) finally understand to be an important way voters are receiving news and commentary. Unfortunately, the candidates themselves appear to have their heads filled with little more than fluff.
First, a predictable scandal: Tony Hinchcliffe, an insult comedian known for his off-color jokes, took to the stage to open for Donald Trump at Madison Square Garden yesterday. He made jokes about the Clintons, Diddy, and Latinos “making babies” and how they love to “come inside“—”just like they did to our country!”
He also said, “I don’t know if you guys know this but there’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. I think it’s called Puerto Rico.” This became a political scandal, possibly jeopardizing Trump’s ability to win Puerto Rico’s electoral college votes. (Oh, wait…)
“When you have some a-hole calling Puerto Rico ‘floating garbage,’ know that that’s what they think about you….It’s what they think about anyone who makes less money than them,” said New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in a response livestream with the Democrsats’ vice-presidential candidate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. (They’re apparently quite chummy now, or so they want voters to believe.)
“Can’t get over this dude telling someone else to change tampons when he’s the one shitting bricks in his Depends after realizing opening for a Trump rally and feeding red-meat racism alongside a throng of other bigots to a frothing crowd does, unironically, make you one of them,” Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wrote on X. “You don’t ‘love Puerto Rico.’ You like drinking piña coladas. There’s a difference.”
Can’t get over this dude telling someone else to change tampons when he’s the one shitting bricks in his Depends after realizing opening for a Trump rally and feeding red-meat racism alongside a throng of other bigots to a frothing crowd does, unironically, make you one of them. https://t.co/kr82avveYs
Were Puerto Ricans in attendance at the rally offended by this? Not really, or so it seems. But this whole saga is actually pretty emblematic of how this whole election has gone: We’ve almost entirely neglected to talk about actual issues. The Trump campaign keeps courting controversy, again and again and again, while the Harris/Walz campaign frequently defines itself in opposition to the Trumpists, reactive and apoplectic but rarely proactively defining what it is they would actually do.
Trump did Rogan: The most unhinged, meandering, and occasionally entertaining presidential candidate met his match in the most unhinged, meandering, and occasionally entertaining podcaster, and it was wild. Donald Trump and Joe Rogan talked about whale psychology. They talked about how Trump staffed his administration. They talked about the CHIPS and Science Act—which aimed to reduce reliance on Asia-manufactured chips, handing out subsidies for companies to produce semiconductor parts here at home—which Trump called “put[ting] up billions of dollars for rich companies,” saying he instead favored slapping large tariffs on the companies to try to boost growth of American manufacturing capacity. He explained his comments about the “enemy from within” and how he takes it to mean that there are “people that I really think want to make this country unsuccessful.” He, at times, got quite catty toward the ladies on The View.
Meanwhile, you have J.D. Vance—ostensibly the policy guy of the Trump campaign—talking about globalization on comedian Tim Dillon’s podcast. Vance said “London doesn’t feel fully English anymore,” while “New York of course is the classic American city. Over time, I think New York will start to feel less American.” (Is he saying that large cosmopolitan cities are adopting a certain sameness over time? What exactly is he predicting or talking about?)
Between Trump’s protectionism, Hinchcliffe’s off-color jokes, and Vance’s unclear issues with globalization, it all comes together to paint a portrait of a campaign with very different values and priorities than, say, what I have.
Then there’s Kamala: The Democratic presidential candidate went on vulnerability/empathy/shame researcher Brené Brown’s podcast and it was…kind of full of nothing. Brown asked Harris plenty of questions about her background—birth order! Harris’ nickname given to her by her sorority!—but never did they ever get to anything serious. They talked about the core values of “daring leaders.” If you had been playing a drinking game where you take a shot every time someone says “lived experience” or “Venn diagrams,” you would be face down on the rug.
Maybe we don’t deserve better from our leaders. Maybe our politics were always fated to be ground down to this. But boy is it depressing to see it all laid out before you, via hours and hours of longform content on different podcasts, consumed by polar-opposite portions of America who increasingly seem to believe they have very little in common with one another.
Scenes from Miami: I’m in Miami for an event run by Founders Fund, and I went to a Catholic Church yesterday that is coming out in full force against Florida Amendment 4, which would add abortion protections to the state constitution, including the text: “No law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s healthcare provider.” (More on Amendment 4 here.)
Currently, Florida outlaws abortion after 6 weeks, and doctors and activists have been engaged in a campaign to draw attention to edge-case stories where women have been forced into medically difficult situations because the law purportedly does not make it clear that doctors are allowed to abort in life- and health-threatening circumstances. Proponents claim Amendment 4 will clarify this. The bishops of Florida, on the other hand, write: “We urge all Floridians of goodwill to stand against the legalization of late-term abortion and oppose the abortion amendment. In doing so, we will not only protect the weakest, most innocent, and defenseless of human life among us but also countless women throughout the state from the harms of abortion.”
QUICK HITS
On Saturday, Israeli fighter jets hit multiple “air-defense systems, missile-making facilities and launchers” in Iran, reportsBloomberg, in response to Iran’s attack on Israel earlier this month. The attack was not extremely damaging in terms of lives lost—four Iranian soldiers have been reported killed—but it showed critical vulnerabilities in Iran’s weapons and nuclear-development infrastructure. An American military official, “speaking to reporters on the condition of anonymity, said President Joe Biden’s administration had worked with Israel to come up with a ‘proportional’ response and urged Iran not to retaliate again,” per Bloomberg.
On a campaign stop in West Philadelphia, Kamala Harris “announced a plan to boost Puerto Rico’s economy and power grid,” again perBloomberg.
“Egypt has proposed an initial two-day ceasefire in Gaza to exchange four Israeli hostages of Hamas for some Palestinian prisoners, Egypt’s president said on Sunday as Israeli military strikes killed 45 Palestinians across the enclave,” reports Reuters.
Interesting trend piece on how younger women are eschewing wearing their engagement rings and wedding bands daily; as a surfer, I am precluded from wearing mine for much of the summer, but I didn’t realize all the others were copying me.
This “coach in chief” New York Times article is the most cringe thing I’ve read in a long while. Consume with caution.
INTERNATIONAL FALLS, Minn. (AP) — Flags flew at half-staff in Minnesota and at national parks across the country Tuesday for a Voyageurs National Park ranger who died while trying to rescue a family of three stranded by high waves on a lake.
Kevin Grossheim, 55, of Kabetogama, died Sunday while responding to a call for assistance for a father and two sons who were trapped on an island in Namakan Lake after their boat became disabled. Winds gusting over 40 mph (64 kph) had whipped up waves of 5 to 6 feet (1.5 to 1.8 meters) Sunday morning.
“One of the rangers that was out there said he has never seen conditions as wild as they were,” St. Louis County Sheriff Gordon Ramsay said.
Grossheim reached them with his boat, but it overturned after he picked them up, the National Park Service said.
“The front kind of nosedived, the boat listed, and flipped over upside-down,” Ramsay said. An initial report by the park that the ranger was towing the family’s boat proved to be inaccurate, he said.
The three family members were able to swim to shore, but Grossheim disappeared. His body was recovered that afternoon after a roughly three-hour search. A cause of death was not released.
The remote Voyageurs, established in 1975, covers 340 square miles (880 square kilometers) of lakes, forests and streams on Minnesota’s border with Canada. Namakan Lake is one of four big lakes in the park, which also has smaller lakes. Namakan is 16 miles long and 7 miles wide at one point (16 by 11 kilometers). The park is known for boating, camping and snowmobiling; its dark skies; and abundant wildlife, including wolves, bald eagles, moose and beavers.
Grossheim had served as a ranger there for 23 years and was an experienced boat operator, familiar with navigating the lakes, the park service said.
“Kevin was much loved by all and always known to go above and beyond,” park Superintendent Bob DeGross said in a statement.
National Park Service Deputy Director Frank Lands ordered American flags lowered at national parks through sunset Wednesday in Grossheim’s honor. Gov. Tim Walz issued a similar order for state buildings in Minnesota and encouraged people, businesses and other organizations to lower their flags, too.
“Kevin Grossheim was a dedicated ranger and public servant, known for his unwavering commitment to helping others,” Walz tweeted Tuesday.
“This state was once the beating heart of the nation, but Kamala Harris and the Democrats have sold you out,” Trump said on Tuesday night in Greensboro, North Carolina. Photo by Carla Peay/The Atlanta Voice
GREENSBORO – It was hard not to notice the difference. When United States Vice President Kamala Harris held a rally at the Greensboro Coliseum on September 12, the 22,000 seat stadium was nearly at capacity. For former United States President Donald Trump’s rally on Tuesday, October 22, both the upper deck and the sides of the arena were curtained off, leaving only one side of the lower bowl – and few dozen chairs on the floor – available for seating. There were about 1,000 supporters relegated to standing room only, for a total of about 7,500 in attendance.
Photo by Carla Peay/The Atlanta Voice
Still, the supporters were as loud and as vocal as ever, clad in MAGA hats and tee-shirts, listening to a familiar playlist of approved tunes prior to the beginning of the program. A video was shown on the big screen monitors with a recorded message from Trump making more than a few controversial statements, but ones still consistent with his message.
· He accused the Democrats of cheating, saying it was the only thing Democrats do well.
· He promised to end early voting.
· He said there will be a return to paper ballots.
· He said that what happened in 2020 must never be allowed to happen again – presumably a reference to his claim that the election was rigged and stolen, and that he was the rightful winner.
· He continued to take shots at Harris and President Joe Biden, calling him crooked and her the worst Vice President in history.
Photo by Carla Peay/The Atlanta Voice
Taking the stage before Trump were Peter Navarro, an economic advisor in the Trump Administration, Addison McDowell, congressional candidate from the 6th District, Congresswoman Virginia Fox from the 5th District, and US Senator Ted Budd.
Navarro blamed former President Bill Clinton for signing NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement), which he said was the beginning of China’s economic power and the decline of America’s. He compared Harris to Clinton and former President Barack Obama, saying she was “Clinton and Obama in a pants suit.”
He then told the assembled audience that if they yelled loud enough, Trump’s plane would arrive faster. The crowd happily obliged him with a loud ovation. Navarro was the first former White House official ever imprisoned on a Contempt of Congress Charge for his part in trying to overturn the results of the 2020 Election. He served four months in a minimum security prison in Miami.
McDowell then took the stage and blamed the border crisis on Harris.
“This election is personal for me,” McDowell said. “I lost my younger brother to a Fentanyl overdose. I say to Kamala Harris ‘Shame on you’. You have continued to fail us. You have allowed millions of illegal immigrants into our country. It’s time to put America first.”
Congresswoman Fox said we can make history by electing Trump as president 45 and 47. However, if Trump does win this election, he would not be the first man to serve two non-consecutive terms. That would be Grover Cleveland, who was the 22nd and the 24th president.
Senator Budd also attacked Harris, saying that under leadership, our lives are unsafe and unaffordable.
“We have lost our security and the American Dream,” Budd said. “She took our country on a reckless spending spree. She has had four years in office, why didn’t she fix the economy?” Budd asked, neglecting to mention that Harris is the Vice President, not the President.
All of the Trump surrogates advocated for audience members to get out and vote early, and to take 10 people to the polls with them. It was an interesting request considering Trump’s promise that if elected, he would end early voting.
When Trump finally arrived, he opened with a criticism of the federal response to hurricanes Helene and Milton but promised that residents would still be able to vote. The speech then went into a myriad of different topics with his familiar rambling style. He made fun of Kamala Harris’ name, said Biden likes him better than he likes Harris, said Obama was looking old, and called Tim Walz the stupidest man he’s ever seen. He then called his running mate JV Vance a brilliant man.
“Kamala Harris is a radical left lunatic,” Trump said. “We are a failing nation. We won twice here in North Carolina. We won twice everywhere to be honest,” he said, still perpetuating the idea that he won the 2020 election. He then took a moment to call out the fake news, encouraging the crowd to turn and look at the press and boo, as he does at nearly all of his rallies.
“About nine percent of the press are honest people. If we had a press that wrote the truth we would be a lot better as a country,” Trump said.
In an appeal to North Carolina voters, Trump said it was the fault of the Democrats that manufacturing jobs disappeared under their leadership.
“This state was once the beating heart of the nation, but Kamala Harris and the Democrats have sold you out,” Trump said.
He referred to the Green New Deal as a scam, and said he will end it on his first day in office. He called global warming nonsense and warned of impending nuclear war.
“We’re close to World War three,” Trump said. “We have very stupid people running things. If I’m elected, that will not happen.” He also said that Putin would never have attacked Ukraine if he were president.
He vowed to cut energy prices by 50 percent within one year, cut interest rates, gas and grocery prices.
“Our country is being crippled and destroyed by Kamala Harris,” Trump said.
“When I am inaugurated on January 20, America will be bigger, bolder and stronger. We will begin the four greatest years in history.” In his closing remarks, Trump wondered aloud if Harris was drunk, on drugs, and said she lied like a dog. He also mispronounced Tim Walz’ name several times, accused Harris of flying migrant criminals into the country from prisons and insane asylums, and said she was not mentally or physically able to do the job.
“If you want to end this disaster, go out and vote,” Trump said. “This (referring to his campaign) is the single greatest movement in the history of the country.”
To close out the rally, Tulsi Gabbard made an appearance. She called out Harris for being pro-war. Gabbard served in Congress as a Democrat, representing Hawaii’s 2nd District from 2013 to 2021.
“People like us have a home in the Republican party,” Gabbard said. “I am proud to stand here tonight and announce that I am joining the Republican Party. I am joining the party of people, the party of common sense, and supporting the candidate with the courage to fight for peace.”
To the surprise of no one, Lt. Governor Mark Robinson, the Republican candidate for Governor who was previously endorsed by Trump, was nowhere to be seen.
Newly minted Donald Trump surrogates, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard, will be at the Hilton in downtown Omaha, Nebraska on Saturday in the duo’s latest campaign stop for the Republican presidential nominee. Just a short 25-minute drive away, Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz will also be vying for Omahans’ votes, hosting a rally at SumTur Amphitheater in Papillion.
With just over two weeks until Election Day, the two camps are fighting for a small and politically unique slice of the Cornhusker State’s eastern border. Nebraska is one of two states, the other being Maine, that doesn’t do a winner-takes-all system with their electoral college votes. The area around Omaha, the state’s second congressional district, holds one electoral vote—and this election, according to an analysis by NBC News National Political Correspondent Steve Kornacki, that one vote could decide the race.
“It’s especially important for democrats,” Kornaki began, “there’s an electoral map scenario for Kamala Harris that absolutely hinges on locking it down.” That scenario looks like this: Harris takes home Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania; Trump wins North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona, and Nevada; Omaha, in this hypothetical, could get Harris to 270.
Since 1992, when Nebraska switched its electoral process to the one it has now, the district has gone blue twice—once in 2008 for Barack Obama and again for Joe Biden in the 2020 election. To show their support for the Harris-Walz ticket, local Omaha residents have put up campaign signs in their yards featuring a single blue dot.
Campaign signs for Democratic congressional candidate Tony Vargas, Harris Walz, and a blue dot camapign sign are planted in front of a house in Omaha, Neb., on Tuesday, October 15, 2024. If Vice President Kamala Harris wins the second district, which includes Omaha, she will win one electoral vote from the otherwise red Nebraska. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Bill Clark/Getty Images
In September, Republicans across the country, along with Trump himself, tried to interfere in Nebraska’s electoral college system, executing a last-ditch and ultimately unsuccessful lobbying campaign to overturn the decades-old law and lump together all of the districts in the state. The Harris campaign has exponentially outspent Trump in Nebraska, dedicating $5 million toward advertising in the state, compared to Trump’s $200,000, according to reporting from NPR based on data from ad-tracking firm AdImpact.
Still, the Trump campaign’s choice to send RFK Jr. and Gabbard to Omaha points to a continued effort to turn the whole state red.
Kennedy—who once referred to Trump as a “terrible president” and a “bully”—and Gabbard—who opted for critiques like “corrupt” and “unfit to serve” in 2020—have both taken on prominent roles in the effort to elect the former president. Since ending his own bid for office in August, he’s been stumping for Trump. Though Kennedy—whose campaign included a sexual assault allegation first reported by Vanity Fair—paused his more forward-facing campaigning after news broke that he allegedly had an inappropriate relationship with New York magazine’s Washington, DC, correspondent Olivia Nuzzi.
Donald Trump’s appearance at the famous Al Smith dinner on Thursday was marked by his characteristic blend of humor and political commentary.
It was a glorious opportunity for the 45th President to remove whatever little filter he has and go full bore.
He took the opportunity to joke about the state of the Democrat Party and aimed devastating barbs at Vice President Kamala Harris, her running mate Tim Walz, Cryin’ Chuck Schumer, and liberals in general.
Harris was notably absent from the event but sent a video message instead. It was as cringe as you might imagine, actually using a Saturday Night Live character that mocks Catholics … at an event aiming to raise funds for Catholic charities.
Just completely out of touch.
Even comedian Jim Gaffigan, not exactly an avid Trump supporter by any stretch, took a moment to absolutely shred Harris for not making an appearance.
But it was Trump that truly shined here, as anybody could have expected. The Republican nominee is at his best when he’s just letting loose. While his opponent continues to look and act completely like a robot, Trump delivered time and time again as a likable dude who you’d just love to hang out with.
Here are some of his best moments…
Trump’s Best Moments At The Al Smith Dinner
What better place to start than a joke at Kamala’s expense? Trump hammered her with this line at the Al Smith dinner referencing her plea to bail out rioters and arsonists in Minneapolis after the George Floyd riots.
“If you really wanted Vice President Harris to accept your invitation, I guess you should have told her the funds were going to bail out the looters and rioters in Minneapolis, and she would have been here, guaranteed,” Trump said.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: “But if you really wanted Vice President Harris to accept your invitation, I guess you should have told her the funds were going to bail out the looters and rioters in Minneapolis and she would’ve been here guaranteed.” pic.twitter.com/sRBNMBOKgJ
He then took an epic shot at what we thought was Joe Biden at first, but take a listen. It’s even better.
“Right now we have someone in the White House who can barely talk, barely put together two coherent sentences, who seems to have the mental faculties of a child,” Trump lamented. “But enough about Kamala Harris.”
I’m DED 🤣🤣🤣
TRUMP: “Right now we have someone in the White House who can barely talk, barely put together two coherent sentences, who seems to have the mental faculties of a child…
Then there was this barb at her supporters. More specifically, the folks at the ‘Dudes for Harris‘ headquarters. Paternity Pete, David Hogg, and the like.
“There’s a group called ‘White Dudes for Harris’ but I’m not worried about them at all, because their wives and their wives’ lovers are all voting for me,” he quipped.
🚨🔥😂 OMG ! TRUMP is the funniest man alive!
He is roasting White Dudes for Harris
Harry Sisson is flipping out right now and thinks this was inappropriate and doesn’t want people to laughing at the joke
Man, they’re going to be livid about that line when they get out of spin class this morning. Speaking of white ‘dudes’ for Harris, Trump figuratively murdered her running mate, Tim Walz, on a couple of occasions.
“I used to think Democrats were crazy for saying that men have periods,” Trump quipped at one point. “But then I met Tim Walz.”
Trump: “I used to think Democrats were crazy for saying that men have periods. But then I met Tim Walz.”
The former President also took aim at Walz’s propensity to make claims about his military record and public service that ultimately ended up being proven untrue.
“Unfortunately, Governor Walz isn’t here himself,” he stated. “But don’t worry, he’ll say that he was.”
Donald Trump at the Al Smith Charity Dinner: “Unfortunately, Governor Walz isn’t here himself. But don’t worry, he’ll say that he was.” pic.twitter.com/KnECD1pSvo
And of course, it’s always nice to see Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) – aka Cryin’ Chuck – being made uncomfortable. And Trump delivered in spades with this comment:
“Chuck Schumer is here looking very glum — But look on the bright side, Chuck, considering how woke your party has become, if Kamala loses, you still have a chance to become the first woman president.”
Trump just ROASTED Chuck Schumer 🤣🔥
“Chuck Schumer is here looking very glum — But look on the bright side, Chuck, considering how woke your party has become, if Kamala loses, you still have a chance to become the first woman president”
While Trump delivered the most sensational lines of the night, we’d be remiss if we didn’t cover one particular comment by emcee Jim Gaffigan. While it was meant to be a joke, it really isn’t when you think about it.
The comedian addressed the elephant in the room. The coup Democrats just staged against their own voters’ wishes.
“The Democrats have been telling us Trump’s reelection is a threat to democracy,” he snarked. “In fact, they were so concerned of this threat, they staged a coup, ousted their democratically elected incumbent, and installed Kamala Harris.”
Jim Gaffigan: “The Democrats have been telling us Trump’s reelection is a threat to democracy. In fact, they were so concerned of this threat, they staged a coup, ousted their democratically elected incumbent, and installed Kamala Harris.” pic.twitter.com/ZVgqMbT2p5
Every word of that is true. Biden was ousted. Harris was installed. And it was the biggest assault on democracy this country has seen in years.
Think about it for a minute. They removed the man Democrats voted for because of the sole reason they thought he couldn’t win. What’s to stop them from doing that again? And again.
Democrat votes no longer mean anything, if they ever did. (Superdelegates, anyone?)
We’re less than three weeks out from the election and Trump looks as relaxed as he ever was. Harris, meanwhile, looks stiff and completely out of tune with the average American.
Republicans turned Tim Walz’s outing at a dog park nearly three years ago into an attack on the Democratic vice presidential nominee this week, working on a false online narrative to paint Walz as a liar.
The intended takeaway was that Walz somehow lied about the identity of his dog, Scout, by describing two different dogs as his beloved pet in separate X posts. Social media users shared screenshots of the posts as alleged proof that the Minnesota governor exhibits a pattern of deceit, garnering thousands of likes, shares and reactions across platforms.
In one post, from June 2022, Walz is pictured hugging a black dog. The caption reads, “Sending a special birthday shoutout to our favorite pup, Scout.” The other, posted in October 2022, showed Walz beside a brown and white dog with the caption: “Couldn’t think of a better way to spend a beautiful fall day than at the dog park. I know Scout enjoyed it.”
In response, Walz supporters shared posts on social media showing that Walz was simply playing with someone else’s dog while mentioning Scout in the caption.
The seemingly innocuous post was not the only fodder that has been used against Walz in recent days. A joke he cracked in a campaign video with Vice President Kamala Harris about eating “white guy tacos” was used to accuse him of lying about how much he seasons his food. Opponents have also taken issue with Walz describing himself as a former high school football coach, pointing out that he was the defensive coordinator.
False and misleading claims of such a trivial nature might not seem particularly harmful, but a deluge of them could easily add up to real damage at the polls, according to experts. This is especially true when they go after a figure such as Walz, who is still relatively unknown on the national stage, though the fact that he is not at the top of the ticket could lessen the impact on the Harris-Walz campaign.
“It might seem trivial, and in some cases they really truly are, but they’re trying to make a larger attack about character that fits in a bigger narrative that is being created around this persona,” Emily Vraga, a professor at the University of Minnesota who studies political misinformation, said of the recent attacks on Walz. “This becomes kind of a piece of the puzzle they’re trying to assemble.”
She added that “the sheer amount” of false claims can create the perception that there is some truth to them, even if voters don’t believe every single one.
Nathan Walter, an associate professor at Northwestern University who also studies misinformation, agreed that any one piece of misinformation doesn’t have to be significant in order to be damaging.
“The idea is to attack someone’s personality, and then these attacks become really almost like the canary in the coal mine, right?” he said. “So if he lies about his dog, if he lies about his illustrious career as a coach, he probably lies about many other things.”
Democrats have recently deployed a similarly shallow line of attack on the Republican ticket, Ohio Sen. JD Vance and former President Donald Trump, branding the pair as “weird.”
Mixed in with the frivolous attacks on Walz is criticism about other inconsistencies. For example, earlier this month Walz went after Vance by saying, “If it was up to him, I wouldn’t have a family because of IVF.” But his wife Gwen Walz issued a statement last week that disclosed they had relied on a different fertility treatment known as intrauterine insemination, or IUI.
What to know about the 2024 Election
Walz’s military record has also faced intense scrutiny from the right. One such concern is that he portrayed himself as someone who spent time in a combat zone when speaking out about gun violence in 2018. “We can make sure that those weapons of war, that I carried in war, is the only place where those weapons are at,” he said at the time.
Walz never served in a combat zone during 24 years in the Army National Guard, but held many other roles. They included work as an infantryman and field artillery cannoneer, as well as a deployment to Italy in a support position of active military forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Vraga described the more superficial attacks as a “spaghetti approach,” in which Republicans are throwing out a lot of claims to see if they stick in place of a meatier narrative, dominating online discourse in the meantime. Plus, the idea that Walz is a liar “plays into this established worldview that we have about politicians as untrustworthy,” according to Walter.
Even in the polarized political climate of 2024, where many people on all sides hold strong beliefs unlikely to be changed by online name-calling, negative campaigning has the potential to repel potential voters altogether.
Such attacks could be used to demobilize voters, especially those who are not deeply engaged. “You might just start feeling like, why bother with politics at all?” Vraga said. “It’s just nasty.”
Presidential candidates relationship with the marijuana industry has involved – now she wants to deliver the winning goal.
The cannabis industry has been nervously waiting for some federal action to let the industry move to the next level. While consumer use is growing and taking a bite out of the alcohol industry, federal resections have put a significant hold on the profitability and growth of cannabis. President’s Biden made a promise to support the industry in 2020, but waited until 2023 to make a move with no noticeable action taking place until 2025. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is making an announcement on rescheduling in the first part of December, after the election. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has leaned in the DEA not to reschedule and made it clear he firmly opposes cannabis. This would go against all precedents as both the Food and Drug Administration and Health and Human Service has said it should be done.
There will be a new president and a new set of rules in December, and the DEA will be watching the political winds. So what is Kamala’s Harris Take on legalizing cannabis? With almost 90% of the country believing it should be legalized in some forms and groups like the American Medical Association, AARP, and the American College of Physicians supporting it, it is not a hot pototo, except for a few in power.
Photo by Alexander Sanchez/Getty Images
The latest take is Harris proposed legalizing marijuana nationally for recreational use and ensuring Black entrepreneurs have access to the growing cannabis industry. She made the announcement while in California. She has become the first sitting vice president to encourage legalizing it and has become a public champion. This is more open and aggressive than the current Biden administration’s approach. During a wide-ranging conversation on the podcast “All the Smoke” with former NBA stars Stephen Jackson and Matt Barnes, Harris expressed her belief that marijuana should be legalized.
Harris stated, “I believe we have reached a moment where it is crucial to recognize that we need to legalize it and cease the criminalization of this activity.” She emphasized her conviction that individuals “should not face incarceration for using marijuana”
Harris has been critical of the current federal classification of marijuana. During a White House roundtable, she pointed out the absurdity of cannabis being considered as dangerous as heroin and more dangerous than fentanyl under current law. During her 2020 presidential campaign, she expressed support for marijuana legalization and admitted to having used it herself in the past. This shift from her earlier career as a prosecutor demonstrates a changing perspective on cannabis policy.
The $23+ billion industry is full of mom and pop businesses. Democrats have been traditionally been more of ally to the industry. Republican blocked SAFE Banking for 7 times and then the GOP Speaker coup ended any chance for movement last year. Some marijuana industry leaders don’t have faith in Biden or Harris, but the congressional GOP has not be the support to cannabis and the other party.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on Tuesday unveiled his ticket’s plans to improve the lives of rural voters, as Vice President Kamala Harris looks to cut into former President Donald Trump’s support.
The Harris-Walz plan includes a focus on improving rural health care, such as plans to recruit 10,000 new health care professionals in rural and tribal areas through scholarships, loan forgiveness and new grant programs, as well as economic and agricultural policy priorities. The plan was detailed to The Associated Press by a senior campaign official on the condition of anonymity ahead of its official release.
It marks a concerted effort by the Democratic campaign to make a dent in the historically Trump-leaning voting bloc in the closing three weeks before Election Day. Trump carried rural voters by a nearly two-to-one margin in 2020, according to AP VoteCast. In the closely contested race, both Democrats and Republicans are reaching out beyond their historic bases in hopes of winning over a sliver of voters that could ultimately prove decisive.
Walz, wearing a flannel coat and a campaign camo hat, announced the plan during a stop in rural Lawrence County in western Pennsylvania, one of the marquee battlegrounds of the 2024 contest. He is also starring in a new radio ad for the campaign highlighting his roots in a small town of 400 people and his time coaching football, while attacking Trump and his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance.
“In a small town, you don’t focus on the politics, you focus on taking care of your neighbors and minding your own damn business,” Walz says in the ad, which the campaign said will air across more than 500 rural radio stations in Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. “Now Donald Trump and JD Vance, they don’t think like us. They’re in it for themselves.”
The Harris-Walz plan calls on Congress to permanently extend telemedicine coverage under Medicare, a pandemic-era benefit that helped millions access care that is set to expire at the end of 2024. They are also calling for grants to support volunteer EMS programs to cut in half the number of Americans living more than 25 minutes away from an ambulance.
It also urges Congress to restore the Affordable Connectivity Program, a program launched by President Joe Biden that expired in June that provided up to $30 off home internet bills, and for lawmakers to require equipment manufacturers to grant farmers the right to repair their products.
MANKATO, Minn.— It was a huge homecoming for Gov. Tim Walz Friday night in Mankato.
Minnesota State University stadium was packed Friday night for the annual Jug Game between Mankato West Scarlets and the Mankato East Cougars.
This traditional game was far from typical, with secret service members in the crowd and heavy police presence, but on the gridiron, it was game on as usual.
“Seeing Mr. Walz is a great thing,” said Jimmy Baker, Mankato West alum. “I think he’s a great person.”
25 years ago, it was Baker and his teammates on the field and Walz was the assistant coach.
“I feel nostalgic in an amazing way,” Baker smiled.
Times have changed—and both Walz and Baker are in the stands watching a new generation hit the field.
A few hours before kickoff, as the Scarlets got onto bus, Walz gave the team captains a quick pep talk, telling them to have fun.
A homecoming for Walz, from the halls he once taught, to the field before hitting the campaign trail with less than a month until election day.
In front of a packed stadium, the Scarlets beat the Cougars 28-7.
According to NBC News, Trump has been told that his safety can’t be guaranteed, so he’s temporarily choosing life over one of his favorite pastimes:
Trump has not played golf since an apparent assassination attempt near one of his courses on Sept. 15, and he will not do so until after the election, according to a person close to the campaign and another person familiar with the situation. A third person familiar with the conversations said Trump was told that federal agents could not ensure his safety to a degree that they were comfortable with if he were to play. The concerns were conveyed in two conversations with Trump since the September incident: one with Ronald Rowe, the acting director of the Secret Service, and the other with officials from the national intelligence director’s office.
He and his campaign aren’t just worried about golf courses. Per the Washington Post, the Trump campaign has asked for a number of additional protective measures while he’s on the trail — apparently including the Air Force:
Trump’s campaign requested military aircraft for Trump to fly in during the final weeks of the campaign, expanded flight restrictions over his residences and rallies, ballistic glass pre-positioned in seven battleground states for the campaign’s use and an array of military vehicles to transport Trump, according to emails reviewed by The Washington Post and people familiar with the matter.
The requests are extraordinary and unprecedented — no nominee in recent history has been ferried around in military planes ahead of an election. But the requests came after Trump’s campaign advisers received briefings in which the government said Iran is still actively plotting to kill him, according to the emails reviewed by The Post and the people familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe sensitive discussions. Trump advisers have grown concerned about drones and missiles, according to the people.
In a California fundraiser hosted at Gov. Gavin Newsom’s home Tuesday in Sacramento, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz advocated for doing away with the Electoral College system, stating that “we need a national popular vote.”
“I think all of us know the electoral college needs to go,” the Democratic vice presidential candidate said. “But that’s not the world we live in. So we need to win Beaver County, Pennsylvania. We need to be able to go into York, Pennsylvania, and win. We need to be in western Wisconsin and win. We need to be in Reno, Nevada and win.”
The comments were immediately seized on by the Trump campaign and prominent Republicans, who accused Walz of attempting to throw the results of a victory by former President Donald Trump into question if Trump were to win in November.
Trump campaign press secretary Karoline Leavitt questioned if Walz was attempting to lay “the groundwork to claim President Trump’s victory is illegitimate?” in an X post.
In a statement provided to CBS News, a spokesperson for the Harris-Walz campaign said that “Walz believes that every vote matters in the Electoral College and he is honored to be traveling the country and battleground states working to earn support for the Harris-Walz ticket. He was commenting to a crowd of strong supporters about how the campaign is built to win 270 electoral votes. And, he was thanking them for their support that is helping fund those efforts.”
Getting rid of the Electoral College is not a position the campaign holds, a campaign official said.
The comment from Walz, and the swift clarification, comes just days after he told Bill Whitaker on “60 Minutes” that his running mate, Vice President Kamala Harris, said he needs to be more careful when he speaks.
Since being thrust into the national spotlight, the Minnesota governor has faced scrutiny about his misrepresentations of his military status regarding when he retired from the Army National Guard as well as his whereabouts when pro-democracy protests broke out in China and Hong Kong in 1989.
“I speak like everybody else speaks. I need to be clearer. I will tell you that,” Walz told CBS News in a press gaggle last week.
The Electoral College was established by the Constitution, so changing it would require a Constitutional amendment. But calls to do so have gained traction in some Democratic circles, such as after 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by about 3 million votes, but lost the electoral vote to Trump. The same occurred to former Vice President Al Gore in the 2000 presidential race. According to a recent survey by the Pew Research Center, 63% of Americans favor the election being decided by who wins the popular vote, not the Electoral College system.
In the Electoral College system, there are a total of 538 electoral votes, divided among the states in a way that mirrors each state’s congressional delegation, with one vote allocated for each member of the House, plus two more for the two senators. Most states have a winner-take-all system, which means that all of the state’s electoral votes go to the presidential candidate who wins the popular vote.
“We need to roll an orange this weekend,” I texted the group chat of reporters that pack their lives into a suitcase and embeds with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, traveling across the country with the Democratic vice presidential candidate.
It’s a decades-old tradition stemming back to the days of late President Ronald Reagan. The press corps traveling with a candidate rolls an orange up the aisle of the campaign jet with a question written on it. An answer is written on the orange and then rolled back to reporters.
Continuing the tradition with an almost-out-of-ink Sharpie, reporters on Sunday embedded with Walz asked him who his dream dinner guest was.
I attempted to bowl the orange up the aisle of the Boeing 757-200, but it made it about halfway up the aisle and hit another passenger’s seat. I motioned for the passenger to roll the orange up further, and once he did, it was lost. Or so we thought.
On Monday night, the orange was returned to us in the press motorcade with Walz’s answer: “Bruce Springsteen.”
Words written on an orange by Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz aboard a campaign flight on Oct. 7, 2024, in response to a question, also written on the orange, from press corps reporters about who is dream dinner guest would be.
CBS News
Walz has been open about his love of Springsteen’s music. In March 2023, he declared “Bruce Springsteen Day” in Minnesota.
Springsteen, a 20-time Grammy-winner, endorsed the Harris-Walz ticket last week in a video.
“Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are committed to a vision of this country that respects and includes everyone, regardless of class, religion, race, political point of view or sexual identity,” Springsteen said. “That’s the vision of America that I’ve been consistently writing about for 55 years.”
Reporters embedded with Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, former President Donald Trump’s running mate, did their own orange roll Tuesday.
“To Vance: Fave song?” they wrote.
“Led Zeppelin Ten Years Gone,” the orange read when it was swiftly returned, according to pool reports.
In what has been an intense presidential campaign, this was a tradition that gave reporters and candidates a chance to lighten things up.
First, Kamala Harris: The 2024 60 Minutes Interview. And, Scott Pelley speaks with the Arizona Republican election officials working to restore confidence in the 2024 results
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
With Election Day less than a month away, Sen. JD Vance, the Republican vice presidential nominee, is set to return to the Bay Area on Wednesday for yet another fundraiser in an effort to bolster the Republican campaign war chest in the final stretch of the race for the White House.
According to the event invitation, the fundraiser will take place in the evening in Woodside, an affluent town on the Peninsula. However, few other details were provided.
The cost of attending the event is steep: $50,000 per couple will grant access to a roundtable discussion, photo opportunity and reception, according to the invite. For individuals, participation in the roundtable, a photo and reception access is priced at $25,000. A photo opportunity with access to the reception costs $15,000, and general admission is set at $3,300 per person.
Woodside is renowned for its sprawling estates, many owned by Silicon Valley’s wealthiest residents.
The host of the fundraiser remains unclear. A spokesperson for the San Mateo County Republican Party said she did not have information regarding who is hosting the event.
This visit is part of an ongoing push by Vance and his running mate at the top of the ticket, former President Donald Trump, to raise funds in the Bay Area, a region known for its deep pockets for both the GOP and Democrats, despite its largely liberal electorate.
Trump has made several trips to the area recently, attending high-dollar fundraisers with some of the region’s wealthiest donors.
In June, Trump raised $12 million during an event at the home of San Francisco billionaire David Sacks. Vance, for his part, appeared at a fundraiser hosted by crypto billionaire Mike Belshe at the Four Seasons in East Palo Alto in late July.
The region is a hotbed for political fundraising for both parties. Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris, a Bay Area native, campaigned in San Francisco in August and again last week, while Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic vice presidential hopeful, was in Sacramento on Tuesday as part of a West Coast fundraising tour.
California Republican Party Chairwoman Jessica Millan Patterson said of Walz’ visit, “Walz trades one failed California Democrat for another as Gavin Newsom hosts him to raise campaign cash in Sacramento.”
“The more time Walz spends in California with radical Democrats, the further away Kamala Harris’ and his already extreme agenda move from the American people,” she said.
In terms of fundraising, Harris has far outpaced Trump in California, raising $194 million compared to Trump’s $44.8 million, according to the latest data from OpenSecrets. While the Bay Area is not one of the top contributors to Trump’s campaign, the exclusive ZIP code of Los Altos has emerged as a major donor base, contributing $3 million to his efforts.
Despite Vance’s notable ties to Silicon Valley’s tech elite, including investors like Peter Thiel, Marc Andreessen, and Tesla and X CEO Elon Musk, the Republican campaign has yet to match Harris’ fundraising dominance in her home state.
Watch as Vice President Kamala Harris discusses the economy, immigration, the ongoing war in the Mideast, and the differences between herself and former President Trump during a 2024 election interview.
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
Kamala Harris has been a candidate for president for just two-and-a-half months and the post convention “honeymoon” is over. With the election just 29 days away, Harris and her running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz face unrelenting attacks from Donald Trump, and the race remains extremely close.
We met the 59-year-old vice president this past week on the campaign trail and later at the vice president’s residence in Washington, DC. We spoke about the economy and immigration, Ukraine, and China, but we began with the escalating war in the Middle East, one year after the Hamas terror attack on Israel.
Bill Whitaker: The events of the past few weeks have pushed us to the brink, if—if not into an all-out regional war in the Middle East. What can the U.S. do at this point to stop this from spinning out of control?
Vice President Kamala Harris: Well, let’s start with October 7. 1,200 people were massacred, 250 hostages were taken, including Americans, women were brutally raped, and as I said then, I maintain Israel has a right to defend itself. We would. And how it does so matters. Far too many innocent Palestinians have been killed. This war has to end.
Bill Whitaker: We supply Israel with billions of dollars in military aid, and yet Prime Minister Netanyahu seems to be charting his own course. The Biden-Harris administration has pressed him to agree to a ceasefire. He’s resisted. You urged him not to go into Lebanon. He went in anyway. Does the U.S. have no sway over Prime Minister Netanyahu?
Vice President Kamala Harris: The work that we do diplomatically with the leadership of Israel is an ongoing pursuit around making clear our principles.
Bill Whitaker: But it seems that Prime Minister Netanyahu is not listening.
Vice President Kamala Harris: We are not gonna stop pursuing what is necessary for the United States to be clear about where we stand on the need for this war to end.
Bill Whitaker: Do we have a–a real close ally in Prime Minister Netanyahu?
Vice President Kamala Harris: I think, with all due respect, the better question is do we have an important alliance between the American people and the Israeli people. And the answer to that question is yes.
While the war in the Middle East has dominated recent headlines, it’s the economy that most concerns American voters this election year, as always.
Bill Whitaker: There are lots of signs that the American economy is doing very well, better than most countries, I think. But the American people don’t seem to be feeling it. Groceries are 25% higher and people are blaming you and Joe Biden for that. Are they wrong?
Vice President Kamala Harris: We now have historic low unemployment in America among all groups of people. We now have an economy that is thriving by all macroeconomic measures. And, to your point, prices are still too high. And I know that, and we need to deal with it, which is why part of my plan—you mentioned groceries. Part of my plan is what we must do to bring down the price of groceries.
Bill Whitaker and Vice President Kamala Harris
60 Minutes
Harris says she’ll press Congress to pass a federal ban on price gouging for food and groceries, but details are yet to be defined.
Bill Whitaker: You want to give tax breaks to first-time home buyers.
Vice President Kamala Harris: Yes.
Bill Whitaker: And people starting small businesses.
Vice President Kamala Harris: Correct.
Bill Whitaker: But it is estimated by the Nonpartisan Committee for Responsible Federal Budget that your economic plan would add $3 trillion to the federal deficit over the next decade. How are you gonna pay for that?
Vice President Kamala Harris: OK, so the other econ- economists that have reviewed my plan versus my opponent and determined that my economic plan would strengthen America’s economy. His would weaken it.
Bill Whitaker: But–
Vice President Kamala Harris: My plan, Bill, if you don’t mind, my plan is about saying that when you invest in small businesses, you invest in the middle class, and you strengthen America’s economy. Small businesses are part of the backbone of America’s economy.
Bill Whitaker: But—but pardon me, Madame Vice President, I– the– the question was, how are you going to pay for it?
Vice President Kamala Harris: Well, one of the things is I’m gonna make sure that the richest among us, who can afford it, pay their fair share in taxes. It is not right that teachers and nurses and firefighters are paying a har– a higher tax rate than billionaires and the biggest corporations.
Bill Whitaker: But—but
Vice President Kamala Harris: And I plan on making that fair.
Bill Whitaker: But we’re dealing with the real world here.
Vice President Kamala Harris: But the real world includes—
Bill Whitaker: How are you gonna get this through Congress?
Vice President Kamala Harris
60 Minutes
Vice President Kamala Harris: You know, when you talk quietly with a lot of folks in Congress, they know exactly what I’m talking about, ’cause their constituents know exactly what I’m talking about. Their constituents are those firefighters and teachers and nurses. Their constituents are middle-class, hard-working folk.
Bill Whitaker: And Congress has shown no inclination to move in your direction.
Vice President Kamala Harris: I– I disagree with you. There are plenty of leaders in Congress who understand and know that the Trump tax cuts blew up our federal deficit. None of us, and certainly I cannot afford to be myopic in terms of how I think about strengthening America’s economy. Lemme tell you something. I am a devout public servant. You know that. I am also a capitalist. And I know the limitations of government.
Kamala Harris has been in government for decades; she was first elected San Francisco district attorney in 2003, then California attorney general, she went on to the U.S. Senate, and now vice president.
Bill Whitaker: A quarter of registered voters still say they don’t know you. They don’t know what makes you tick. And– and why do you think that is? What–what’s the disconnect?
Vice President Kamala Harris: It’s an election, Bill. And I take– it seriously that I have to earn everyone’s vote. This is an election for president of the United States. No one should be able to take for granted that they can just declare themselves a candidate and automatically receive support. You have to earn it. And that’s what I intend to do.
Bill Whitaker: Lemme tell you what your critics and the columnists say.
Vice President Kamala Harris: OK.
Bill Whitaker: They say that the reason so many voters don’t know you is that you have changed your position on so many things. You were against fracking, now you’re for it. You supported looser immigration policies, now you’re tightening them up. You were for Medicare for all, now you’re not. So many that people don’t truly know what you believe or what you stand for. And I know you’ve heard that.
Vice President Kamala Harris: In the last four years I have been vice president of the United States. And I have been traveling our country. And I have been listening to folks and seeking what is possible in terms of common ground. I believe in building consensus. We are a diverse people. Geographically, regionally, in terms of where we are in our backgrounds. And what the American people do want is that we have leaders who can build consensus. Where we can figure out compromise and understand it’s not a bad thing, as long as you don’t compromise your values, to find common-sense solutions. And that has been my approach.
But one issue that has proven impervious to compromise is immigration. Over the past four years, the Biden/Harris approach has been inconsistent, and Republicans are convinced immigration is the vice president’s achilles heel.
Bill Whitaker: You recently visited the southern border and– embraced President Biden’s recent crackdown on asylum seekers. And that crackdown produced an almost immediate and dramatic decrease in the number of border crossings. If that’s the right answer now, why didn’t your administration take those steps in 2021?
Vice President Kamala Harris: The first bill we proposed to Congress was to fix our broken immigration system, knowing that if you want to actually fix it, we need Congress to act. It was not taken up. Fast forward to a moment when a bipartisan group of members of the United States Senate, including one of the most conservative members of the United States Senate, got together, came up with the border security bill. Well, guess what happened? Donald Trump got word that this bill was afoot and could be passed and he wants to run on a problem instead of fixing a problem, so he told his buddies in Congress, “Kill the bill. Don’t let it move forward.”
Bill Whitaker: But I’ve been covering the border for– for years. And so I know this is not a problem that started with your administration.
Vice President Kamala Harris: Correct. Correct.
Bill Whitaker: But there was an historic flood of undocumented immigrants coming across the border the first three years of your administration. As a matter of fact, arrivals quadrupled from the last year of President Trump. Was it a mistake to loosen the immigration policies as much as you did?
Vice President Kamala Harris: It’s a longstanding problem. And solutions are at hand. And from day one, literally, we have been offering solutions.
Bill Whitaker and Vice President Kamala Harris
60 Minutes
Bill Whitaker: What I was asking was, was it a mistake to kind of allow that flood to happen in the first place?
Vice President Kamala Harris: I think– the policies that we have been proposing are about fixing a problem, not promoting a problem, okay? But the–
Bill Whitaker: But the numbers did quadruple under your–
Vice President Kamala Harris: And the numbers today–
Bill Whitaker: –under your watch–
Vice President Kamala Harris: –because of what we have done– we have cut the flow of illegal immigration by half. We have cut the–
Bill Whitaker: But should you have done that–
Vice President Kamala Harris: –flow of fentanyl–
Bill Whitaker: –should you have done that–
Vice President Kamala Harris: –by half. But we need Congress to be able to act to actually fix the problem.
Bill Whitaker: You have accused Donald Trump of using racist tropes when it comes to Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, when it comes to birtherism, when it comes to Charlottesville. In fact, you have called him a racist and divisive. Yet Donald Trump has the support of millions and millions of Americans. How do you explain that?
Vice President Kamala Harris: I am glad you’re pointing these comments out that he has made, that have resulted in a response by most reasonable people to say, “It’s just wrong. It’s just wrong.”
Bill Whitaker: With so many people supporting Donald Trump, a man you have called a racist. How do you bridge that seemingly unbridgeable gap?
Vice President Kamala Harris: I believe that the people of America want a leader who’s not tryin’ to divide us and demean. I believe that the American people recognize that the true measure of the strength of a leader is not based on who you beat down, it’s based on who you lift up.
The Harris campaign has been hopscotching the country and with less than a month to go, the pace is picking up. The vice president told us, she’s lost track of how many states she’s visited.
Vice President Kamala Harris: How are you doing?
Bill Whitaker: I’m doing well.
Vice President Kamala Harris: You well?
We joined her on the trail late last week, in the crucial swing state of Wisconsin, in the town of Ripon, the birthplace in 1854 of the Republican Party.
And at a rally plastered with “country over party” banners, Harris appeared with staunch conservative Liz Cheney. As vice chair of the House January 6th Committee, Cheney became one of Donald Trump’s fiercest critics.
Liz Cheney: I have never voted for a Democrat, but this year, I am proudly casting my vote for Vice President Kamala Harris (applause)
That proclamation spurred a chant of approval from the crowd…
Bill Whitaker: Four years ago if someone had told you that you would be campaigning with Liz Cheney, what would you have said to them?
Vice President Kamala Harris: That’d be great. (laughter)
Liz Cheney: She’s really diplomatic. (laughter)
Bill Whitaker: Would you ever have thought that you’d be campaigning with Kamala Harris?
Liz Cheney: I hope that if you had said to me four years ago, “Our constitution is going to be under threat and it’s gonna be crucial for the parties to come together– and to support Vice President Harris because she’ll defend the rule of law”– I know I would’ve said, “That’s exactly what I’ll do.”
Whoever wins the presidency will take on a host of daunting challenges, especially beyond our borders. Back in Washington, Vice President Harris told us she’s determined the U.S must win the economic competition with China for the 21st century. And as for the war between Russia and Ukraine?
Bill Whitaker: What does success look like in ending the war in Ukraine?
Vice President Kamala Harris: There will be no success in ending that war without Ukraine and the UN charter participating in what that success looks like.
Bill Whitaker: Would you meet with President Vladimir Putin to negotiate a solution to the war in Ukraine?
Vice President Kamala Harris: Not bilaterally without Ukraine, no. Ukraine must have a say in the future of Ukraine.
Bill Whitaker: As president, would you support the effort to expand NATO to include Ukraine?
Vice President Kamala Harris: Those are all issues that we will deal with if and when it arrives at that point. Right now, we are supporting Ukraine’s ability to defend itself against Russia’s unprovoked aggression. Donald Trump, if he were president, Putin would be sitting in Kyiv right now. He talks about, “Oh, he can end it on day one.” You know what that is? It’s about surrender.
Bill Whitaker: A hard left turn here. But– you recently surprised people when you said that you are a gun owner and that if someone came into your house–
Vice President Kamala Harris: That was not the first time I’ve– I’ve–
Bill Whitaker: –they would get shot.
Vice President Kamala Harris: –talked about it. That’s not the first time I’ve talked about it.
Bill Whitaker: So what kind of gun do you own, and when and why did you get it?
Vice President Kamala Harris: I have a Glock, and– I’ve had it for quite some time. And– I mean, look, Bill, my background is in law enforcement. And– so there you go.
Bill Whitaker: Have you– ever fired it?
Vice President Kamala Harris: Yes. (laugh) Of course I have. At a shooting range. Yes, of course I have.
Democratic vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz was little-known outside Minnesota just two months ago. He didn’t exactly come from nowhere. He was a six-term congressman and now is governor of Minnesota, where he has championed abortion rights, gun control, and other progressive ideas. But it was calling former President Trump and Sen. JD Vance “weird” that may have landed him on the ticket.
60 Minutes
Bill Whitaker: Two months ago, you and Kamala Harris barely knew each other. Now, you’re running together, vying for the top offices in the land. It’s not possible that you agree on everything.
Gov. Tim Walz: Yeah.
Bill Whitaker: What have been some disagreements you’ve had since you became a team?
Gov. Tim Walz: Well—I—she’d probably disagreed with—she said, “Tim, you know, you need to be a little more careful on how you say (laugh) things,” whatever it might be.
Whatever it might be, Walz has been criticized for embellishing or telling outright falsehoods about his military record, and about his travels to Asia in the 1980s.
Bill Whitaker: In your debate with JD Vance, you said, “I’m a knucklehead (laugh) at times.” And I think you were referring to the time that you said that you were in Hong Kong during the Tiananmen Square unrest when you were not.
Gov. Tim Walz: Yeah.
Bill Whitaker: Is that kind of misrepresentation, isn’t that more than just being a knucklehead?
Gov. Tim Walz: I think folks know who I am. And I think they know the difference between someone expressing emotion, telling a story, getting a date wrong by–you–rather than a pathological liar like Donald Trump.
Bill Whitaker: But I think it comes down to the question of whether—whether you can be trusted to tell the truth.
Gov. Tim Walz: Yeah. Well– I can– I think I can. I will own up to being a knucklehead at times, but the folks closest to me know that I keep my word.
Walz proudly touts his record as governor of Minnesota, but it also has opened him up to criticism from his Republican opponents.
Bill Whitaker: Former President Trump says that you and your administration here in Minnesota has been dangerously liberal. Radical left, he calls it. So, what do you say to that criticism, that rather than leading the way, you and Minnesota are actually out of step with the rest of the country?
Gov. Tim Walz: President Trump may be referring to that – that our children get breakfast and lunch in school so that they can learn. He may be talkin’ about we have a paid family medical leave policy that was promoted by the business community. Donald Trump spends his time tearing down states rather than lifting up the things we do, the best of it. Donald Trump’s critiques of that, not only are they wrong, but I’m waiting for, “What—what is his solution? Here in Minnesota, we’re so optimistic, we walk on water half the year (laugh).
It was that kind of humor and candor that helped land Tim Walz the job as Kamala Harris’s running mate.
Bill Whitaker: Before you joined the– ticket, you called Republicans “weird.” And that’s sort of become a rallying cry for Democrats. Why do you think that label stuck?
Gov. Tim Walz: I was really talking about the behaviors. Being obsessed with people’s personal lives in their bedrooms and their reproductive rights, making up stories about legal –folks legally here eating cats and dogs, they’re dehumanizing. They go beyond weird because I said this: it becomes almost dangerous. Let’s debate policy in a real way and let’s try and find an objective truth again.
Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are in a full sprint to November 5th, hoping their arguments will give them a chance to cross the line ahead of Donald Trump and JD Vance.
Bill Whitaker: You are sitting here with us. The Trump campaign canceled an interview that they had agreed to, to participate in this broadcast. What do you make of that?
Vice President Kamala Harris: If he is not gonna give your viewers the ability to have a meaningful, thoughtful conversation, question and answer with you, then watch his rallies. You’re gonna hear conversations that are about himself and all of his personal grievances. And what you will not hear is anything about you, the listener. You will not hear about how he is gonna try to bring the country together, find common ground. And, Bill, that is why I believe in my soul and heart, the American people are ready to turn the page.
Produced by Marc Lieberman and Rome Hartman. Associate producers: Cassidy McDonald, Matthew Riley and LaCrai Scott. Broadcast associates: Mariah Johnson and Georgia Rosenberg. Edited by Warren Lustig and Craig Crawford.
Bill Whitaker is an award-winning journalist and 60 Minutes correspondent who has covered major news stories, domestically and across the globe, for more than four decades with CBS News.
Even supporters of the Democratic candidate for president Kamala Harrishave complained that the current vice president remains a mystery to broad swaths of the country. Though media outlets (including this one) have noted that coverage of Harris and her campaign attracts a greater readership than coverage of her opponent, Republican nominee and former presidentDonald Trump, those outlets have struggled to convince Harris to sit down for an interview. It’s a decision that’s concerned even the journalists who seem receptive to her message, and prompted observers such as media writer Jon Allsopto note that as of late September, Harris and running mate Tim Walz “had taken part in seven interviews or press conferences, compared with Donald Trump and J.D. Vance’s combined seventy-two.” Of those, Harris personally has participated in just three.
But all that changes this week, as Harris is launching into a set of sit-downs and interviews at the national level, presumably in an effort to—as Democratic strategist James Carvillerecently put it——win the news cycle. Here’s where to find an interview with Kamala Harris this week:
TBD: Call Her Daddy
Harris sat for an interview with influential podcast host Alex Cooper on Tuesday, for an episode slated to be released on an at-yet-undisclosed day this week. Quoting the Harris campaign, the Washington Postreports that the interview focused on “reproductive rights and ‘other critical issues important to women.’” Listeners can find the episode on Spotify when it’s released.
Monday: 60 Minutes
For decades, the venerable CBS newsmagazine has hosted an interview with both presidential candidates in the weeks leading up to the election, with Trump famously walking out on that conversation in 2020. Via statement, the show says, “This year, both the Harris and Trump campaigns agreed to sit down with 60 Minutes. Vice President Harris will speak with correspondent Bill Whitaker. After initially accepting 60 Minutes’ request for an interview with Scott Pelley, former President Trump’s campaign has decided not to participate. Pelley will address this Monday evening. Our election special will broadcast the Harris interview on Monday as planned.” According to the show, expect questions about “the economy, immigration, and the ongoing wars in Ukraine and Israel.” 60 Minutes will air on CBS on Monday, October 7 at 8 p.m. ET, and will be available for streaming via CBSNews.com, on the CBS News app, or Paramount+.
Kamala Harris appears on ABC’s “The View” on Friday, July 12, 2019.
Jenny Anderson/Getty Images
Tuesday: The View
Harris will travel to New York on October 8 for an in-person interview with the ABC roundtable talk show. Planned topics of discussion with hosts Sunny Hostin, Joy Behar, Ana Navarro, Whoopi Goldberg, Sara Haines and Alyssa Farah Griffin have not been released. ABC broadcasts The View on weekdays at 11 a.m. ET, 10 a.m. CT and PT., with episodes streaming at a later date on ABC.com and Hulu.
Tuesday: The Howard Stern Show
The iconic interviewer’s once-controversial style is far less shocking in these days of wildly popular batshit podcasters, but with an audience of listeners who followed him to incessant spam call network SiriusXM, he arguably still enjoys some pull. Stern’s show airs live on Sirius’s channel 100 from 7-11 a.m. ET, with clips and segments typically shared to its YouTube channel in the hours following the broadcast.
Tuesday: The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Harris will cap off her busy Tuesday with an appearance on the late night talk show hosted by frequent Trump antagonistStephen Colbert. (Other guests for the episode have yet to be announced.) The October 8 episode will air from 11:35 p.m. to 12:37 ET on CBS and will be available to stream on Paramount+.
