What’s happening on the campaign trail today
- President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris met separately with Benjamin Netanyahu a day after the Israeli prime minister addressed Congress in a speech met with protests inside and outside the chamber. Harris expressed support for Israel’s right to defend itself and concern for those suffering in Gaza.
- The vice president told reporters that she is “ready” to debate former President Donald Trump at the scheduled Sept. 10 debate.
- The Trump campaign has said it would not commit to a debate with Harris, who has secured support from a majority of the delegatesuntil Democrats formally nominate their candidate. Harris accused Trump of “backpedaling” on the deal their campaigns made with ABC.
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First to NBC News: Pa. labor leaders back the idea of Josh Shapiro as VP
Reporting from Pittsburgh
Fifty labor leaders across Pennsylvania signed a letter today in support of Gov. Josh Shapiro’s being Harris’ running mate.
“It is more crucial than ever that we elevate elected officials whose leadership can unite our democratic coalition and remind us that, above all else, we share a vision for a fairer, stronger, more inclusive Commonwealth and country,” the letter says.
It also praises Shapiro’s leadership, saying he has “safeguarded our rights” and “fostered a climate of economic security and opportunity,” adding that his initiatives have been “instrumental in enhancing the livelihoods of working Pennsylvanians.”
Danny Bauder, the president of the Philadelphia AFL-CIO, told NBC News that the letter “really underscores the strong union relationships Gov. Shapiro has here in state.”
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Pennsylvania is home to more than half a million union workers.
Just as other Shapiro backers have done, the labor leaders pointed to the fact that Shapiro is the only governor in the country with a divided Legislature, arguing that he “knows better than anyone that we don’t have to agree on every single issue to continue to get stuff done.”
“Recent history has taught us that even amongst our brothers and sisters in labor, we are not always aligned in our politics — that’s why it is more crucial than ever that we elevate elected officials whose leadership can unite our democratic coalition and remind us that, above all else, we share a vision for a fairer, stronger, more inclusive Commonwealth and country,” the letter says.
“Now more than ever, our country deserves leaders who have the backs of working people. Make no mistake — Governor Shapiro has always had our backs, and the men and women of organized labor will continue to have his.”
A Kamala Harris meme imagines fake but funny campaign promises
What is Harris’ policy platform? The internet has some suggestions.
A new meme has social media users floating whimsical, fake campaign promises from Harris that would satisfy the most niche desires of pop culture fans, from releasing Beyoncé’s “Renaissance” film on streaming services to bringing back Miller Lite vortex beer bottles.
The memes show an official portrait of Harris side by side with an image referring to the fake campaign promise and are written in the style of an official campaign announcement. Some say Harris would enact the promise within the first 100 days of her presidency or start with a breaking news label.
Trump campaign won’t commit to debating Harris
The Trump campaign will not commit to debating Harris, arguing in a statement that “Democrats very well could still change their minds” about her being the nominee.
“Given the continued political chaos surrounding Crooked Joe Biden and the Democrat Party, general election debate details cannot be finalized until Democrats formally decide on their nominee,” Trump campaign Communications Director Steven Cheung said in a statement.
Harris has said she is ready to debate Trump on Sept. 10, the previously scheduled debate date. She accused Trump of “backpedaling” on his commitment to the debate.
Harris reiterated her criticism of the Trump campaign’s unwillingness to commit to a debate against her, writing in a post to X, “What happened to ‘any time, any place’?” The post was a reference to Trump’s previous commitment to debate Biden.
Manhattan DA urges judge not to overturn Trump conviction
A Supreme Court decision on Trump’s immunity for “official acts” while he was president has no bearing on his conviction on charges of falsifying business records in New York, state prosecutors argued in a filing made public today.
In a filing arguing against Trump’s bid to dismiss the indictment and guilty verdict on 34 felony counts, prosecutors from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office said the Supreme Court’s ruling in the federal election interference case against Trump “has nothing to say about defendant’s conviction” in its case.
Biden posts video of him addressing staff
Biden posted a short video on X of him addressing his staff after his Oval Office address last night.
Staff members cheered loudly when he appeared.
“The only reason we’ve had the progress we’ve had is because of you,” Biden said in the video. “And that’s not hyperbole. That’s the God’s truth.”
Vance talks about his family on podcast with Trump Jr.
Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance, discussed his family’s interactions with politics in an interview on Donald Trump Jr.’s “Ruthless” podcast.
Vance recalled how his 7-year-old son was talking in the background as Trump called to offer him the slot as his running mate. He apologized to Trump about his son’s disruptions, and Trump asked Vance to put him on the phone.
“Your dad starts asking my 7-year-old son what he thinks about the Truth statement he’s about to put out about the endorsement,” Vance told Trump Jr., referring to Trump’s social media platform, Truth Social.
Vance also recounted Trump’s asking his wife, Usha Vance, whether she likes politics.
“She gives a diplomatic answer, like, ‘No, I really appreciate his love of service, and I want to support however I can.’ Just like a totally Usha answer, right? She’s a very diplomatic person,” Vance said. “And he looks at her and says, ‘Yeah, my wife hates it, too.'”
Harris says her meeting with Netanyahu was ‘frank and constructive’
Harris told reporters that her meeting with Netanyahu today was “frank and constructive.”
She said she told Netanyahu that she would make sure Israel would always be able to defend itself, saying she has always had an “unwavering commitment to the existence of the state of Israel, to its security and to the people of Israel.”
Harris named each American still being held hostage in Gaza.
She said that during the meeting she also expressed her “serious concern about the scale of human suffering in Gaza, including the death of far too many innocent civilians.”
Harris emphasized that “it is time for this war to end” and promoted Biden’s cease-fire and hostage release proposal.
Harris joins TikTok
Although the Harris campaign account (@kamalahq) already had a 1.6 million-user following on TikTok, Harris herself had not joined the social media platform until today.
The new account, @kamalaharris, which was quickly verified by TikTok, amassed nearly 100,000 followers within 30 minutes of the first video’s being posted.
Almost 30 million people watched Biden’s Oval Office address
About 28.9 million people watched Biden’s prime-time address last night explaining his decision to withdraw from the race.
The estimate, provided by Nielsen, was higher than the company’s estimate of 25 million viewers for the final day of the Republican National Convention, when Trump delivered his first major speech since the assassination attempt.
Nielsen previously estimated that 51 million people tuned into the June 27 debate between Trump and Biden.
Nikki Haley says she is ‘not looking for a job’ in a possible Trump administration
Former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley said today that she’s “not looking for a job” in another Trump administration if he wins in November, adding that she’s not sure whether she’ll launch another White House bid.
“I don’t know whether I would run again,” she said in an interview with CNN after being asked whether she would run for president again or look for a job in a Trump administration.
“I think you never say never, but I don’t know how you can be someone who goes through all of that and says, ‘Oh, let’s run for president again,'” she said. “It’s just not a natural thing.”
Earlier in the interview, Haley discussed her 2024 presidential campaign, including what it was like being on the campaign trail while her husband was deployed overseas.
“He’s like my right arm,” Haley said. “I’ve never gone through any challenge without him.”
Team USA basketball star Stephen Curry expressed support for Harris, saying, “If she’s on the ticket, winning the election, like, it’s a big, big deal, to say the least.”
Nikki Haley hits back at GOP criticism of Harris as a ‘DEI’ candidate
In a CNN interview, former GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley criticized some in her party who have referred to Harris as a “DEI” candidate.
“It’s not helpful,” Haley told CNN’s Jake Tapper. “Look, I mean, we’re talking about a liberal senator who literally has not accomplished very much. And what she was given she didn’t do much with. You don’t need to talk about what she looks like or what gender she is to talk about that.
“There’s so many issues we can talk about when it comes to Kamala Harris that it doesn’t matter what she looks like. It matters what she’s said, what she’s fought for and the lack of results that she’s had because of it,” Haley added.
Beyoncé’s ‘Freedom’ gets streaming boost following Kamala Harris’ campaign use
Call it the Kamala Harris effect: Beyoncé is seeing a huge surge in streams for her song “Freedom” after Harris walked out to the 2016 song during her first appearances as the likely Democratic nominee this week.
According to Luminate, the U.S. on-demand streams for “Freedom” are up over 1,300 percent from Sunday to Tuesday, surging from 16,600 streams to 235,400 streams in that timeframe.
“Freedom,” which features Kendrick Lamar and was included on Beyoncé‘s sixth album “Lemonade,” blared as Harris visited her Delaware campaign headquarters a day after President Joe Biden bowed out of his re-election bid.
Nikki Haley says Democrats ‘very smart to put in a younger candidate’
Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley said in an interview today that “the Democrats are very smart to put in a younger candidate.”
“I think that that’s what America has craved,” she said in a clip of the interview released this afternoon by CNN. “But I think what you look at is they put in the weakest candidate they could put in.”
Haley, 52, sai d d uring her GOP presidential campaign that “the first party to retire its 80-year-old candidate is going to be the one who wins this election.”
Judge in Trump civil fraud case denies recusal motion
The New York judge who found Trump and his company liable for civil fraud has denied the former president’s bid to force him off the case.
Attorneys for Trump had argued Judge Arthur Engoron should recuse himself after NBC New York reported that a real estate lawyer named Adam Leitman Bailey said he’d spoken the judge about the case.
Bailey said he’d explained to Engoron that he thought a part of one of his earlier rulings was unfair to Trump’s company, and urged him to reconsider his position. Engoron this year hit Trump with a $350 million judgment.
In today’s ruling, Engoron said Bailey had no impact on his ruling. He said the lawyer “started haranguing me” about the issue when he bumped into him in the courthouse, and the “90-second, unsolicited diatribe” had in no way “affected my adjudication of a dispute over which I had presided for three and a half years.”
“I am supremely confident in my ability to continue to serve, as I always have, impartially,” Engoron wrote.
Nikki Haley voters confront a new choice with the same skepticism
Over little more than a week, Trump survived an assassination attempt, Biden decided not to seek another term and Harris became the de facto Democratic nominee in his stead. And amid the churn, a new focus group of a key set of potential swing voters — supporters of Nikki Haley in the 2024 primaries — shows just how hardened views of the 2024 election are.
Those who applauded Trump for adopting a conciliatory tone in the aftermath of the July 13 shooting now feel that he reverted to being the candidate they voted against in the Republican presidential nominating contest. Those who said they would vote for the Democratic presidential nominee in the fall were all already on board before Biden’s announcement.
And those who were on the fence regarding the 2024 presidential race still feel like they are stuck there.
Harris campaign: ‘Happy World IVF Day to Everyone Except JD Vance’
In a press release, the Harris campaign today marked “World IVF Day” by taking aim at comments Vance made about people without children and at GOP policies towards reproductive rights.
The release highlights Vance’s statements that the Harris campaign says are ” insulting couples struggling with infertility,” referring to comments Vance made in 2021 that resurfaced this week, saying that the U.S. is led by “childless cat ladies.”
“Trump, Vance, and their entire party have made it clear that they stand against women and their ability to start a family when and how they choose — and voters will make their stance clear by electing Kamala Harris this November,” Harris campaign spokeswoman Sarafina Chitika said in a statement.
Harris says she’s ready to debate Trump at the one already scheduled for Sept. 10
Harris told reporters on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews that she is ready to debate Trump at the previously scheduled presidential debate on Sept. 10 with ABC.
“I have agreed to the previously agreed upon Sept. 10th debate. He agreed to that previously. Now it appears he’s backpedaling,” she said. “But I’m ready. I think that voters deserve to see the split screen that exists in this race on a debate stage and so I’m ready.”
Since Harris announced her candidacy on Sunday, Trump has suggested he may not want to go through with the debate, especially if it’s hosted by ABC. He has said he would prefer it be moderated by Fox News.
Jason Miller says Trump mispronounces Kamala because Chuck Schumer does
Jason Miller, Trump’s senior campaign adviser, says Trump pronounces Harris’ name wrong because Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer does.
Asked by Axios’ Alex Thompson why Trump frequently mispronounces Harris’ name — which is pronounced “comma-la.”
“In fairness, Chuck Schumer mispronounced Kamala Harris’ name, but even her Twitter description, it even says, because everyone gets her name wrong, so it’s perfectly understandable,” Miller said. “He also got it right a whole number of times.”
Kamala, the Sanskirt word for lotus, has been repeatedly mispronounced by the vice president’s rivals in an attempt to mock her.
Netanyahu thanks Biden for a half-century of support for Israel
Before their closed-door meeting in the Oval Office, Netanyahu thanked Biden for his 50 years of public service and his support for the state of Israel.
“Mr. President, we’ve known each other for 40 years and you’ve known every Israeli prime minister for 50 years from Golda Meir. So from a proud Jewish Zionist, to a proud Irish American Zionist, I want to thank you for 50 years of public service and 50 years of support for the state of Israel,” Netanyahu said.
Biden only offered a few words in response before the press left, recalling meeting with Meir and joking that he was “only 12 when it happened.”
Kamala Harris’ stepdaughter responds to ‘childless’ attack from JD Vance: ‘I love my three parents’
Doug Emhoff’s daughter and ex-wife criticized Ohio GOP Sen. JD Vance after comments re-emerged of him referring to Vice President Kamala Harris as childless.
In a statement to NBC News, Kerstin Emhoff called Vance’s attacks “baseless,” adding: “For over 10 years, since Cole and Ella were teenagers, Kamala has been a co-parent with Doug and I. She is loving, nurturing, fiercely protective, and always present. I love our blended family and am grateful to have her in it.”
Ella Emhoff, 25, posted a screenshot on her Instagram story in support of her mother’s statement, adding, “How can you be ‘childless’ when you have cutie pie kids like Cole and I?”
At the bottom of the image, Ella Emhoff wrote, “I love my three parents.”
Ohio secretary of state accuses DNC chair of ‘posturing’ in justifying virtual nomination
Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose today called on DNC Chair Jaime Harrison to stop citing his state’s Aug. 7 ballot access deadline as justification for an early virtual nomination prior to the Democratic convention in late August.
“As the state’s chief elections officer, I’ve confirmed with our state’s attorney general that Ohio law does not require the DNC to conduct a ‘virtual roll call’ prior to your scheduled August convention dates,” LaRose wrote.
He accused the DNC chairman of engaging in anti-democratic practices.
“I’m confident that your attorneys are well-aware of this fact, and I suspect your current rhetorical posturing is part of a plan to replace the incumbent president without a contested convention or any kind of democratic process. It’s clever, if not completely antithetical to your party’s relentless finger wagging about threats to democracy, but I ask that you stop using Ohio to justify your course of action.”
LaRose assured Harrison that as long as Democrats certify the party’s candidate nominations for president and vice president by Sept. 1, they will appear on the Ohio ballot for the November general election.
Democrats, however, have raised concerns that litigation could result if they don’t hold the virtual roll call before Aug. 7 because a state legislative fix to the issue won’t go into effect until after then, on Sept. 1.
Harris encourages voter registration in video for ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars’
Harris is encouraging viewers of the reality TV competition show “RuPaul’s Drag Race” to register to vote in a new video posted to the show’s X account, saying “make sure your voice is heard” in November.
“Each day we are seeing our rights and freedoms under attack, including the rights of everyone to be who they are, love who they love, openly and with pride,” she says in the video. “So as we fight back against these attacks, let’s all remember no one is alone. We are all in this together, and your vote is your power.”
The video, which according to Variety magazine was taped a few weeks before she announced her presidential campaign, comes as Harris is set to appear on the season nine finale of “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars.”
Harris appears in the video alongside judge Michelle Visage, Emmy-nominated choreographer Jamal Sims, singer Lance Bass, comedian Leslie Jones and actor Cheyenne Jackson.
Pro-Palestinian protesters spill red liquid in front of park near the White House
About a dozen pro-Palestinian protesters have gathered outside Lafayette Square, located near the White House, ahead of Biden and Harris’ meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this afternoon.
The protesters spilled red liquid, made to look like blood, across the intersection in front of the park.
U.S. Park Police have protectively closed off the park, forcing people in the area onto the sidewalks adjacent to Black Lives Matter Plaza.
Senators say Secret Service and FBI should make findings public in Trump assassination attempt probe
Senators said after a closed-door briefing today with acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe that the information provided to them about the assassination attempt on Trump had built up their confidence in the agency’s new leader.
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., said the agencies “have a pretty good idea what happened,” which they “ought to make that public.” Still, he said, there are unanswered questions about what unfolded at the Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13.
Robert Wells, the executive assistant director of the FBI’s national security branch, also participated in the briefing.
A Secret Service spokesperson said in a statement that during the briefing, “Acting Director Rowe was committed to providing details and answering questions that could not be answered in Monday’s public Congressional hearing due to operational security and ongoing investigations.”
The statement added that Rowe “told Senate members that he was committed to restoring the American people’s trust in the United States Secret Service, and will provide more information to the public as appropriate.”
Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, said Rowe was “very forthright.”
“I appreciated his very, very direct answers to our questions. I would expect that he will do that again, at our public hearing next week,” he said.
Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., agreed that the findings of the investigation should be shared with the public. He also said that Rowe recognized “there will have to be accountability. But … they have to complete their full investigation to find out exactly who was responsible.”
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., said the new acting director “seems extremely committed, in a good way, to changing protocols and making sure this doesn’t happen again.”
Yes, you can call her ‘Kamala,’ campaign signals
In its first campaign ad, Kamala Harris’ campaign suggests it wants America to be on a first-name basis with the vice president, despite some pro-Harris voices insisting in recent days that it is rude or undignified to refer to her by anything other than her title or last name.
The new ad features multiple images of supporters waiving signs that read only “Kamala” and a crowd chanting “Ka-ma-la! Ka-ma-la!” When Harris ran for president herself in the 2020 Democratic primary, her campaign bus featured her first name only, written in giant letters across one side.
Chuck Todd, Kelly O’ Donnell and others discuss Biden’s address to the nation about his decision to end his 2024 presidential campaign and what’s to come for the race.
Harris’ stepdaughter hits back at JD Vance’s resurfaced ‘childless cat ladies’ comment
Harris’ stepdaughter, Ella Emhoff, pushed back at comments Sen. JD Vance made in a resurfaced 2021 interview, in which he said the country was being run “by a bunch of childless cat ladies.”
“How can you be ‘childless’ when you have cutie pie kids like Cole and I,” Emhoff wrote in a post on Instagram this morning, referring to her brother and Harris’ other stepchild, Cole Emhoff.
Emhoff also praised a statement by her biological mother, second gentleman Doug Emhoff’s ex-wife, Kerstin Emhoff, who defended Harris against “baseless attacks” and praised her for being a “loving, nurturing, fiercely protective” stepmother to her children for more than 10 years.
“@kemhoff say it louder for the people in the back,” Emhoff wrote in the post, referring to her biological mother. “I love my three parents.”
Emhoff’s post comes as Vance, who was tapped as Trump’s vice presidential running mate, faces backlash from prominent public figures over the resurfaced comments from a 2021 appearance on Tucker Carlson’s former Fox News show. Vance at the time said the country was being led “by a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they’ve made.”
Melania Trump to tell her story in memoir, ‘Melania,’ scheduled for this fall
Melania Trump has a memoir coming out this fall, “Melania,” billed by her office as “a powerful and inspiring story of a woman who has carved her own path, overcome adversity and defined personal excellence.” It’s the first memoir by the former first lady, who has been mostly absent as her husband, former President Donald Trump, seeks to return to the White House.
“Melania” will be released by Skyhorse Publishing, which has published such Trump supporters as former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and attorney Alan Dershowitz. Skyhorse also has worked with third-party candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and former Trump insider Michael Cohen, who later became one of the former president’s harshest critics. Some Skyhorse books include forewords by Trump ally Steve Bannon.
Republicans see Gov. Josh Shapiro as Harris’ ‘super strong’ VP contender
PITTSBURGH — Republicans increasingly see one of the Democrats under consideration to be Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate as the most likely to offer her a boost and make their efforts trickier: Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.
These Republicans say that Shapiro, a first-term governor of a critical swing state, could help broaden Harris’ appeal with independent voters and traditional Democrats who are drifting away from the party, and help win over his home state — the most pivotal battleground on the presidential map, in their view.
In Shapiro, they see a governor who not only won in a 2022 landslide over state Sen. Doug Mastriano, but is also well regarded as an effective campaigner and messenger who has not totally alienated Pennsylvania Republicans in the process.
“I just think Shapiro is super strong,” one Trump ally said. “And Republicans should be concerned about it. If I were her, that would be the pick.”
This person added that Shapiro has avoided blistering attacks from Republican counterparts “because he’s actually pretty moderate,” adding that the governor, an observant Jew, could speak to disaffected voters of faith who years ago voted for Democrats but now feel detached from the party — and might even be a stronger candidate than Harris.
“Shapiro creates a super interesting dynamic,” this person added.
Jennifer Aniston slams Vance over ‘childless cat ladies’ comment from resurfaced interview
Actor Jennifer Aniston, who has been open about her fertility struggles, slammed Sen. JD Vance over a resurfaced 2021 interview in which he said the United States was being run by “a bunch of childless cat ladies.”
“I truly can’t believe this is coming from a potential VP of The United States,” Aniston wrote yesterday in an Instagram story, including a clip of Vance’s comments.
The interview gained fresh traction this week after it was posted on X, days after Trump announced that the Republican senator from Ohio would be his vice presidential running mate.
During a 2021 appearance on Tucker Carlson’s Fox News show, Vance said that the country was being led “by a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they’ve made.”
Aniston called out Vance over his far-right stance on reproductive rights.
“All I can say is… Mr. Vance, I pray that your daughter is fortunate enough to bear children of her own one day,” Aniston wrote. “I hope she will not need to turn to IVF as a second option. Because you are trying to take that away from her, too.”
The actor told Allure in 2022 that she tried to get pregnant for many years but that “it was a challenging road” for her.
Harris to teachers union: ‘We want to ban assault weapons and they want to ban books’
In a fiery speech to the American Federation of Teachers in Houston, Harris railed against Republicans, telling teachers, “We want to ban assault weapons and they want to ban books,” as teachers responded with chants of “Bring it on, bring it on.”
Harris also attacked Project 2025, a 900-page blueprint written by conservative groups and former Trump advis e rs to guide the next Republican administration.
“I’m sure you’ve seen their agenda. Project 2025. Randi, can you believe they put that thing in writing?” Harris quipped, addressing Randi Weingarten, the president of the teachers group. “900 pages in writing.”
The vice president also thanked the organization for being the first union to endorse her since she took over Biden’s campaign earlier this week.
Harris acknowledged Biden’s speech last night, telling the crowd “Joe has led with grace … and as he said, in the next six months he will continue to fight for the American people, and I know we are all deeply, deeply grateful for his continued service to our nation.”
Schumer slams pro-Palestinian protesters who defaced Union Station
In comments to NBC News, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said that the defacement of structures at Washington’s Union Station by some pro-Palestinian protesters yesterday “was vile, offensive, wrong.”
The comment comes after Republicans criticized the protesters for damaging the structures — and also criticized Democrats for not doing the same.
Schumer has still not commented on Netanyahu’s address to Congress yesterday or the moment when the prime minister walked by him on the House floor without shaking his hand.
Harris denounces ‘unpatriotic’ protesters responsible for pro-Hamas graffiti and rhetoric in D.C.
In a forceful statement this morning, Harris denounced some of the protesters who demonstrated outside Union Station yesterday against Netanyahu and defaced statues and structures with pro-Hamas language.
“Yesterday, at Union Station in Washington, D.C., we saw despicable acts by unpatriotic protestors and dangerous hate-fueled rhetoric,” she wrote.
“I condemn any individuals associating with the brutal terrorist organization Hamas, which has vowed to annihilate the State of Israel and kill Jews. Pro-Hamas graffiti and rhetoric is abhorrent and we must not tolerate it in our nation,” she continued. “I condemn the burning of the American flag. That flag is a symbol of our highest ideals as a nation and represents the promise of America. It should never be desecrated in that way.”
Harris said that she supports the right to peacefully protest, but that antisemitism, hate and violence have no place in the U.S.
Harris campaign mocks Trump as a 78-year-old criminal
Harris’ campaign released a statement mocking Trump’s interview with “Fox & Friends” this morning with a dig at his age and hush money conviction.
“After watching Fox News this morning, we only have one question, is Donald Trump ok?” the campaign said, referring to the interview as “a 78-Year-Old Criminal’s Fox News Appearance.”
The statement also outlines remarks by Trump praising Project 2025 and abortion bans.
“This election is about what America we want to live in. An erratic Donald Trump offers only chaos, fear and hate,” James Singer, Harris’ campaign spokesperson, wrote in a statement.
Power-washing graffiti after D.C. protests
National Park Service workers clean graffiti from a statue today outside Union Station in Washington, the day after hundreds of protesters marched on the Capitol to protest Netanyahu’s address to Congress. Police used pepper spray to disperse crowds of protesters outside the Capitol yesterday.
Biden and Harris to meet with Netanyahu today
Biden and Harris are scheduled to meet separately with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Thursday as the administration still pushes for a cease-fire agreement.
Biden will host Netanyahu in the Oval Office at around 1 p.m. ET, and the two leaders are scheduled to meet with families of American hostages held hostage in Gaza around 2:30 p.m. in the White House Cabinet Room.
This will be the first time the two will meet in person since Biden visited Israel shortly after Hamas’ terrorist attack on Oct. 7.
Harris will speak with Netanyahu around 4:30 p.m. in the vice president’s ceremonial office, a meeting that is considered even more high-stakes now that she’s running for president following Biden’s decision to withdraw from the race. Harris missed Netanyahu’s speech before a joint meeting of Congress on Wednesday because of a previously scheduled event in Indianapolis.
Pro-abortion rights and paid leave advocacy groups partner on $1 million GOTV effort
Paid Leave for All Action and Reproductive Freedom for All announced Thursday that they’re launching a $1 million campaign to turn out voters who care about both abortion rights and paid family and medical leave.
The campaign will include canvassing, paid media and other strategies to reach female voters, the groups said in a joint press release.
“In America today, both of these rights are under threat. These are not just solid kitchen table issues, these are politically motivating and winning issues,” Dawn Huckelbridge, the director of Paid Leave for All Action, said in a statement.
Mini Timmaraju, the CEO and president of Reproductive Freedom for All, blamed “Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans” in a statement for wanting to “take away our freedoms to choose if, when, and how to have a family.”
Harris will travel to Georgia next week
Harris will visit Atlanta next week, a source familiar with her travel plans told NBC News.
The Harris campaign views the battleground state as in better play with her at the top of the ticket as they hope to mobilize Southern Black voters.
Days before Biden announced his withdrawal from the race, one Democratic strategist last week said Harris’ “path is different” compared to Biden’s election strategy, NBC News reported.
The strategist said some believe Harris’ path could be more focused on mobilizing Black voters in Southern states such as Georgia and North Carolina compared to Biden’s strategy, which largely worked to lock down support in key Midwest swing states such as Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan.
Trump suggests a Democrat-led ‘coup’ forced Biden to exit the race
During an interview on “Fox & Friends” this morning, Trump, without evidence, suggested there was a Democrat-led “coup” that ultimately forced Biden to withdraw from the race.
“Well, I think it was a coup. They didn’t want him running,” Trump said. “He was way down in the polls, and they thought he was going to lose. They went to him and they said, ‘You can’t win the race,’ which I think is true.”
Trump claimed that he has “very good information” from people “on the other side” that Democrats were “trying to do a coup.”
“You know, I have it from very good information. I know a lot of people on the other side, too, that they went and they forced him out, between Pelosi and Obama and some others that you see on television,” he said. “It’s interesting. I watched them on television, and they act so nice. ‘Oh yes, we love Joe. We love Joe.’ Behind the scenes, I know for a fact they were brutal.”
Biden had faced mounting calls from Democrats to step aside after his dismal debate performance last month. NBC News reported that former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had quietly pushed efforts to nudge Biden out of the race after his poor debate performance. But Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., who had joined calls for Biden to step aside, on Sunday denied that there was coordinated effort by Democrats to pressure Biden to leave the race.
Later in the interview, Trump again accused Democrats of election interference amid the legal battles he faces, saying “every single court case that I have is pushed on by them.”
“Just so you know, they push all these cases on me. They’re the ones that start it. And then they say, ‘I’m a prosecutor, he’s a criminal,’” he said. “They’re the ones. Every case is started by them, and I’m winning the cases.”
Trump was charged in a criminal case related to his efforts to halt the peaceful transfer of power in the days leading up to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack amid his baseless claims of a stolen 2020 election. But the case has been delayed as a result of the Supreme Court’s decision this month that said Trump has immunity for some of his conduct as president in his federal election case.
House votes to create a task force to investigate the Trump assassination attempt
The House voted without opposition Wednesday for a resolution to establish a bipartisan task force to investigate the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.
The task force will investigate federal, state and local law enforcement and agency actions in the lead-up to the attempt on Trump’s life on July 13 in Butler, Pennsylvania. Four hundred-sixteen members voted in favor of the resolution, and 16 members did not vote.
Seven Republicans and six Democrats will serve on the committee, House party leaders said in a statement.
The resolution text said the task force must issue a final report to the House by Dec. 13, noting that it should include “any recommendations for legislative reforms necessary to prevent future security lapses.”
In a statement after the vote, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said that “protecting the safety and security of our nation’s leaders is a responsibility that transcends party lines.”
Johnson and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., announced their intention Tuesday to create the task force, which will have subpoena authority.
Obama plans to endorse Harris for president soon
Former President Barack Obama and Vice President Kamala Harris have been in close touch since she announced her presidential candidacy Sunday, having multiple conversations this week as she kicks off her campaign, according to four people familiar with their discussions.
Obama privately has fully supported Harris’ candidacy and plans to endorse her soon, these people said.
“He has been in regular contact with her and thinks she’s been off to a great start,” one of them said.
Obama is one of the only high-profile Democrats in the country who is yet to endorse Harris. While other party leaders have stepped forward to publicly back her, he has so far kept his support private.
The people familiar with the discussions didn’t know the precise timing of his endorsement. One of them said Obama didn’t want it to overshadow Biden’s moment, particularly his Oval Office address to the nation last night.
Another person familiar with the discussions said Obama and Harris, who is seeking to maintain the momentum her campaign has enjoyed among Democrats since she entered the race, wanted his endorsement to stand as its own moment.
Harris campaign releases first official video, ‘We Choose Freedom’
The Harris campaign released its first official video, titled “We Choose Freedom,” which focuses on Americans’ rights and freedoms as the core issue at stake in the November election.
In the ad, which features Beyonce’s song “Freedom,” Harris paints Trump and his allies as people who “think we should be a country of chaos, of fear, of hate” and urges Americans to join her in choosing “something different.”
“The freedom not just to get by, but get ahead. The freedom to be safe from gun violence. The freedom to make decisions about your own body,” Harris says in the ad. “We choose a future where no child lives in poverty. Where we all can afford health care, where no one is above the law.”
“We believe in the promise of America and we are ready to fight for it,” she adds. “Because when we fight, we win. So join us.”
Trump turns his focus to Harris at his first rally after Biden’s exit from the race
Trump, speaking at his first campaign rally since Biden ended his re-election bid, redirected a torrent of attacks yesterday at Harris, the de facto Democratic nominee.
“As you know, three days ago, we officially defeated the worst president in the history of our country, Joe Biden,” Trump told his crowd in Charlotte, North Carolina. “So now we have a new victim to defeat: lyin’ Kamala Harris … the most incompetent and far-left vice president in American history.”
Biden delivered a historic address from the Oval Office yesterday after he withdrew from the 2024 race. He highlighted his successes in office and said it is time to “pass the torch to the new generation.”
How Harris is going about finding a VP pick in just 2 weeks
Harris has looked at the vetting process from both sides now. But she doesn’t have much time to spare.
It was only Sunday that Biden abandoned his campaign and effectively handed it to her, leaving two weeks for Democrats to nominate her and a running mate if they hope to beat an Aug. 7 deadline to ensure their ticket appears on ballots in every state. Modern candidates usually have months to decide, as Biden did when he dragged his feet in picking her in 2020 and as Trump did holding a virtual public pageant this year before he put Sen. JD Vance of Ohio on his ticket.
