Kamala Harris hammered Donald Trump’s labor record during a rally in Flint, Michigan, on Friday, trying to keep up the momentum after scoring high-profile endorsements from Liz Cheney and Bruce Springsteen.
“Donald Trump is no friend of labor,” the vice president told the crowd, arguing Trump didn’t do enough to help the auto industry or support United Auto Workers who went on strike, like Joe Biden did.
Donald Trump, for his part, told a crowd in Fayetteville, North Carolina, on Friday he supported creating a taskforce to monitor for “woke” generals and diversity training within the military.
Biden, meanwhile, said on Friday he did not know if November’s election would be “peaceful” given Trump’s “dangerous” rhetoric, in a surprise appearance in the White House briefing room.
Biden was also asked if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was delaying a diplomatic agreement regarding the Gaza conflict to influence the election. He said that no administration has helped Israel more than he has and Netanyahu should remember that.
Trump will be joined by tech billionaire Elon Musk at his Saturday rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, the site of his attempted assassination on July 13.
Key Points
- Biden says he can’t guarantee election will be peaceful but is confident it will be fair
- Trump attacks ‘Low IQ War Hawk’ Cheney over Harris support
- Where are Donald Trump and Kamala Harris campaigning today?
- Trump and Anna Paulina Luna slam Harris on Hurricane Helene response
- New jobs numbers are very good news for Harris and Biden
- Polls: Who’s ahead in Georgia and Michigan as Trump and Harris visit key states?
- Elon Musk to join Donald Trump as he returns to scene of assassination attempt in Pennsylvania
- The debate remark that keeps coming back to bite Trump
Trump says he’ll set up an anti-woke task force in US military to monitor generals
02:04
Josh Marcus
During a campaign event on Friday in North Carolina, Donald Trump said he would create a task force to monitor “woke generals” and eliminate diversity trainings in the military.
“They’re gone,” Trump told the crowd, referring to the generals.
The proposal came in response to a question from Matthew Lohmeier, a former F-15 pilot who was relieved of his command in Trump’s Space Force in 2021 after criticizing diversity and inclusion training on a conservative podcast.
More details in our full story.
Alyssa Farah Griffin gets emotional over Liz Cheney ‘speaking out’ against Trump
01:30
Oliver O'Connell
Alyssa Farah Griffin, former Donald Trump aide-turned-TV presenter, has praised longtime Republican Liz Cheney for putting aside her “ambition” and “career” to endorse Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election.
On the latest episode of The View, co-host Griffin appeared to get emotional as she spoke out in awe of Cheney, who on Thursday (October 3) pledged her support of Vice President Harris.
“Liz Cheney is one of the people I admire most,” the former Pentagon Press Secretary, 35, said on the latest episode of the ABC talk show.
Inga Parkel has the story.
Trump campaign encourages early voting again, even though it also hates that
01:00
Josh Marcus
The Trump campaign is once again encouraging its supporters to vote early, despite Donald Trump’s regular attacks on mail-in voting.
This time, it was RNC co-chair Lara Trump who closed today’s North Carolina rally with a call for early votes.
So what does Trump actually think about early voting? Well, it depends on the day.
JD Vance praises Marjorie Taylor Greene hours after she suggested Hurricane Helene was man-made
Saturday 5 October 2024 00:45
Josh Marcus
Senator JD Vance had kind words for Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene — just hours after she suggested that a mysterious “they” can control the weather and inflicted Hurricane Helene on Republican voters in Georgia and North Carolina.
Greene is well known for repeating nonsense conspiracy theories. She’s voiced her belief in “Jewish space lasers”and has been cozy with QAnon ideas both before and during her time in office.
She made her latest bizarre claim on X, this time concerning the weather.
“Yes, they can control the weather. It’s ridiculous for anyone to lie and say it can’t be done,” Greene wrote.
Graig Graziosi reports.
Trump falsely claims he gave military the biggest pay raise
Saturday 5 October 2024 00:40
Josh Marcus
During his North Carolina town hall on Friday, Donald Trump just claimed he gave the military the largest pay raise in its history.
In fact, in late 2023, it was Joe Biden who gave the military its largest basic pay raise in decades.
Trump and Anna Paulina Luna slam Harris on Hurricane Helene response
Saturday 5 October 2024 00:37
Josh Marcus
Donald Trump and Representative Anna Paulina Luna are both tearing into the Biden-Harris administration’s response to Hurricane Helene.
Trump claimed the response was the worst disaster response since Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, while Representative Luna baselessly accused federal officials of cutting off aid because conservative communities were among those that got hit by the storm.
In fact, Asheville, one of the cities facing the most storm destruction, is highly Democratic, and sits in a county that went for Joe Biden in 2020.
Stephen Colbert points out ‘weird word choice’ in Trump court filing
Saturday 5 October 2024 00:30
Oliver O'Connell
Stephen Colbert has pointed out a “weird word choice” in special counsel Jack Smith’s latest court filing regarding Donald Trump in the federal election interference case.
The 165-page dossier, which was unsealed by a federal judge in Washington, DC, on Wednesday, alleges that Trump intentionally lied to voters, election officials, and even his vice president in a “desperate” effort to cling to power. It marks the most detailed case laid out by prosecutors to date, coming after the Supreme Court ruling granted him some immunity from criminal prosecution.
Kevin E G Perry reports on what word caught Colbert’s eye.
Did Kamala Harris really ‘lose' thousands of migrant kids?
Saturday 5 October 2024 00:29
Josh Marcus
Trump just brought up the now-familiar Republican claim that Kamala Harris lost hundreds of thousands of migrant kids on her watch.
As usual for the Trump campaign, the comment is related to a kernel of actual fact and a whole lot exagerration.
“300,000 children are missing during the Biden reign,” Trump said.
“Many of them are dead. Many of them are in sex slavery. Many of them are in slavery, period,” Trump continued.
Here’s the actual news that spawned this GOP smear, an inspector general report that found that hundreds of thousands of migrant children hadn’t appeared in removal proceedings because they hadn’t been immediately served with notices to appear.
Trump takes the stage in Fayetteville
Saturday 5 October 2024 00:22
Josh Marcus
Donald Trump is campaigning in Fayetteville, North Carolina, at the moment, an important appearance in a state still recovering from the impact of Hurricane Helene.
We’ll be following the latest live.
Why JD Vance kept making that face during the debate
Saturday 5 October 2024 00:16
Josh Marcus
Vice Presidential contender JD Vance is opening up about that viral debate look in his first interview since he went head-to-head with Minnesota Governor Tim Walz on Tuesday.
Vance, the junior Republican senator from Ohio, and Walz, Democratic governor of Minnesota, debated each other in what is likely to be the last match-off before election day. Poll watchers declared the event essentially a tie. According to a CBS News poll, 42 percent of debate watchers said Vance won the debate, while 41 percent thought Walz emerged as the winner.
JD Vance kept breaking the fourth wall tonight during the VP Debate. It was giving Jim Halpert from The Office vibes pic.twitter.com/nkPutrrjCq
— DEL (@delinthecity_) October 2, 2024
During a recent podcast recording, Vance addressed a snapshot of him from the event that’s now gone viral. In one moment, he’s seen looking into the TV cameras in what social media has called a Jim Halpert from The Office look.
Michelle Del Rey explains.
Cheney dubs Trump ‘petty, vindictive and cruel’ as she campaigns with Harris
Saturday 5 October 2024 00:00
Oliver O'Connell
Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday stood alongside former Wyoming representative Liz Cheney — one of the most conservative women to ever serve in Congress — to accept her endorsement in this year’s presidential election and warn of the dire consequences of re-electing Donald Trump to the White House.
In an unprecedented joint appearance with the former House GOP conference chair in Ripon, Wisconsin — the place where the Republican Party was first formed more than 150 years ago — Harris said upholding the US Constitution should be a “basic requirement” for seeking and holding the highest office in the United States.
Andrew Feinberg filed this report after last night’s event.
Harris campaign still keeping Uncommitted Movement at arm’s length
Friday 4 October 2024 23:55
Josh Marcus
The Uncommitted Movement, a group which has pushed the Harris campaign and Biden administration to cut off military aid to Israel, appears to still not be finding purchase with the vice president.
That’s even as she visits Michigan, which is home to a large population of Palestinian-Americans, with reports Harris plans to meet with Arab-American leaders.
Here’s what Uncommitted leader Abbas Alawieh had to say about the situation this afternoon.
We’re hearing @VP will be meeting w/ Arab+Muslim groups supportive of her campaign. @uncommittedmvmt, though not invited, is glad our pressure is helping yield more engagement.
— Abbas Alawieh (@AZAlawieh) October 4, 2024
What we need right now is for the @VP to specifically say that as president she will respect…
We’re hearing @VP will be meeting w/ Arab+Muslim groups supportive of her campaign. @uncommittedmvmt, though not invited, is glad our pressure is helping yield more engagement. What we need right now is for the @VP to specifically say that as president she will respect international humanitarian and U.S. law and stop sending the Israeli military weapons for war crimes. And we reiterate our longstanding request: meet with Palestinian & Lebanese American families whose loved ones have been killed using U.S. bombs this admin is sending Netanyahu.
Uncommitted lobbied the Democrats to feature a Palestinian-American at the DNC, a push that was ultimately unsuccessful.
She escaped the religious sect she grew up in. Now she says Trump’s MAGA movement is eerily similar
Friday 4 October 2024 23:50
Oliver O'Connell
A woman has drawn similarities between Donald Trump’s MAGA movement and the apocalyptic, religious sect she escaped from.
In the autumn of 1974, as former president Richard Nixon resigned and the US was still entrenched in the Vietnam War, Cyd Chartier and her parents were introduced to the fundamentalist religious organization The Move of God.
The Move was founded by Sam Fife after he was allegedly booted from the Baptist church for adultery.
As the sect’s enigmatic and autocratic leader – up until his death in 1979 – Fife wrote a Divine Order doctrine in 1974 in which he claimed God had put The Move in place as a “many-membered manchild to govern the world.”
Now, five decades after she joined the religious sect as a child, Chartier has spoken out about the eerie resemblances between the group and Trump’s loyal fanbase setting out to “make America great again.”
James Liddell has the story.
Why are people leaving Donald Trump’s rallies as he is still on stage?
Friday 4 October 2024 23:47
Josh Marcus
One of Donald Trump’s favorite and most frequent boasts is about his rallies, and the size of the crowds he pulls in to see him speak.
Over the past months the former president has seemingly become more and more obsessed with attendance, as well as his ratings and other optics – so much so that it has become a target of jabs and jokes by the Democratic party.
However despite his claim that “nobody” leaves his rallies, made at a recent town hall event in Flint, Michigan, it seems that that is not quite true. In fact, scores of punters have been known, and seen on live broadcasts, to be leaving the events early.
Trump has appeared to become more frustrated and fixated with crowd size ever since Kamala Harris needled him over it during their presidential debate, when she suggested people leave early out of “exhaustion and boredom.”
Mike Bedigan has the story.
The debate remark that keeps coming back to bite Trump
Friday 4 October 2024 23:35
Josh Marcus
Donald Trump gets away with saying a lot that most other politicians wouldn’t dream of, but there’s one comment that he can’t seem to get away from.
During the presidential debate with Kamala Harris, Trump said he has “concepts of a plan” to replace the Affordable Care Act, the signature Obama administration policy he spent years trying to repeal while in office.
Since then, the Harris campaign hasn’t let voters forget Trump is willing to axe a law that contains popular provisions like protections for people with pre-existing conditions.
“He said he quote has ‘concepts of a plan,’” Harris told the crowd today at her rally in Flint. “Concepts! Now you know I have said that I do believe he is an unserious man, and the consequences of him being president again are absolutely, critically serious.”
The audience loudly booed.
“Think about it,” Harris continued, “even on healthcare, he has concepts of a plan, so he’s going to threaten the health insurance of 45 million people in our country based on a concept? To take us back? Do you remember that, when insurance companies could deny people with pre-existing conditions?”
The Harris campaign has repeatedly attacked Trump over his vague stance on Obamacare.
As expected, Harris goes after Trump on labor issues
Friday 4 October 2024 23:19
Josh Marcus
Kamala Harris is using her Flint, Michigan, rally today to go after Donald Trump on his labor record.
“When it came to building the cars of the future, Donald Trump sat on the sidelines and let China dominate,” she told the crowd. “Then he talk down to American workers, saying we can’t compete with Chinese workers.
“And make no mistake, Donald Trump is no friend of labor,” the vice president continued. “He encouraged automakers to move their plants out of Michigan so they could pay their workers less. When the UAW [United Auto Workers union] went on strike to demand higher wages that they deserved, Donald trump webnt to a non-union shop, don’t you forget.”
Here’s the story she’s talking about.
Both candidates have been visiting Michigan to try to prove their pro-labor, auto industry bona fides, with Harris touting the Biden administration’s support for EVs.
Watch LIVE: Kamala Harris speaks in Flint, Michigan
Friday 4 October 2024 22:55
Oliver O'Connell
As president, I will fight for every American—no matter how they vote. Don’t miss my rally in Flint, MI. Watch now. https://t.co/eqzNORVftj
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) October 4, 2024
Trump falsely claimed he was endorsed by Jamie Dimon — then didn’t seem to know anything about it
Friday 4 October 2024 22:50
Oliver O'Connell
At 1.56pm ET today a post was made on Donald Trump’s Truth Social proclaiming that Jamie Dimon, CEO of JP Morgan Chase, had endorse him for president.
NBC News did some digging on X:
A search of X showed what appeared to be the earliest post from someone falsely claiming the Dimon endorsement, published from a verified account at 12:33 p.m. ET. That message was quickly echoed by other verified pro-Trump accounts, including some with large followings.
Dimon spokesman Joe Evangelisti quickly pushed back on the claim, telling CNBC: “Jamie Dimon has not endorsed anyone. He has not endorsed a candidate.”
Jake Traylor of NBC News was out on the campaign trail with the former president and asked about the alleged endorsement, to which the president replied: “I don’t know anything about it.”
He added: “Somebody put it up — no, I don’t know.”
Here’s that moment:
Its hard to hear the reporter but according to NBC, Trump is being asked about a post made on his account claiming Jamie Dimon endorsed him
— Acyn (@Acyn) October 4, 2024
Trump: I don’t know anything about it. pic.twitter.com/8Q9EI3zRd5
The question remains — who put it up? And why is it still almost four hours later?
Trump has thoughts on Cheney’s endorsement of Harris
Friday 4 October 2024 22:45
Oliver O'Connell
And they’re pretty much what you were probably expecting.
Here’s the latest from Truth Social:
Has Liz Cheney, one of the dumber people in politics, ever looked at the horrible statements she’s made about Lyin’ Kamala Harris? Every view and policy is the exact opposite of what Cheney and her equally ridiculous father, who got us into the never ending Wars in the Middle East, have stated over the years. They’re being posted all over the internet, and Cheney looks even dumber than I thought she was - But I still say Kamala is worse!
Watch: Harris campaign launches new ad highlight Republican support
Friday 4 October 2024 22:40
Oliver O'Connell
NEW AD >> As voters are increasingly concerned about an erratic, unstable Trump, we're highlighting the *Republican* officials who are endorsing @KamalaHarris because they know she's fit to lead. pic.twitter.com/SD3GtH8lBo
— Ammar Moussa (@ammarmufasa) October 4, 2024
Cheney trolls Trump’s fake tan habit as she campaigns with Harris
Friday 4 October 2024 22:30
Oliver O'Connell
Liz Cheney mocked Donald Trump’s use of bronzer on Thursday during a campaign appearance with Kamala Harris in Wisconsin, where the vice president formally accepted last month’s surprise endorsement from the Republican.
“I was a Republican even before Donald Trump started spray tanning,” Cheney told the crowd.
Josh Marcus reports.
Trump dismisses jobs report, pushes tariffs, and says US being ‘poisoned’ by migrants
Friday 4 October 2024 22:15
Oliver O'Connell
In an interview with Larry Kudlow on Fox Business, Donald Trump dismissed today’s strong jobs report, claiming illegal immigrants are getting the jobs.
Nope https://t.co/Pl52HChS6b pic.twitter.com/mZ2Q9HQ5Qa
— Eric Columbus (@EricColumbus) October 4, 2024
Yet again making the case for his proposed high tariffs policy that economists have warned will mean higher prices for US consumers, Trump argued: “Our country was the richest when we were doing tariffs. This was in the 1880s and '90 ... McKinley was actually a great president. He was assassinated. Do you know why he was assassinated? Because he was charging all these countries money, probably.”
Trump to Kudlow on Fox Business: "A tariff is a beautiful thing, but it's gotta a bad image. It needs you to fix the image. We stop wars with tariffs ... I stopped a war. Will I get Nobel Prizes? Never." pic.twitter.com/zqjKiaFaws
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 4, 2024
He appeared so enamored with McKinley he talked about him twice and again claimed that the US is on the verge of a 1929-style depression (which he has said before). The stock market is currently at record highs.
Trump on Harris on the same day the stock market hit another record: "If you followed her policy you will end up in a 1929-style depression. 100 percent certain."
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 4, 2024
(He said the exact same nonsense about Biden in 2020, and the market has never done better.) pic.twitter.com/hSOr5jLc4x
Trump went on to say the country is being “poisoned” by migrants and pushed the conspiracy theory that “they’re trying to get those people to vote” — it is illegal for non-citizens to vote.
"They're trying to get those people to vote" -- Trump on Fox Business pushes the great replacement conspiracy theory that has inspired numerous right-wing mass shooters pic.twitter.com/2Op2hk1B9I
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 4, 2024
Elon Musk has been donating to GOP-aligned groups for years
Friday 4 October 2024 22:00
Oliver O'Connell
Elon Musk was reportedly giving tens of millions of dollars to conservative political causes years before he made headlines this summer for creating a pro-Trump political action committee.
Beginning in 2022, the X billionaire funneled an estimated $60m to groups affiliated with former Trump adviser Stephen Miller and 2024 candidate and Florida governor Ron DeSantis, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing people familiar with the matter.
The Independent has contacted Musk, DeSantis, and Miller’s legal advocacy group for comment.
Josh Marcus reports.
‘It’s a big scam’: The View’s Joy Behar accuses Melania Trump of lying about pro-abortion stance
Friday 4 October 2024 21:40
Oliver O'Connell
The View hosts are not convinced by Melania Trump’s support for abortion rights put forth in the former First Lady’s new memoir.
Melania, 54, the wife of former president Donald Trump, made headlines this week after an excerpt from her forthcoming book was published by The Guardian.
“Why should anyone other than the woman herself have the power to determine what she does with her own body?” she writes in Melania. “A woman’s fundamental right of individual liberty, to her own life, grants her the authority to terminate her pregnancy if she wishes.”
Her pro-choice stance stands in stark contrast to her husband’s history of dismantling abortion protections. On The View on Thursday, co-host Joy Behar suggested it was all “a big scam.”
Inga Parkel reports.
Watch: Trump admits he lost Georgia in 2020 and hopes election will be ‘free and fair’
Friday 4 October 2024 21:30
Oliver O'Connell
!!! Trump admits he lost Georgia in 2020: "I won it easily in 2016. We actually were very close last time." pic.twitter.com/wEa6MO2Vz2
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 4, 2024
Magic Johnson to appear with Harris at Flint rally, report says
Friday 4 October 2024 21:20
Oliver O'Connell
Washington correspondent for NBC News Yamiche Alcindor is reporting that NBA legend Magic Johnson will be at Vice President Kamala Harris’s rally in Flint, Michigan, this evening.
Watch: Trump perpetuates lie about Biden hurricane response and FEMA money
Friday 4 October 2024 21:12
Oliver O'Connell
Speaking in Evans, Georgia, Donald Trump baselessly claims there has been a terrible response to the hurricane from the White House and that there is money missing from FEMA that he falsely claims has been spent on migrants.
The White House response to those reports is included below.
Trump: It has been a terrible response from the white house. They are missing a billion dollars that was used for another purpose and nobody has seen anything like that. pic.twitter.com/ncuBiPFEx7
— Acyn (@Acyn) October 4, 2024
— Acyn (@Acyn) October 4, 2024
Trump and Kemp share handshake in hurricane hit Georgia
Friday 4 October 2024 21:04
Oliver O'Connell
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp introduces Donald Trump at an event at a Hurricane Helene relief center — the first time the two have appeared together since Trump’s efforts to overturn Georgia’s election results in 2020. pic.twitter.com/b4SCubQZki
— The Recount (@therecount) October 4, 2024
Oklahoma’s school chief required Bibles in class but one seemed to meet his criteria...
Friday 4 October 2024 21:00
Oliver O'Connell
Over the summer, Oklahoma ordered its public schools to begin teaching the Bible in every classroom. Now the state is being criticized for seeking to buy potentially millions of dollars worth of Bibles, with requirements that only seem to match Bibles endorsed by members of the Trump family.
Josh Marcus reports on what can surely only be a coincidence... right?
Watch: Vance says ‘bless your heart’ in response to 2020 election rigging question
Friday 4 October 2024 20:50
Oliver O'Connell
Reporter: Trump said yesterday the 2020 election was rigged. Do you concur with him that the election was rigged.
— Acyn (@Acyn) October 4, 2024
Vance: There’s a phrase in the south that works. Bless your heart. We’re focused on the future. pic.twitter.com/zuhY1mI744
Republicans in Congress leave Helene victims hanging
Friday 4 October 2024 20:40
Oliver O'Connell
Eric Garcia writes:
On Thursday evening, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia tweeted: “Yes they can control the weather. It’s ridiculous for anyone to lie and say it can’t be done.”
This is wholly unsurprising for Greene, the right-wing firebrand and conspiracymonger who once mused about the possibility of Jews controlling space lasers for the purpose of starting wildfires. The more surprising aspect is that it reflects the approach the Republican Party is taking generally to Hurricane Helene: rather than doing its job and offering concrete aid to people suffering from the devastation, GOP lawmakers are devolving into conspiracy theories and, like everything else, fearmongering about undocumented immigrants.
Continue reading...
Trump and Kemp receive joint briefing on hurricane damage in Georgia
Friday 4 October 2024 20:37
Oliver O'Connell
Trump and Kemp shake hands during a briefing in Georgia on Hurricane Helene damage. This is their first time together since before the 2020 election. pic.twitter.com/koHYIQQgNw
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) October 4, 2024
Watch: Fox News guest says not a single red flag in today’s jobs report
Friday 4 October 2024 20:30
Oliver O'Connell
Fox guest on jobs report: "I thought there would be more red flags than a communist parade in this report, and there's not a single one. ... There's not one data point in here that I can point to that is not good." pic.twitter.com/CVmMoleWuE
— Lis Power (@LisPower1) October 4, 2024
Is Netanyahu is pushing his Middle East war to influence US election? Democrats fear so
Friday 4 October 2024 20:20
Oliver O'Connell
Democrats fear Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is escalating tensions in the Middle East in order to influence the U.S. election.
This past week, Israel has increased its attack on Lebanon, targeting the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah, and vowed to make Iran “pay” for its recent missile attack.
Democratic Senator Christ Murphy, of Connecticut told CNN he fears Netanyahu is being strategic in launching attacks right before the November election.
Ariana Baio reports.
Watch: JD Vance responds to Melania Trump backing abortion rights
Friday 4 October 2024 20:10
Oliver O'Connell
JD Vance reacts to Melania Trump backing abortion rights:
— The Recount (@therecount) October 4, 2024
“I don't believe I have to attack, or disagree, or criticize anybody on this issue. ... She's going to express her views. ... It doesn't change how I talk about this issue or how the campaign talks about the issue.” pic.twitter.com/PrjiVBjWHm
Full story: Biden says he can’t guarantee election will be peaceful
Friday 4 October 2024 20:05
Oliver O'Connell
President Joe Biden on Friday warned that he could not guarantee that the coming presidential election and transition period would be a peaceful one during his first appearance in the White House press briefing room since taking office 1,353 days ago.
Asked if he has confidence that the 2024 election would be both free and fair as well as peaceful, Biden told reporters he has confidence that the November 5 election will be “free and fair” but he demurred on the latter, citing previous actions by his predecessor, former president Donald Trump.
“The things that Trump has said and the things that he said last time out when he didn’t like the outcome of the election were very dangerous,” Biden said.
Andrew Feinberg reports from Washington, DC.
