Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance has attacked his Democratic counterpart Tim Walz over his 24 years of military service, accusing the Minnesota Governor of leaving the Army National Guard in 2005 to run for Congress as a means of ducking out of deployment to Iraq.
Vance, also a veteran, further accused Walz of lying about serving in a combat zone as part of the Donald Trump campaign’s efforts to attack the Midwesterner as an out-of-touch but extreme liberal.
Trump has meanwhile snatched a two-point lead in a new poll from CNBC, when the numbers are otherwise going Kamala Harris’s way.
Harris found herself forced to shut down hecklers trying to interrupt her speech at a rally in Detroit, Michigan, on Wednesday, shushing them by saying: “I’m speaking.”
A group of pro-Palestinian demonstrators briefly interrupted the Vice President’s speech, chanting: “We won’t vote for genocide.”
Harris responded: “You know what? If you want Donald Trump to win, then say that. Otherwise, I’m speaking.”
Harris and Walz were in the Motor City to address a predominantly union crowd, alongside United Auto Workers president Shawn Fain and the state’s popular Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer.
Key Points
- JD Vance attacks Tim Walz over military service record
- Donald Trump holds two-point lead over Kamala Harris in new CNBC survey
- Harris shuts down group of pro-Palestinian activists at Detroit rally
- Joe Biden says he’s ‘not confident’ in peaceful transfer of power if Trump loses White House race
- Vance roasted for ‘weird’ answer when asked why people would want to have a beer with him
Heritage Foundation president delays release of Project 2025 book
14:50
Joe Sommerlad
Kevin Roberts, president of the Heritage Foundation, has delayed the release of his new book until after November’s election, following backlash against the conservative think-tank’s Project 2025 initiative.
Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance has written the foreword to Roberts’s book Dawn’s Early Light.
“There’s a time for writing, reading, and book tours – and a time to put down the books and go fight like hell to take back our country,” the author told RealClearPolitics.
“That’s why I’ve chosen to move my book’s publication and promotion to after the election.”
Uh huh.
Gustaf Kilander reports.
This morning on Truth Social...
14:30
Oliver O'Connell
With reports that Donald Trump has grown increasingly upset about Kamala Harris’s surging poll numbers and media coverage since replacing Joe Biden on the ticket, the former president is trying to take matters into his own hands, lashing out on Truth Social and scheduling an impromptu “General News Conference” this after at 2pm.
It has been noted that while Harris’s confirmation as the Democratic Party’s nominee and selection of Tim Walz as a running mate has dominated the news cycle, Trump has been hidden away at Mar-a-Lago, sending his own running mate JD Vance out to stalk the vice president and give press conferences.
As crowds of up to 15,000 have gathered to see Harris in the first two weeks of her campaign, Trump has just one event planned in Boseman, Montana, tomorrow.
Here’s what he’s had to say on his social media platform this morning.
First up, a general scattershot diatribe:
Kamala refuses to do interviews because her team realizes she is unable to answer questions, much like Biden was not able to answer questions, but for different reasons. He is just plain “shot,” and she is just plain “Incompetent.” Her policies of Open Borders, No Fracking or Drilling for Oil in any Way, Shape or Form, Transgender “anything,” Anti Israel but gross incompetence toward getting anything done for the Palestinians, No Clue on Inflation, or the Economy, Unlimited Money to fight Foreign Wars, and so much more, are CATASTROPHIC. If she is Elected, our County, and indeed the World, will suffer a 1929 Style Great Depression. It will be the Worst in history and AMERICA WILL BE DESTROYED!
Then the announcement of his news conference:
I will be doing a General News Conference at 2:00 P.M. at Mar-a-Lago, Palm Beach. Thank you!
Apparently we will be getting a debate — though unclear whether he means ABC or Fox...
I will expose Kamala during the Debate the same way I exposed Crooked Joe, Hillary, and everyone else during Debates - Only I think Kamala will be easier! DJT
Then this?
We are living in a Pro Criminal Atmosphere. It will end on November 5th.
Here he tries to hone his campaign message:
This Election is about the ECONOMY, INFLATION, OPEN BORDERS (ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION), RESPECT FOR OUR NATION, PREVENTING WORLD WAR lll AND A 1929 STYLE DEPRESSION!
Then classic Trump, moaning about crowd size:
If Kamala has 1,000 people at a Rally, the Press goes “crazy,” and talks about how “big” it was - And she pays for her “Crowd.” When I have a Rally, and 100,000 people show up, the Fake News doesn’t talk about it, THEY REFUSE TO MENTION CROWD SIZE. The Fake News is the Enemy of the People!
Stay tuned for more...
We’ll be carrying the “general news conference” live at 2pm ET.
Analysis: The looming war that could define a Harris presidency
14:20
Joe Sommerlad
The Vice President has been in the Situation Room as the war in Gaza has played out over the last 10 months.
Now, as tensions rise further in the region, it’s possible the conflict could interfere with her best-laid plans for a potential presidency.
Here’s Richard Hall, Bel Trew and Andrew Feinberg with more.
Trump holds two-point lead over Harris in new CNBC survey
13:50
Joe Sommerlad
Despite his griping, Trump will be cheered to learn that he has snatched a two-point lead in a new poll from CNBC, beating Kamala Harris by 48 per cent of the vote to 46 per cent in the network’s All-America Economic Survey.
But the numbers are otherwise, generally speaking, all going Harris’s way.
Here’s our report on the latest polling.
‘We are living in a Pro Crime Atmosphere’, Trump complains
13:40
Joe Sommerlad
The convicted felon, now running against a former state attorney general, has this to say on law and order.
We are living in a Pro Criminal Atmosphere. It will end on November 5th.
— Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) August 8, 2024
Donald Trump Truth Social 08:24 AM EST 08/08/24 @realDonaldTrump
The Washington Post meanwhile reports today that Trump has been griping at his campaign team behind the scenes and “has grown increasingly upset about Kamala Harris’s surging poll numbers and media coverage since replacing Joe Biden on the ticket”.
This press conference should be fun.
Audio of Trump praising Walz over George Floyd protest response emerges
13:20
Joe Sommerlad
There goes that attack line then…
This seems awkward, given the R attacks on Walz. https://t.co/tG3JCLnodt
— David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) August 8, 2024
Trump announces afternoon news conference at Mar-a-Lago today
12:55
Joe Sommerlad
I wonder if he has something significant to announce or whether this is just going to be the usual extended rant?
Perhaps he’s ditching Vance for Hannibal Lecter.
Trump just announced a “General News Conference” today at Mar-a-lago: pic.twitter.com/iUBSxojvrh
— Meridith McGraw (@meridithmcgraw) August 8, 2024
Harris-Walz camouflage hat reaches nearly $1m in sales in a day
12:50
Joe Sommerlad
The Kamala Harris-Tim Walz camouflage “Midwest princess” hat, seemingly inspired by singer Chappell Roan, has reached nearly $1m in sales in 24 hours after swiftly becoming a viral sensation this week.
Kaleigh Werner reports.
Analysis: The first Harris-Walz event was almost exactly like Trump’s earliest rallies
12:20
Joe Sommerlad
Andrew Feinberg has attended his fair share of political rallies from across the spectrum over the years.
And what he saw on Tuesday night in Philadelphia reminded him of one other notorious underdog...
Analysis: How do Walz and Vance differ on the issues?
11:50
Joe Sommerlad
America’s two vice presidential nominees have widely differing ideas about how to win the Rust Belt, writes John Bowden.
‘DeSantis vibe’: JD Vance roasted for ‘weird’ answer when asked why people would want to have a beer with him
11:20
Joe Sommerlad
The Republican vice presidential candidate is being widely mocked after he struggled to answer a simple question on Wednesday on why Americans might want to go for a drink with him.
Joe Biden says he’s ‘not confident’ in peaceful transfer of power if Donald Trump loses White House race
10:50
Joe Sommerlad
The President held his first interview since exiting the 2024 race last night and used it to warn CBS viewers that Trump could trigger a “bloodbath” if he refuses to concede defeat in November’s election, a word the Republican himself notoriously used to describe illegal immigration at the southern border.
Here’s Mike Bedigan’s report.
Kamala Harris shuts down group of pro-Palestinian activists at Detroit rally
10:20
Joe Sommerlad
The Vice President shut down hecklers trying to interrupt her speech at a rally in Detroit, Michigan, on Wednesday, shushing them by saying: “I’m speaking.”
A group of pro-Palestinian demonstrators briefly interrupted Harris’s address, chanting: “We won’t vote for genocide.”
She responded: “You know what? If you want Donald Trump to win, then say that. Otherwise, I’m speaking.”
Harris and Walz were in the Motor City to address a predominantly union crowd, alongside United Auto Workers president Shawn Fain and the state’s popular Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer.
Here’s Eric Garcia’s report.
JD Vance attacks Tim Walz over military service record
09:52
Joe Sommerlad
Republican vice presdential candidate JD Vance has attacked his Democratic counterpart Tim Walz over his 24 years of military service, accusing the Minnesota Governor of leaving the Army National Guard in 2005 to run for Congress as a means of ducking out of deployment to Iraq.
Vance, also a veteran, also accused Walz of lying about serving in a combat zone as part of the Donald Trump campaign’s efforts to attack the Midwesterner as an out-of-touch but extreme liberal.
I think this about covers it.
Veterans shouldn't be attacking each other's service, but if we're going to lay out facts, Gov. Tim Walz retired with honor after a 25-year career. JD Vance left the military after 4 years, and his one 180-day deployment was in an air-conditioned office writing press releases for… https://t.co/wk4QN2mJ97
— Travis Akers (@travisakers) August 7, 2024
Here’s Andrew Feinberg on how the Democrats are hitting back on a tactic that recalls GOP efforts to smear John Kerry in 2004.
Harris begins to pull away from Trump for first time in latest election polling
09:15
Oliver O'Connell
Kamala Harris appears to be pulling ahead of Donald Trump in presidential election polling for the first time, with the Democrat taking a three-point lead over the Republican former president in a new survey.
A poll for NPR, PBS and Marist published on Wednesday places the Vice President on 51 per cent of the vote overall, compared to Trump’s 48 per cent, and comes after her choice of Minnesota governor Tim Walz as her running mate was met with an overwhelmingly positive response.
Joe Sommerlad looks at the numbers.
Vance holds chat with press outside Kamala Harris’s plane
08:15
Josh Marcus
After his plane landed at Chippewa Valley Regional Airport in Wisconsin, Donald Trump’s running mate JD Vance walked across the tarmac to get a closer look at Kamala Harris’s Air Force Two.
But she wasn’t there. After her plane landed on Wednesday afternoon, Harris met a group of Girl Scouts before she joined her motorcade to drive to a packed rally with her running mate Tim Walz in Eau Claire, where Bon Iver was performing for thousands of supporters.
Vance, after getting close to Air Force Two, turned around and walked over to a group of reporters instead.
Alex Woodward reports.
We analyzed the biggest buzzwords of election season so far, and the internet loves calling Trump weird
07:15
Oliver O'Connell
The November election cycle is in full swing – and it’s shaping up to be one full of buzzwords and online trends as the competing candidates grapple to pull in votes from the American public.
There’s the term “weird”, which was coined by the new Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz to describe Donald Trump and JD Vance.
There’s “brat”, with Charli XCX’s hit summer album becoming synonymous with Kamala Harris’s campaign.
There’s also the offensive phrase “childless cat ladies” which Vance continues to face backlash over.
Not to mention a whole host of other buzzwords, from coconut trees to bears and Project 2025.
Alicja Hagopian reports.
Harris choosing Walz is another win for Pelosi and Obama
06:15
Oliver O'Connell
Progressives were some of the loudest Democrats cheering on Twitter after Kamala Harris announced her selection of Tim Walz as her running mate on Tuesday. But they weren’t the only winners in the party.
Some of the biggest political victors as the Minnesota governor joined the presidential ticket were the biggest power players in the Democratic Party, whose influence has now been solidified after their involvement on the winning side of two monumental battles that have taken place in Democratic politics over the past month and a half.
At the top of the list: Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi.
John Bowden reports from Washington, DC.
Kamala Harris and the looming war that could define her presidency
05:15
Oliver O'Connell
As Kamala Harris sat alongside Joe Biden in the Situation Room on Monday evening, she may have felt some trepidation. The president and vice president were about to be briefed — for hours — on the threat of regional war between Israel and Iran. Harris was now advising as vice president on a war she may soon have to take on as president.
Israel’s assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyehin in July, at a crucial moment in a months-long White House effort to reach a ceasefire deal, has brought the Middle East to the brink of war. It has also, importantly, brought US-Israel relations to breaking point.
The Independent’s Richard Hall, Bel Trew, and Andrew Feinberg report.
Progressives have a win in Walz and a loss in Cori Bush, so what now?
04:15
Oliver O'Connell
Eric Garcia writes:
It looked like progressives got what they wanted on Tuesday when Vice President Kamala Harris selected Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota to be her running mate. In the past, Walz has called humanitarian conditions in Gaza amid Israel’s war with Hamas “intolerable”. That endeared him to some younger Democrats even if Walz, like many other Democrats and Harris herself, remains firmly supportive of Israel.
But only a few hours later, progressives got a punch in the gut when Representative Cori Bush, a member of the Squad, lost her primary in Missouri’s 1st district to Wesley Bell. This comes just months after progressives faced a bruising loss when Representative Jamaal Bowman of New York lost his primary, which left the Squad and its allies demoralized.
Continue reading...
ICYMI: Watch the full Kamala Harris rally in Detroit
04:00
Josh Marcus
The power is with the people.
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) August 7, 2024
Tune in as Governor @Tim_Walz and I speak with Michigan voters about what’s at stake in this election https://t.co/DMgD9Vcp4s
Tim Walz and JD Vance were both picked to win the Rust Belt. What sets them apart?
03:45
Josh Marcus
Democrats and Republicans are set for a battle over the industrial midwest and the Rust Belt this year — and their vice presidential picks show it.
Kamala Harris’s selection of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz on Tuesday was a sign that her campaign has no plans to cede any ground in Wisconsin, Michigan or Pennsylvania — three states that have been critical in the past three election cycles. The selection of Walz, an affable football coach, former Army National Guardsman, and high school teacher, was a starting gun in the battle for the white working class that backed Trump in 2016.
John Bowden has the story.
Harris and Walz’s Midwest tour in pictures
03:30
Josh Marcus
The biggest snub of 2024 isn’t Josh Shapiro, it’s Steve Martin
03:10
Josh Marcus
Steve Martin’s next role will not be the Midwestern politician the internet hoped he’d portray.
With Maya Rudolph’s wildly popular impression of Kamala Harris on “Saturday Night Live,” fans clamored to see who the late-night comedy show would pick to play Harris’ new running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
With similar hairstyles and their signature glasses, many fans quickly drew comparisons between Walz and Martin, who’s been a frequent “SNL” guest but never a formal cast member.
“I wanted to say no and, by the way, he wanted me to say no,” Martin told the Los Angeles Times. “I said, ‘Lorne, I’m not an impressionist. You need someone who can really nail the guy.’ I was picked because I have gray hair and glasses.”
‘I can’t wait to debate this guy’
03:00
Josh Marcus
Tim Walz is clearly thrilled about the idea of debating JD Vance, a fellow veteran and Midwesterner.
Here’s the deal: we’re asking for a fair shot. We're asking for health care and child care. We're asking for an education. We're asking for safety in our streets.
— Tim Walz (@Tim_Walz) August 8, 2024
And we're gonna get it, because that's what this campaign is about. It's about moving forward. pic.twitter.com/qheHYmbSXb
RFK admits to a freezer full of roadkill
02:50
Josh Marcus
The RFK campaign keeps getting stranger.
Days after Robert F. Kennedy Jr. admitted to taking a bear carcass from the side of the road and placing it in Central Park as a prank a decade ago, he said that has been picking up roadkill his “whole life” and once had a “freezer full of it” at home.
The comment came as the independent presidential candidate was leaving an upstate New York courtroom Wednesday where he had testified in a lawsuit seeking to exclude him from the state’s ballot in November.
Biden is worried Trump won’t concede
02:35
Josh Marcus
Joe Biden says he is “not confident at all” that there will be a peaceful transfer of power if Donald Trump loses the 2024 presidential election.
The president said that Trump needed to be taken seriously over his March comments that there would be a “bloodbath” for the US car industry and country should he be defeated in November.
The White House claimed at the time that the former president was inciting violence, which he rejected.
Biden made the comments to CBS News during his first sit-down interview since officially halting his reelection campaign and handing over the reins of the Democratic party to Kamala Harris.
Mike Bedigan has the story.
VIDEO: Huge line for Harris-Walz rally in Wisconsin
02:20
Josh Marcus
Kamala Harris and Tim Walz hit mutiple Midwest states today, with rallies in Wisconsin and Michigan.
For their first stop in Eau Claire, they got a huge turnout, drawing a long line of rallygoers.
Holy cow. This is the line right now to see VP Kamala Harris & Gov. Tim Walz in Eau Claire, Wisconsin — an area that is represented by a Republican in Congress. This energy & enthusiasm are freaking jaw dropping.
— Victor Shi (@Victorshi2020) August 7, 2024
pic.twitter.com/J4gdDfrYPD
What the polls tell us about the 2024 race
02:00
Josh Marcus
Kamala Harris appears to be pulling ahead of Donald Trump in presidential election polling for the first time, with the Democrat taking a three-point lead over the Republican former president in a new survey.
A poll for NPR, PBS and Marist published on Wednesday places the Vice President on 51 per cent of the vote overall, compared to Trump’s 48 per cent, and comes after her choice of Minnesota governor Tim Walz as her running mate was met with an overwhelmingly positive response.
Harris also leads Trump on abortion by a huge 15 per cent margin, although the latter has a six-point advantage over the former when it comes to illegal immigration, suggesting MAGA attacks on the Democrat’s past role as a “border czar” within the Biden administration are hurting her on that issue.
More details in our full story from Joe Sommerlad.
More photos from today’s Kamala Harris rally in Detroit
01:42
Josh Marcus
VIDEO: Palestine protesters chanting ‘we won’t vote for genocide’ interrupt Harris rally
01:27
Josh Marcus
A group of pro-Palestine activists briefly interrupted Kamala Harris’s speech today in Detroit.
Here’s what they said, before being quickly reprimanded by the vice president.
Pro-Palestinian protesters were escorted out of Vice President Kamala Harris’ rally in Detroit, Michigan, after chanting in the middle of her speech, “Kamala, Kamala, you can’t hide. We won’t vote for genocide.” pic.twitter.com/1hR0yjj7I1
— Grady Trimble (@Grady_Trimble) August 8, 2024
Harris shuts down group of pro-Palestinian activists at rally
01:19
Josh Marcus
Wow, Kamala Harris just destroyed a heckler pic.twitter.com/TRYwapgEr9
— Acyn (@Acyn) August 8, 2024
Kamala Harris just shut down a group who was chanting during her speech.
“We won’t vote for genocide,” the protesters reportedly said.
“If you want Donald Trump to win, then say that, otherwise I’m speaking,” she said sternly.
Chants of ‘Thank you, Joe!’ break out at Detroit rally
01:02
Josh Marcus
Kamala Harris is in the driver’s seat for the Democrats, but party faithful clearly haven’t forgotten about the president.
At the mention of Biden, the crowd began chanting, “Thank you, Joe!”
“I’m going to tell him what you said,” Harris said onstage in Detroit.
Harris takes the stage
Thursday 8 August 2024 00:58
Josh Marcus
The vice president has arrived and taken the stage in Detroit.
Harris-Walz arriving in Detroit pic.twitter.com/E1IlZr7cXP
— Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) August 7, 2024
Walz gets personal about family’s IVF journey
Thursday 8 August 2024 00:56
Josh Marcus
Tim Walz is opening up about why he’s so committed to fighting for access to reproductive care like IVF, which could be under threat from a future Trump administration.
His own daughter, Hope, arrived via the procedure.
“This is very personal for my family,” Walz said, describing the “agony” of waiting for years for a successful round of treatment.
“The agony of that I can feel to this day.”
More on the Walz family here, as Sheila Flynn reports.
‘Joy,’ ‘Happy Warriors,’ and ‘Minding Your Own Damn Business’: Harris-Walz campaign leans into Midwest vibes
Thursday 8 August 2024 00:53
Josh Marcus
The Harris-Walz campaign is starting to hit on some central themes, and joy is one of them.
“Those other guys.. tried to steal the joy from this country,” Tim Walz said today from the podium in Detroit.
The campaign has also sought to instill a bit of Midwestern, small-town flair to things, mixing positive messaging and touting the importance “minding your own damn business” on issues ranging from women’s health to access to books.
“It’s amazing what minding your own damn business does to make things work better,” Walz told the crowd.
Earlier in the event, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer called the crowd a group of “happy warriors” for Harris-Walz.
Detroit rally interrupted by multiple calls for medics
Thursday 8 August 2024 00:45
Josh Marcus
The atmosphere has been upbeat so far in Detroit, but today’s rally has been stopped numerous times as multiple speakers including Tim Walz and Mitchigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer called for medics to attend to members of the crowd.
By our count, at least five people
