Donald Trump’s plane was diverted to Billings, Montana, because of a mechanical issue as he flew to a Friday night rally in the state. The former president was heading to Bozeman, Montana, when his plane landed safely in Billings, 140 miles away.
Earlier, the Harris campaign released a new immigration ad before she heads to Arizona this evening for a rally in the border and key swing state.
The ad states that Kamala Harris is a “border state prosecutor” who battled drug cartels. It adds that if she’s elected, she will “hire thousands more border agents and crack down on fentanyl and human trafficking.”
Meanwhile, Harris has surged to a five-point lead over Donald Trump in a new Reuters/Ipsos poll, putting her at 42 percent to the Republican’s 37 percent nationally with less than three months to go to November’s presidential election.
Harris and running mate Tim Walz are visiting Phoenix on Friday as Trump heads to Montana.
On Thursday, the Democrat said she welcomed the Republican’s decision to debate her in September, which the former president announced at a rambling press conference at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida.
Key Points
- Kamala Harris takes major five-point lead over Donald Trump in new poll
- Stage set for next debate after Trump and Harris agree to ABC date
- Campaign schedule: Harris and Walz in Arizona today as Trump heads to Montana
- What JD Vance did in Iraq, as told by the friend who served with him
- Where and when Trump and Harris are speaking tonight
Trump’s plane diverted due to mechanical issue on way to Montana rally
23:34
Graeme Massie
Donald Trump’s plane was diverted to Billings, Montana, because of a mechanical issue as he flew to a Friday night rally in the state.
The former president was heading to Bozeman, Montana, when his plane landed safely in Billings, 140 miles away.
Trump’s election interference case is back in Judge Chutkan’s hands after months of delays
23:30
Alex Woodward
Donald Trump’s federal election interference case is slowly coming back to life.
The case is now back in the hands of District Judge Tanya Chutkan after it was frozen for months while the former president was fighting for “immunity” up to the Supreme Court.
The four criminal cases against the former president — spanning 88 charges in four jurisdictions — have been hung up in months of appeals and delays, creating a Russian nesting doll of courtroom battles, with court dates and side hearings on evidence, gag orders and defense arguments all designed to slow down the likelihood of another conviction before Election Day.
MAGA fans call for boycott of Dunkin Donuts: ‘The Bud Lite treatment’
22:45
Gustaf Kilander
Followers of Donald Trump are calling for a boycott of Dunkin’ Donuts after the chief executive of Rumble claimed that the coffee chain refused to advertise on the conservative video platform because its “right-wing culture”.
Rumble has joined Elon Musk’s X in a lawsuit against a number of advertisers that they say have declined to do business with them because of the right-wing content on their platforms, Newsweek reported.
On Wednesday Chris Pavlovski, Rumble’s CEO, posted on X that the company had contacted Dunkin’ Donuts, and its parent Inspire Brands, about advertising on the video platform, because its users “over indexes with coffee consumption.”
Joe Rogan insists he’s not endorsing RFK Jr amid MAGA uproar over podcaster’s praise for conspiracy theorist
22:25
Graig Graziosi
Podcaster Joe Rogan has promptly walked back what many listeners took to be an endorsement of independent presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr.
He made the comments on Thursday’s episode of the Joe Rogan Experience, explaining that he believed Kennedy’s political inexperience made him less likely to lie to voters.
“They do it on the left, they do it on the right,” Rogan said. “They gaslight you, they manipulate you, they promote narratives — and the only one who is not doing that is Robert F. Kennedy Jr.”
Where and when Trump and Harris are speaking tonight
22:08
Gustaf Kilander
Tonight’s rally with Kamala Harris and Tim Walz is set to begin at 5.30pm local time in Arizona, 8.30pm ET.
The rally will be held at the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump is speaking in Bozeman, Montana on Friday night at 8pm local time, 10pm ET.
The rally will be held at the Brick Breeden Fieldhouse at Montana State University.
Daily Show host destroys Trump’s claim his Jan 6 crowd rivaled MLK Jr’s March on Washington
22:00
Myriam Page
The Daily Show host Michael Kosta has destroyed Donald Trump’s wild claim that the crowd of supporters who flocked to see him speak on January 6 rivaled the crowd that turned out to hear Martin Luther King Jr’s iconic “I have a dream” speech during the March on Washington.
On Thursday, Trump held a press conference at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, as his campaign seeks to try to grab the spotlight from Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.
During the lie-filled briefing, Trump made a series of false and wild claims – with one in particular raising eyebrows: his boast he has drawn in crowds comparable to MLK Jr.
“I’ve spoken to the biggest crowds. Nobody has spoken to bigger crowds than me,” Trump claimed.
Rightwing podcaster backtracks after announcing support for RFK Jr
21:30
Gustaf Kilander
Rightwing podcaster Tim Pool has backtracked after announcing that he was voting for Robert F Kennedy Jr.
This comes after fellow podcaster Joe Rogan also backed Kennedy.
“Ok I’m voting for RFK Jr now,” Pool wrote on X.
“I think Trump is on track to lose ... Dems are a cult, will march in lockstep. MAGA die hards can’t form alliances properly. Independents / post libs will say f*** that,” he added in a separate post. “Registered dems outnumber GOP by almost 12m ... There’s a reason they can’t get a Rogan endorsement and it’s exactly this behavior. The top podcast, markedly independent, fair and honest. And they decide to go to war with it instead of trying to ally with it.”
Rogan said on Thursday that both Democrats and Republicans are damaging democracy.
“That’s just what they do. That’s politics. They do it on the left, they do it on the right,” Rogan said. “They gaslight you, they manipulate you, they promote narratives, and the only one who is not doing that is Robert F. Kennedy Jr.”
“He’s the only one that makes sense to me,” he added.
After Pool said he was backing Kennedy, the third party candidate responded on X, writing: “I am so grateful to you, Tim, for your confidence in me but most of all for your steadfast defense of the Constitution and relentless love for our country.”
But Pool then replied to Kennedy, saying he was still voting for Trump.
“You’re a good dude brother. I was trolling the haters but in all honesty I do intend to vote Trump. I hope to see you in the end be a part of his administration and help fight against environmental toxins and big pharma,” he said.
What JD Vance did in Iraq, as told by the friend who served with him
21:20
Richard Hall
JD Vance sparked a firestorm this week when he accused fellow veteran and Democratic vice presidential nominee, Minnesota governor Tim Walz, of abandoning his unit before it deployed to Iraq.
“When the United States Marine Corps … asked me to go to Iraq to serve my country, I did it,” Vance told reporters. “When Tim Walz was asked by his country to go to Iraq … he dropped out of the army and allowed his unit to go without him.”
Democrats were quick to hit back at the claim, pointing out that Walz filed to run for Congress and officially retired from the Minnesota National Guard months before his unit was alerted about deployment. But Vance’s criticism of his opponent’s record has drawn greater scrutiny of his own time as a “combat correspondent” in the Marine Corps, a role that involves gathering news and writing articles for internal Marine Corps publications and facilitating interviews and access for civilian media.
Harris rapid response advisor says he hopes Trump ‘enjoys his August siesta’
21:00
Gustaf Kilander
New from @KamalaHQ:
— James Singer (@Jemsinger) August 9, 2024
We hope Donald Trump enjoys his August siesta or whatever he's doing this month. It certainly isn't campaigning in swing states. pic.twitter.com/LDLPS3rOUw
Trump megadonor John Paulson claims $400,000-a-month Hamptons rental was infested with rodents and made fiancée sick
20:30
Justin Rohrlich
Uber-wealthy hedge funder and high-profile Trump donor John Paulson fled a $400,000-per-month Hamptons rental after just seven days upon discovering the palatial seaside spread reeked of rodent urine and excrement, according to a demand letter obtained by The Independent.
The stunning Southampton manse, which boasts neighbors such as New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, hedge fund titan Ken Griffin, and private equity mogul Leon Black, was allegedly infested with mice, which got into the ventilation system and died there.
Trump spox issues clarification on abortion drug comments
20:15
Gustaf Kilander
Trump spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said on Friday that the former president was having a hard time hearing reporters’ questions on Thursday when he suggested that he may be open to revoking federal approval for the abortion drug mifepristone.
“As President Trump said numerous times during the press conference, the questions being asked were difficult to hear,” Leavitt said, according to The Washington Post. “His position on mifepristone remains the same – the Supreme Court unanimously decided on the issue and the matter is settled.”
The Supreme Court denied a challenge to access to the abortion drug, ruling that the plaintiffs didn’t have standing to sue.
Harris ad says she’ll ‘hire thousands more border agents'
20:00
Gustaf Kilander
The Harris campaign has released a new immigration ad before she heads to Arizona this evening for a rally in the border and key swing state.
The ad states that Harris is a “border state prosecutor” who battled drug cartels, adding that if she’s elected, she will “hire thousands more border agents and crack down on fentanyl and human trafficking.”
Trump claims Willie Brown told him ‘terrible things’ about Harris on a near-fatal helicopter ride. He says every part of the story is fiction
19:46
James Liddell
Donald Trump has claimed that Willie Brown, the former San Francisco mayor and ex-partner of Kamala Harris, told him some “terrible things” about her during a near-death experience on a helicopter ride.
Now, the former has spoken out to reveal that every part of the story is “fiction”.
According to Brown, there were no critical comments about Harris, no near-fatal crash – and, in fact, no helicopter ride whatsover.
During his lie-filled press conference at Mar-a-Lago on Thursday afternoon – his first public briefing since Harris picked Tim Walz to join her on the Democratic ticket – the former president recounted what now appears to be a tall tale about a helicopter ride he claims he once took with Brown.
Tucker Carlson teases documentary on Trump’s ‘comeback’ — just as Harris picks up momentum
19:30
Katie Hawkinson
Tucker Carlson is producing a new documentary about Donald Trump and the MAGA movement.
The right-wing media personality, formerly of Fox News fame, released the documentary trailer on X Thursday night, revealing “The Art of the Surge: The Donald Trump Comeback” will premiere on the Tucker Carlson Network, the streaming service he launched in December.
The documentary comes as Vice President Kamala Harris has taken the lead over Trump in a new poll and her three-week-old campaign builds momentum in key battleground states. The former president is now playing defense, having called a meandering press conference on Thursday where he attacked his opponents and spread several false claims.
Pence says he ‘could never vote’ for Harris and Walz
19:00
Gustaf Kilander
At a gathering hosted by conservative commentator Erick Erickson, former Vice President Mike Pence said he “could never vote” for Harris and Walz, but added that he’s “staying out of the presidential campaign,” according to The Washington Post.
“I cannot endorse this growing abandonment of our allies on the world stage that’s taken hold in parts of our party,” added, saying that he also couldn’t back “ignoring our national debt” and “marginalizing the right to life.”
“And between me and my running mate, I cannot endorse President Trump’s continuing assertion that I should’ve set aside my oath” to the Constitution during the 2021 Capitol riot and refused to certify the 2020 election.
Mike Pence claims relationship with ‘friend’ Donald Trump ‘worked'
18:30
Gustaf Kilander
Mike Pence on his relationship with his "friend" Trump, who was indifferent at best to a mob who wanted him killed on January 6: "That relationship worked." pic.twitter.com/2jQ6ghzulR
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 9, 2024
Why Vance and Harris’s San Francisco ties hold the key to the election
18:00
Joe Sommerlad
Trump claimed at yesterday’s press conference that Kamala “destroyed San Francisco, destroyed California, and is destroying our country”, although the Golden State still appears to be standing when last we checked.
Kamala is WORSE than Biden—she destroyed San Francisco, destroyed California, and is destroying our Country...
— Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) August 9, 2024
Donald Trump Truth Social 04:11 PM EST 08/08/24 @realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/SyHHBeQyLY
As Io Dodds and Josh Marcus note, the candidates, ideas and vibes of this election are deeply tied to the San Francisco Bay Area.
So what does that tell us about how the race will shake out?
Harris looking to pick younger, more diverse Cabinet than Biden
17:30
Joe Sommerlad
The Vice President is reportedly already weighing up her future Cabinet choices, aiming for more young people and people of color than President Joe Biden.
Axios reported a preliminary list of several picks for top administration positions including Senators Laphonza Butler and Alex Padilla from Harris’s home state of California and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer.
For Secretary of State, Harris’s shortlist is said to include Delaware Senator Chris Coons, CIA director Bill Burns and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, a former contender as Harris’s running mate, could be nominated for US Ambassador to the United Nations.
Harris may also be considering Michele Flournoy, undersecretary of defense for policy under President Barack Obama, for Secretary of Defense.
Katie Hawkinson has more.
Fani Willis files brief to Georgia appeals court over Trump’s attempt to disqualify her
17:00
Joe Sommerlad
As you may recall, the Fulton County district attorney’s indictment against the former president (alleging 2020 election interference in her jurisdiction) hit the rocks earlier this year when Trump and his co-defendants kicked up a stink about her past romantic relationship with fellow prosecutor Nathan Wade, hoping to boot her off the case.
After a series of tense hearings, Judge Scott McAfee rejected their arguments but gave the prosecution an ultimatum: either Willis step aside or Wade must leave his role as special prosecutor. The latter took the fall.
Trump and co have since appealed that decision and the state’s appeals court is due to hear their latest arguments on October 4.
Willis has now filed an appellate brief of her own rejecting the motion, in which she writes: “The appellants sought to disqualify District Attorney Fani T Willis by persuading the trial court that she had engineered the present case, which involves issues of national importance and daily public scrutiny, as a scheme for her personal enrichment. They failed.
“After giving the appellants every opportunity to provide evidence and argument in support of their theory, the trial court decided that their central witness had provided no information of value and that their central theory did not add up.
“Unsatisfied, the appellants now seize upon the trial court’s criticisms of the district attorney to distort its actual findings and overstate their case.
“They ask this court to second guess the trial court’s factual conclusions and apply standards of disqualification that no Georgia court has ever authorized or employed.”
Here is Fani Willis's appellate brief denying that disqualification is required by either (1) appearance of impropriety (hiring Nathan Wade etc) or (2) "forensic misconduct" (including her speech at an Atlanta church alleging attacks on her were racist).https://t.co/Qj3VcYr62z pic.twitter.com/2ffJWfSJ94
— Roger Parloff (@rparloff) August 9, 2024
John Bolton says Trump can’t even tell when he’s lying
16:40
Joe Sommerlad
The former president’s ex-national security adviser Trump adviser appeared on CNN last night in the wake of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago meltdown to tell Kaitlan Collins: “In his mind, the truth is whatever he wants it to be and that’s what you heard today.”
Ariana Baio has more.
Harris-Walz now selling camo coolers for beer cans
16:20
Joe Sommerlad
Their camouflage baseball caps flew off the shelves earlier this week so it was inevitable the Democratic ticket would extend their merchandise range with further blue collar offerings.
We have camo [for legal reasons we must call these "can coolers"] nowhttps://t.co/j5tGe7cqdE pic.twitter.com/jxeXrBeEqS
— Rob Flaherty (@Rob_Flaherty) August 9, 2024
Here’s Kaleigh Werner on the $1m hat that started it all.
Dril hits back over use of his meme in Harris-Walz press release
16:00
Joe Sommerlad
Very hard to imagine Joe Biden ever attempting something like this.
Here’s Greg Evans to explain.
New Harris ad leans into biography in appeal to American middle class
15:40
Joe Sommerlad
You can watch Kamala’s new 30-second TV spot below.
Here’s what her senior campaign spokesperson Lauren Hitt had to say about its intentions:
“Being president is about who you fight for. Vice President Harris is the daughter of a working mother and worked at a McDonald’s to put herself through college. She knows what middle class families go through.
“Now, she’s running for president to make it easier for families to not just get by, but get ahead. As president, Harris’ top priority will be taking on corporate greed to lower costs.
“Donald Trump, on the other hand, is running to give more handouts to his ultra-wealthy friends at the expense of working Americans. That’s the contrast voters are going to see between now and Election Day.”
Campaign schedule: Harris and Walz in Arizona today as Trump heads to Montana
15:20
Joe Sommerlad
The Democratic duo hit the Phoeniz, Arizona, leg of their whirlwind swing state tour before appearing in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Trump is finally emerging from his gilded cage in Palm Beach to visit Montana and stump for Republican Senate nominee Tim Sheehy, an entrepreneur and former Navy Seal hopping to topple Democratic incumbent Jon Tester in what is proving an increasingly tense and costly race for both sides as advertising money flows in.
Here’s Alex Woodward on Harris and Walz’s introductory tour.
Trump’s speaking style shows ‘potential indications of cognitive decline’, experts say
15:00
Joe Sommerlad
The Republican’s manner of speaking may betray signs of cognitive decline, a number of psychological experts have suggested.
An analysis by STAT –a media organization focusing on health – found that Trump’s common pattern of speech called tangentiality (jumping from topic to topic with few, if any, connections in between) is just one of a number of his incoherent speaking habits that appears to have worsened in the last few years.
In 2017, Trump’s first year as president, STAT concluded Trump’s speaking style had worsened since the 1980s.
Gustaf Kilander has the story.
‘Policy attack dog’ or ‘creepy’? Vance’s plane incident with Harris adds to his weird factor
14:40
Joe Sommerlad
The image of Trump’s running mate approaching Air Force Two with his team of nearly all-male advisers earlier this week made some feel deeply uncomfortable, writes Richard Hall.
The truth behind the conspiracies on Tim Walz’s China ties
14:20
Joe Sommerlad
Tim Walz has been attacked from all angles by Republicans in the two days since he was unveiled as Kamala Harris’s running mate to take on Donald Trump and JD Vance in November.
The mild-mannered Midwesterner and Minnesota governor, a 24-year veteran of the Army National Guard and former high school teacher, has been called everything from a “radical leftist” to “Tampon Tim” as the opposition scrambles to define and discredit him in the eyes of voters.
So far, little has stuck, prompting Trump’s allies to turn to Walz’s ties to China as a fresh avenue of attack.
Here’s the truth behind the disingenuous partisan nonsense.
Election predictor moves battleground states from Trump to ‘toss ups’
14:00
Joe Sommerlad
Arizona, Georgia and Nevada no longer look like they will be wins for the Trump campaign in 2024, according to election forecasters at the Cook Political Report, which has moved the pivotal battlegrounds from leaning Republican to “toss-ups” in great news for the Democratic ticket.
Josh Marcus has more.
Trump v Harris: When is the next 2024 presidential debate?
13:40
Joe Sommerlad
Here’s everything you need to know about the upcoming showdown between the Republican and Democrat on ABC in one month’s time.
Trump gunman visited shooting range dozens of times including Christmas Day amid ‘intense attack preparations’
13:20
Joe Sommerlad
Donald Trump’s would-be assassin visited his local rifle range dozens of times – including on Christmas Day – during a period of “intense preparation” in the year leading up to the attack, according to newly-obtained records.
Documents obtained by Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley from Clairton Sportsmen’s Club in Jefferson Hills, Pennsylvania, reveal that Thomas Crooks visited the shooting range 43 times between August 10 2023 and his failed attempt on the former president’s life on July 13 2024 in Butler.
Crooks “almost exclusively” spent his time at the club’s rifle range, with 80 per cent of his visits spent on shooting practice, according to Grassley’s office.
The 20-year-old even visited the site on holidays, with visits logged on Christmas Day, Valentine’s Day and Halloween.
His final visit came on the afternoon of July 12 – one day before the assassination attempt, records show.
James Liddell and Gustaf Kilander have more.
Trump keeps calling Harris ‘Kamabla’ but nobody seems to know why...
13:00
Joe Sommerlad
The Republican has tried out a number of nicknames as he scrambles to define Kamala Harris in the presidential race.
There was “Laffin’ Kamala” and there was “Lyin’ Kamala” but he now appears to have settled on the frankly confusing “Kamabla.”
Nobody knows what it means but Gustaf Kilander has attempted to find out.
Willie Brown dismisses Trump’s claim he told him ‘terrible things’ about Harris as complete fiction
12:40
Joe Sommerlad
The former San Francisco mayor and speaker of the California State Assembly, who was once in a relationship with Kamala Harris, has rubbished Trump’s story that he told the Republican “terrible things” about her during a near-death experience on a helicopter ride.
James Liddell reports on a story Brown insists is total invention.
Trump’s claim his Jan 6 crowd rivaled MLK Jr’s March on Washington destroyed by Daily Show host
12:20
Joe Sommerlad
Michael Kosta had plenty of fun with one of the Republican’s dumbest claims in some time during yesterday’s press conference.
Myriam Page has this on what he had to say.
Kamala Harris takes major five-point lead over Donald Trump in new poll
12:00
Joe Sommerlad
The Vice President has surged to a five-point lead over Donald Trump in a new Reuters/Ipsos poll, putting her on 42 per cent to the Republican’s 37 per cent nationally with less than three months to go to November’s presidential election.
The survey found that Harris had widened her lead since a July 22-23 poll from the same source found her up 37 per cent to 34 per cent over Trump.
The nationwide poll of 2,045 American adults was conducted between August 2 and 7 and found just 4 per cent of those surveyed backing independent candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr, down from 10 per cent in July.
Jack Smith seeks three-week delay in Jan 6 case
11:45
Joe Sommerlad
Here’s more on the revenant Jan 6 case.
Justice Department special counsel moved quickly yesterday to ask for more time on how to reframe the case, which some pundits suggest indicates his team have not yet worked out how to go about it.
Here’s our report.
Trump’s election interference case is coming back to life
11:30
Joe Sommerlad
Judge Tanya Chutkan has revived Jack Smith’s Jan 6 case against Trump and is calling on both sides to present revised arguments on how to move it forward in light of the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity ruling on July 1.
This is what the Republican has had to say about it on Truth Social:
It is clear that the Supreme Court’s Historic Decision on Immunity demands and requires a Complete and Total Dismissal of ALL the Witch Hunts — The January 6th Hoax in Washington, D.C., the Manhattan D.A.’s Zombie Case, the New York A.G. Scam, Fake Claims about a woman I never…
— Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) August 9, 2024
Alex Woodward has the latest.
Trump is freaking out about Kamala Harris’s surging poll numbers
11:00
Joe Sommerlad
A week after Trump’s attempted assassination, the Atlantic published a headline declaring: “Trump is Planning for a Landslide Win.”
Now, a little over a month and one presidential candidate swap later, the 2024 presidential election’s likely results appear a great deal less obvious.
With the photo of a defiant Trump pumping his fist in the rear-view, the former president has become increasingly frustrated by the surging poll numbers enjoyed by his presumed opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, according to five people close to the situation who spoke to The Washington Post.
The former president reportedly told a supporter he felt it was “unfair” that after he “beat” Joe Biden he had to turn around and run against Harris.
“It’s unfair that I beat him and now I have to beat her, too.”
Graig Graziosi has more.
