Three swing states hang in the balance as Donald Trump and Kamala Harris’s presidential campaigns battle it out with less than nine weeks to go until election day.
A new CNN poll found that the Democratic presidential nominee currently leads her Republican rival in four battlegrounds states, taking Wisconsin (50 per cent to 44 percent) and Michigan (48 per cent to 43 per cent).
However, in Georgia and Nevada, the vice president is said to lead by just one point – 48 per cent to 47 per cent in each. The pair are tied at 47 per cent in Pennsylvania, while Trump leads in Arizona 49 per cent to 44 per cent, as per the survey.
Trump has again been denied a bid to move his criminal his hush money case from state to federal court, after District Judge Alvin Hellerstein rejected Trump’s latest long-shot request on Tuesday, that hoped to overturn the guilty verdict and postpone his sentencing, which will take place in New York on September 18.
Kamala Harris is back on the campaign trail in New Hampshire on Wednesday and i expected to propose an expansion of tax incentives for small businesses from $5,000 to $50,000.
Key Points
- Poll: Trump, Harris in stalemate across three swing states
- Trump’s push to move hush money criminal case to federal court fails
- Harris to unveil small business tax plan in New Hampshire today
- Schedule: Where are Trump-Vance, Harris-Walz today?
- Trump trails behind Harris among Gen Z voters
Poll: Trump, Harris enter stale mate across three swing states
14:23
James Liddell
Three swing states are still up for grabs as Kamala Harris and Donald Trump continue to battle to find favor with the electorate.
A new CNN poll of six of the seven swing states concluded that the Democratic presidential nominee is currently leading her Republican rival in four of the battlegrounds.
The survey said that Harris has a clear lead in Wisconsin (50 per cent to 44 percent) and Michigan (48 per cent to 43 per cent).
However, in Georgia and Nevada, the vice president is said to lead by just one point - 48 per cent to 47 per cent in each.
The pair are tied at 47 per cent all in Pennsylvania, while Trump leads in Arizona 49 per cent to Harris’s 44 per cent, as per CNN’s poll.
‘RFK Jr must remain in Michigan ballot,’ judge says
14:21
James Liddell
Robert F Kennedy Jr must stay on Michigan’s ballot, a state judge ruled on Tuesday.
RFK Jr revealed last month that he would be culling his independent campaign, instead endorsing Donald Trump’s election bid.
He announced that he was trying to take his name off the ticket across swing states over fears he could draw votes away from the former president.
After previously being rejected in his effort to withdraw his name from the battleground state of Michigan, RFK Jr filed a lawsuit against Democrat Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson on Friday.
Now, he has again been denied permission to remove his name from the state’s ballot.
Poll: Trump trails behind Harris among Gen Z voters
14:07
James Liddell
Half of Gen Z voters say they’ll vote for Kamala Harris, according to a new poll of under 30-year-olds.
A new survey commissioned by NBC News and SurveyMonkey surveyed people born between 1997 and 2012 (12 to 27-year-olds) on which way they’ll likely vote ahead of Americans flooding to the ballots come November 5.
It found that 50 per cent of responders would vote for Democrat, while just 33 per cent would vote for the Republicans - as Harris clinches a 17 point lead with the younger demographic.
Ten per cent say that would note vote, whole six per cent have said that they’d choose someone other than the two main presidential candidates.
Jan 6 fundraiser at Trump NJ golf club ‘postponed’ – indefinitely
14:00
James Liddell
The ‘J6 Awards Gala’ which was scheduled to take place at Trump’s National Golf Club Bedminster in New Jersey on Thursday has been postponed – indefinitely.
The fundraising event for defendants of the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol was due to be hosted by Stand in the Gap, a not-for-profit offering support to those entangled in the uprising.
“The funds raised will provide much-needed assistance to the January 6th defendants who continue to face significant challenges,” the group’s website reads.
The event was initially delayed in August, after event organizer LJ Fino told Fox Business that there were “scheduling conflicts of invited guest speakers”.
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani was lined up on the speaking roster. Trump was invited; he is yet to formally accept.
New ad from George Conway’s ‘Psycho PAC’ looks to trigger Trump
13:39
James Liddell
The political action committee founded by conservative lawyer George Conway is directly targeting Donald Trump with a new advertisement that will air in locations where the ex-president has homes in hopes that seeing the commercial will set off an emotional reaction.
Conway’s “Psycho PAC” is making a six-figure purchase of airtime in Palm Beach, Florida and Bedminister, New Jersey media markets — locations where Trump spends most of his time — as well as markets in South Carolina, Florida and Texas, where Trump allies Lindsey Graham, Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz are based.
Andrew Feinberg writes.
Trump relatives hacked with crooks pushing crypto scam
13:20
James Liddell
Donald Trumps daughter-in-law, Lara, and daughter, Tiffany, had their X accounts breached by hackers who pushed a crypto currency scam.
Both posts on Tuesday referenced World Liberty Financial, a real Trump family cryptocurrency project that hasn’t formally launched. Self-styled “crypto president” Trump announced its prospective launch in a video last week.
“ALERT: Lara’s and Tiffany Trump’s X accounts have been hacked. Do NOT click on any links or purchase any tokens shared from their profiles,” the official World Liberty Financial account @worldlibertyfi broadcast on X.
Trump’s son Eric was quick to declare the posts touting the fake family crypto venture as a “scam” on his own X.
The posts were subsequently deleted and accounts locked down “within minutes,” Eric added.
Trump says Michigan's auto industry will come 'roaring back' despite UAW labelling him 'scab'
12:58
James Liddell
Donald Trump has declared that Michigan’s automotive industry will come “roaring back,” despite the state’s largest auto workers union labelling him a “scab” and endorsing Kamala Harris.
Shawn Fain, the United Autoworkers President, sported a red shirt adorned with “Trump is a scab. Vote Harris” during a speech at the Democratic National Convention last month. The union is also running a campaign to “defeat Donald Trump”.
Trump, however, isn’t giving up in his attempt to garner support form the near-million member-strong union.
“With me as your President, Michigan, THE AUTO MAKING BUSINESS WILL COME ROARING BACK!,” he wrote on Truth Social Wednesday morning.
Jimmy Kimmel roasts Trump’s ‘huge mistake’: picking JD Vance
12:38
James Liddell
Jimmy Kimmel had a hell of a job on Tuesday night, as he had two months worth of political mayhem to catch up on in his return to the late night comedy show.
One of his biggest takeaways from the summer of presidential campaigns was what he called Donald Trump's “huge mistake”: picking JD Vance as his running mate.
“There are a lot of things Trump isn't good at, one of the thing's he's especially not good at is picking running mates,” Kimmel quipped.
Myriam Page takes you through Kimmel’s remarks.
Watch: White House shuts down ‘insane’ and ‘ridiculous’ notion Harris puts on fake accents
12:15
James Liddell
White House Press Secretary shut down an “insane” probe from a Fox News reporter who claimed that Kamala Harris puts on a fake Southern accent.
The former president has been accused by some right-leaning political pundits of speaking with a Southern twang during her Detroit, Michigan, campaign rally on Monday.
“Since when does the vice president have what sounds like a Southern accent,” Peter Doocy asked during a press conference on Tuesday.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Jean-Pierre retorted before noting she wouldn’t entertain a conversation surrounding Harris’s alleged Labor Day Southern drawl.
“Just hearing [the question] sounds ridiculous,” she added. “It’s just insane”.
Watch the exchange below:
Schedule: Where are Trump-Vance, Harris-Walz today?
11:53
James Liddell
Vice President Kamala Harris will be moving away from the Midwestern and Sunbelt battleground states today, traveling to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to unveil her new small business tax plan.
Her running mate Minnesota Governor Tim Walz will visit Lancaster this morning before heading to Pittsburgh this afternoon as part of a two-day campaign swing through Pennsylvania.
Former president Donald Trump will attend a Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, town hall alongside Fox News host and friend Sean Hannity at approximately 5.30pm ET this evening.
His VP pick Ohio Senator JD Vance won’t be back on the campaign trail until Thursday, where he will deliver remarks in Phoenix, Arizona.
Poll: Most swing state Republicans and Democrats oppose criminalizing abortion
11:33
James Liddell
With the future of abortion rights resting on November ballots, polling shows that clear majorities of both Republican and Democratic voters in six swing states reject the idea that the government should be criminalizing abortion care, and overwhelmingly want their elected officials to protect access to birth control.
The results of a new survey, from University of Maryland’s Program for Public Consultation, show that most Americans in swing states — including up to 93 percent of Democrats and up to 70 percent of Republicans — do not want most abortion care to be criminalized.
Alex Woodward and Alicja Hagopian take a deep dive into the stats.
Trump ‘laziest’ campaigner in presidential history, O’Donnell says
11:11
James Liddell
MSNBC anchor Lawrence O’Donnell attacked Donald Trump and his vice president pick JD Vance for “doing nothing” on Labor Day.
“With only 64 days in the campaign, candidates are usually campaigning very hard,” O’Donnell began on Tuesday’s episode of The Last Word.
“But not Donald Trump; the laziest campaigner in modern history.”
O’Donnell took a swipe at Trump and his running mate JD Vance for not hitting the campaign trail on Labor Day, declaring them as “anti-labor,” a stark contrast to Kamala Harris’s Labor Day blitz.
The vice president herself attended two rallies (one with Joe Biden), while a fleet of surrogates – including her VP pick Tim Walz, his wife Gwen and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff – were sent on her behalf to make remarks at seasonal events across swing states.
Trump to attend Pennsylvania town hall chaired by Fox News host Sean Hannity today
10:50
James Liddell
Donald Trump will attend a Pennsylvania town hall alongside Fox News host and friend Sean Hannity today.
The pair will take the New Holland Arena stage in Harrisburg at approximately 5.30 ET on Wednesday for an hour-long discussion surrounding Trump’s policies, his debate against Kamala Harris next week and issues impacting the nation.
In the last town hall appearance with one another in Iowa in December, Trump declared that he’d by a dictator on “day one” if elected.
Trump declared his “love” for Hannity before being quizzed on what he meant about being a day-one dictator.
“We’re closing the border and we’re drilling, drilling, drilling. After that, I’m not a dictator,” he said.
GOP anti-Trump group splurge on billboards in swing states
10:27
James Liddell
A group of anti-Trump Republicans splurged $11 million on a billboard campaign across key swing states on Tuesday.
Republican Voters Against Trump began targeting voters in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Arizona with a 30 second advert across 79 billboards.
The adverts feature former Trump supports who say they switched allegiance to support Vice President Harris in November.
“We help elevate the voices of these disaffected Republicans and build a permission structure for many other traditional GOP voters to reject Donald Trump and his MAGA movement, even if it means voting for Democrats with whom they might have policy differences,” the groups executive Sarah Longwell told The Hill.
Jesse Watters attacks Harris’s accent: ‘She sounds like Fani Willis’
10:05
James Liddell
Watters: Kamala was raised by an Indian mother in Canada but now she sounds like Fani Willis pic.twitter.com/4mRtl8cg3L
— Acyn (@Acyn) September 4, 2024
Harris to unveil small business tax plan in New Hampshire today — day after team Trump ‘pulls out’ from Granite State
09:40
James Liddell
Kamala Harris is expected to focus on her fiscal policy during a campaign stop in New Hampshire today.
The vice president is due to unveil her new small business tax plan in the Portsmouth area, across the Piscataqua River from Maine.
She is vying to expand tax incentives from $5,000 to $50,000 for small business start up expenses, and hopes to see 25 million new small business applications made over her first term.
It comes a day after an email leak from a top Donald Trump campaign volunteer claiming that the former president’s campaign “no longer thinks New Hampshire is winnable” and is “pulling back” from the Granite State, according to the The Boston Globe.
Watch: Michael Cohen reacts to Trump being rejected move of hush money case to federal court
09:21
James Liddell
Michael Cohen reacts to the news that Trump's attempt to transfer his New York criminal case to federal court has been rejected: He is truly a nonpartisan judge.. Good for Alvin Hellerstein, good for all of us. Not so good for Donald, but good for the rest of us pic.twitter.com/nWSs6xHPaI
— Acyn (@Acyn) September 3, 2024
McCain’s son slams Trump’s Arlington cemetery visit
09:00
Oliver O'Connell
The youngest son of the late Arizona Senator John McCain has blasted former President Donald Trump’s recent controversial visit to Arlington National Cemetery.
Jimmy McCain told CNN that the visit was a “violation” and that he changed his voter registration from independent to Democratic, now planning to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris in November.
Gustaf Kilander has the story.
Harris’s handshake with BBQ joint worker has sticky twist
08:45
James Liddell
A little barbecue sauce never hurt anyone. pic.twitter.com/0VTXmabOIy
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) September 4, 2024
Vance once endorsed conservative family agenda from Project 2025 authors
08:30
Oliver O'Connell
JD Vance, the right-wing Ohio Senator and Donald Trump’s running mate, once called a collection of essays from conservative individuals that touted anti-abortion, pro-heterosexuality, anti-affordable housing and pro-restrictive sexual freedom ideals “admirable.”
In 2017, Vance wrote the introduction to a 106-page index published by The Heritage Foundation that advocated for conservative views that are noticeably reflected in its better-known document Project 2025.
Continue reading...
Former Republican PA senator blasts both presidential hopefuls
07:30
Oliver O'Connell
A former conservative senator from Pennsylvania, a key swing state in the upcoming election, has announced he will not vote for Kamala Harris or Donald Trump this November.
Ex-Senator Pat Toomey, a Republican who represented Pennsylvania for over a decade, told CNBC that he will not vote for either candidate this year despite having backed Trump in the last two elections.
Katie Hawkinson has the story.
Harris has raised so much for her presidential campaign that she’s giving some away
06:30
Oliver O'Connell
Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign has raised more than half-a-billion dollars since the start of late July, and she’s now giving some of the haul away to other Democrats.
The vice president’s camp raised $540m in just over a month as she continues to gain momentum following the departure of President Joe Biden from the ticket and his endorsement of her on July 21.
Control of Congress will decide if Harris will be able to enact her agenda if she wins in November, and while the presidential race between her and former President Donald Trump remains close, so too do a number of down-ballot races for the Senate and the House.
The Harris campaign and the Democratic National Committee are now sending almost $25 million to campaigns on the congressional and state levels. They said it’s “the largest transfer ever in a presidential cycle.”
Gustaf Kilander has the story.
Stocks tank as economic slow down fears mount
04:30
Oliver O'Connell
Wall Street took a dive on Tuesday, particularly for chip-selling tech companies, as investors watched the major markets tumble.
The S&P 500 was down more than 2 percent and the NASDAQ Composite was down more than 3 percent - or 577 points - in a wide-ranging selloff suggesting a lack of confidence in AI and chip manufacturing heading into September. Overall, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.5 percent, or 626 points, to close the. It ended day trading at 40,936.93.
Tuesday’s drop was the largest for the big three markets since early August, according to Yahoo Finance.
Graig Graziosi reports.
Trump is comparing his tapping of JD Vance to iconic football coach Vince Lombardi
03:30
Oliver O'Connell
Donald Trump has reportedly compared himself to legendary NFL coach Vince Lombardi with his tapping of JD Vance as his running mate, despite ongoing and frequent criticism of the Ohio Senator.
The former president has bragged to those close to him that his eye for talent is equal to that of the Hall of Fame coach, who is widely considered to be one of the greatest of all time, sources told The New York Times.
Mike Bedigan has the story.
There’s a big problem for Trump’s IVF plans
02:30
Oliver O'Connell
Here’s the latest from The Independent’s Washington bureau chief Eric Garcia:
Has Trump finally admitted he lost the 2020 election?
02:00
Josh Marcus
Days after he claimed he had “every right” to interfere with the 2020 presidential election results, Donald Trump admits that he “lost by a whisker.”
During a 45-minute interview with popular podcaster Lex Fridman, the former president revived his false claims that the election “was a fraud” but conceded that he did in fact lose.
Trump’s false and inflated claims about elections, which span more than a decade, have fuelled his 2024 ambitions; spurious legal challenges to results; and legislation and Republican-led rule changes that have tried to do what he failed to in court.
Alex Woodward reports.
Trump’s push to move hush money case to federal court fails once again
01:52
Josh Marcus
A federal judge has once again rejected Donald Trump’s attempts to move his hush money case out of a Manhattan courtroom, a last-ditch effort to overturn his conviction and avoid sentencing after a jury found him guilty on 34 felony counts this spring.
Trump will be sentenced by New York Justice Juan Merchan on September 18.
The former president’s lawyers had argued in court filings that the case and evidence against him should be tossed out under the Supreme Court’s “immunity” ruling, which determined that presidents are absolutely immune from criminal prosecution for their “official” acts in office.
Alex Woodward has the story.
As scramble for funding continues, these are the seats Republicans fear they won’t be able to contest
01:30
Oliver O'Connell
Republicans are growing increasingly concerned about their ability to contest a number of races as the money gap between the GOP and the Democrats widens.
Last month, the leader of the largest Super PAC supporting the House Republicans, Dan Conston, the president of the Congressional Leadership Fund, told donors that he needed $35 million more to take on the Democrats, according to Politico.
Similarly, the campaign chair for the Senate Republicans, Steve Daines, said, “The left-wing billionaires are massively outspending us. That’s what’s keeping me up at night” during his speech at the Republican National Convention.
Gustaf Kilander reports.
McCain’s son slams Trump’s Arlington cemetery visit
Wednesday 4 September 2024 00:30
Oliver O'Connell
The youngest son of the late Arizona Senator John McCain has blasted former President Donald Trump’s recent controversial visit to Arlington National Cemetery.
Jimmy McCain told CNN that the visit was a “violation” and that he changed his voter registration from independent to Democratic, now planning to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris in November.
Gustaf Kilander has the story.
How Georgia’s pro-Trump election board could help him steal an election
Tuesday 3 September 2024 23:30
Oliver O'Connell
Alex Woodward writes:
At a rally in Georgia days before a crucial vote at the state’s election board, Donald Trump praised three of the board’s five members as “pit bulls fighting for victory.”
“I don’t know if you’ve heard, but the Georgia State Election Board is in a very positive way,” Trump said in Atlanta on August 3. “They’re on fire. They’re doing a great job.”
Those members — Rick Jeffares, Janelle King and Janice Johnston — ultimately voted for sweeping rule changes to how counties can certify election rules in a state that the former president lost by narrow margins in 2020, and where he is now criminally charged for his attempts to reverse that loss.
Continue reading...
Trump claims Arlington cemetery scandal ‘all made up’ by Harris
Tuesday 3 September 2024 23:15
Oliver O'Connell
Donald Trump is now claiming the Arlington National Cemetery scandal was “all made up” by his Democratic opponent Kamala Harris.
Trump made the claim in a rambling Truth Social post on Tuesday morning. The GOP nominee claimed “there was no conflict or ‘fighting’ at Arlington National Cemetery last week” and that it was “a made up story by Comrade Kamala and her misinformation squad.”
This comes despite confirmation from the Army that there was an incident in which an employee was pushed aside.
Katie Hawkinson reports from Washington, DC.
Judge denies Trump bid to move hush money case to federal court
Tuesday 3 September 2024 23:00
Oliver O'Connell
NEW: U.S. Judge Hellerstein denies Trump's bid to remove his hush money case to federal court.
— Frank G. Runyeon (@frankrunyeon) September 3, 2024
"Nothing in the Supreme Court’s opinion affects my previous conclusion that the hush money payments were private, unofficial acts, outside the bounds of executive authority." pic.twitter.com/JaOccJ8pPj
Trump campaign must stop using 'Hold On, I'm Coming'
Tuesday 3 September 2024 22:30
AP
A federal judge in Atlanta ruled Tuesday that Donald Trump and his campaign must stop using the song “Hold On, I’m Coming” while the family of one of the song’s co-writers pursues a lawsuit against the former president over its use.
The estate of Isaac Hayes Jr filed a lawsuit last month alleging that Trump, his campaign and several of his allies had infringed its copyright and should pay damages. After a hearing on the estate’s request for an emergency preliminary injunction, US District Judge Thomas Thrash ruled that Trump must stop using the song, but he denied a request to force the campaign to take down any existing videos that include the song.
Continue reading...
Vance once endorsed conservative family agenda written by... Project 2025’s authors
Tuesday 3 September 2024 22:10
Oliver O'Connell
JD Vance, the right-wing Ohio Senator and Donald Trump’s running mate, once called a collection of essays from conservative individuals that touted anti-abortion, pro-heterosexuality, anti-affordable housing and pro-restrictive sexual freedom ideals “admirable.”
In 2017, Vance wrote the introduction to a 106-page index published by The Heritage Foundation that advocated for conservative views that are noticeably reflected in its better-known document Project 2025.
Ariana Baio reports.
First clip of controversial Trump biopic shared ahead of pre-election release
Tuesday 3 September 2024 21:50
Oliver O'Connell
The forthcoming Donald Trump biopic, The Apprentice, has dropped its first teaser clip ahead of its pre-election release date this fall.
From Iranian-Danish filmmaker Ali Abbassi, the movie stars Sebastian Stan as a young Trump and Succession’s Jeremy Strong as his bullish lawyer and mentor Roy Cohn.
Described as an “origin story,” it will examine the early years of the former president’s New York real estate career in the 70s and 80s.
Inga Parkel reports from New York.
Watch: Trump tells podcaster Lex Fridman he will release Epstein client list
Tuesday 3 September 2024 21:35
Oliver O'Connell
In an appearance on podcaster Lex Fridman’s show, Donald Trump says he would release the list of Jeffrey Epstein’s associates who visited the island of Little Saint James.
BREAKING: Donald Trump says he will release the list of Jeffrey Epstein clients who went to Little Saint James Island as President
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) September 3, 2024
pic.twitter.com/txJu1T6CmB
Trump considered making RFK Jr his running mate because he ‘liked how Trump-Kennedy sounded’
Tuesday 3 September 2024 21:30
Oliver O'Connell
Donald Trump “liked how Trump-Kennedy sounded” on the Republican presidential ticket and considered making Robert F Kennedy Jr his running mate, according to reports.
Before Kennedy dropped out of the race and backed Trump for president on August 23, the two men had been smearing one another throughout the election campaign.
Meanwhile, behind the scenes, members of both camps had been working for weeks, some even months, to unite them as one political force, The New York Times reports.
Rhian Lubin reports.
RFK Jr fails to remove himself from key swing state ballot
Tuesday 3 September 2024 21:15
Oliver O'Connell
After saying he was gonna get himself off the ballots in swing states where he’d be a spoiler candidate, Robert F Kennedy Jr has now f
