Trump calls Harris a ‘s***’ VP during rambling rally speech, Usher and Obama hit campaign trail: Live

Donald Trump called Kamala Harris a “s***” vice president during his Latrobe, Pennsylvania rally on Saturday.

”You have to tell Kamala Harris that you’ve had enough, that you just can’t take it anymore,” Trump told his supporters. “We can’t stand you. You’re a s*** vice president. The worst vice president, Kamala, you’re fired.”

Meanwhile, Usher spoke at Harris’s rally in Atlanta this evening. Ahead of the vice president’s appearance, Usher led the crowd in a sing-along of the sports anthem “We Ready” by Archie Eversole.

“We have the opportunity to choose a new generation of leadership for our country,” Usher told attendees.

Earlier today, Lizzo also appeared at Harris’s Detroit rally, encouraging Michigan residents to vote early in the swing state.

“This is the swing state of all swing states, so every last vote here counts,” she said. “If you ask me if America is ready for its first woman president, I only have one thing to say,” she added, referencing her hit song: “It’s about damn time!”

Meanwhile, former president Barack Obama will appear in Las Vegas later tonight to campaign for the vice president.

Key Points

• ‘Its about damn time’: Lizzo joins Kamala Harris in Michigan

• Trump set to work the fryer at McDonald’s

• Tonight’s campaign event schedule

• Latest poll updates: Can Kamala Harris beat Donald Trump?

Donald Trump calls Kamala Harris ‘s***’

23:47 , Katie Hawkinson

Donald Trump called Kamala Harris a “s***” vice president while rallying in Latrobe, Pennsylvania on Saturday night.

“You have to tell Kamala Harris that you’ve had enough, that you just can’t take it anymore,” Trump said. “We can’t stand you. You’re a s*** vice president. The worst vice president, Kamala, you’re fired.”

Usher campaigns for Kamala Harris

23:22 , Katie Hawkinson

Musical icon Usher is speaking at Vice President Kamala Harris’s rally in Atlanta, Georgia.

“We have the opportunity to choose a new generation of leadership for our country,” Usher said.

The singer also led the crowd in a sing-along of “We Ready” by Archie Eversole.

In pictures: Trump takes the stage in Pennsylvania

23:16 , Katie Hawkinson

GOP Senate candidate has long claimed he was shot in Afghanistan. People are now questioning his story

23:00 , Associated Press

A former Park Service ranger said Friday that U.S. Senate hopeful Tim Sheehy of Montana has been lying about a bullet wound that the candidate said came from fighting in Afghanistan — going public with an accusation that has nagged the Republican’s campaign for months.

Continue reading:

GOP Senate candidate has claimed he was shot at war. People are questioning his story

‘Trump Force One’ flies over Pennsylvania rally

22:45 , Katie Hawkinson

Trump Force One, Donald Trump’s private plane, has arrived in Latrobe, Pennsylvania for the former president’s rally this evening.

Watch: Trump shares endorsement from WWE wrestlers The Undertaker and Kane

22:30 , Katie Hawkinson

Americans are addicted to gambling on the election because it’s finally legal, sort of

22:15 , Josh Marcus

People can’t get enough of betting on the 2024 presidential election, and thanks to a recent legal ruling, it’s easier than ever for Americans to vote with their wallet.

On Polymarket, one of the top online exchanges, people have already spent over $1.2 bn betting on the US presidential election. That includes two mystery individuals betting millions on a Trump win.

Betting market odds are suddenly on the lips of US broadcasters and campaign spin doctors, quoted like polls and watched like the weather.

Betting on elections has long been prohibited in the US, but various exchanges and their users have found ways to get in on the action nonetheless.

Read more:

Americans are addicted to gambling on the election because it’s finally legal, kinda

Controversial former NFL player to speak at Trump rally

21:59 , Katie Hawkinson

Antonio Brown, a former NFL player, will speak at Donald Trump’s Pennsylvania rally today, NBC News’s Jake Traylor reports.

Brown has faced several legal challenges, including a sexual assault lawsuit, domestic battery charges and failure to pay child support charges.

In October 2018, he was also sued for throwing furniture off a balcony, almost hitting a toddler that was walking by, USA Today reports.

Watch: Obama takes swipe at Trump during Arizona rally

21:45 , Katie Hawkinson

Barack Obama attended a Kamala Harris rally in Arizona last night (18 October), and took the opportunity to swipe at Donald Trump’s dance moves.

“You would be worried if your grandpa was acting like this,” Obama said of an incident earlier in the week, that saw the presidential hopeful make supporters listen to his playlist for 39 minutes.

“We don’t need to see what an older, crazier Donald Trump looks like with no guardrails.”

Harris is turning to video games and sports betting to try and win back some of the ‘bro’ vote from Trump

21:30 , Katie Hawkinson

Kamala Harris is placing ads on video game and sports betting sites in an effort to win back the male vote – often referred to as the “bro” vote – from Donald Trump.

Harris is placing ads on DraftKings, a sports betting company, and Yahoo Sports, NBC News reports. Her campaign is now the first to advertise on DraftKings, the outlet added. She will also place ads on video game sites IGN and Fandom.

Some of these ads will be 30-second spots featuring celebrities such as NBA legend Magic Johnson and actor Ben Stiller.

Read more:

Harris is turning to video games and sports betting to try and win back male voters

Tonight’s campaign event schedule

21:15 , Katie Hawkinson

Donald Trump is campaigning in Pennsylvania today, holding a town hall event in Lancaster at 5 pm local time ahead of his rally in Latrobe at 6 pm.

Meanwhile, Kamala Harris is set to campaign with Usher in Atlanta, Georgia also at 6 pm local time. Former president Barack Obama will appear in Nevada to campaign for the vice president just after 7 pm local time.

Follow along for live updates on these events from The Independent.

Photos: Lizzo greets fans at Harris rally

20:45 , Andrea Cavallier

‘Its about damn time’: Lizzo joins Kamala Harris in Michigan

20:30 , Andrea Cavallier

Lizzo calls an early vote ‘a power move’

20:15 , Andrea Cavallier

Lizzo told the crowd at Harris’s rally that she voted early, and encouraged voters to do the same, calling it “a power move.”

“This is the swing state of all swing states,” said. “So every single last vote here counts.”

Harris urges Detroit voters to break early voting records

19:47 , Andrea Cavallier

Harris rallied in Detroit on Saturday, urging residents to turn out early to cast their vote.

“Now, who is the capital of producing records?” Harris asked the attendees with a laugh.

“We are going to break some records here in Detroit today. We are going to do this because we know what is at stake, and we know the power of the people.”

North Carolina and Georgia set new records earlier this week for the number of voters who turned out early.

The vice president donned a “Detroit vs. Everybody” T-shirt and praised the city.

Watch: Lizzo joins Kamala Harris at Michigan rally in final campaign push

19:23 , Andrea Cavallier

Detroit-born Lizzo declares she has voted for Kamala Harris

19:14 , Andrea Cavallier

Lizzo spoke at a rally in Detroit for Kamala Harris, announcing that she has already voted for the VP during early voting.

“I’m so proud to be from Detroit. They say if Kamala Harris wins, the whole country will be like Detroit. Proud like Detroit. Resilient like Detroit. The same Detroit that innovated the auto industry and the music industry. Put some respect on Detroit’s name.”

Lizzo speaking at Detroit rally for Harris

19:03 , Andrea Cavallier

Harris says Trump is ‘becoming increasingly unstable and unhinged’

18:45 , Andrea Cavallier

Harris spoke to reporters in Detroit on Saturday ahead of a campaign event with Lizzo.

The Vice President said she has spent more time responding to Trump because he’s “becoming increasingly unstable and unhinged, and it requires that response.”

“I think the American people are seeing it … and I think the American people deserve better than someone who actually seems to be unstable.”

Trump campaign in talks with Nikki Haley to join him on trail

18:23 , Andrea Cavallier

Trump’s campaign is in talks with former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley to have her join him on the trail in the final days of the race, The Bulwark reported.

Details have not been finalized, but there have been talks of a joint appearance at a town hall at the end of the month.

“The gender gap is real,” a source close to Trump told CNN. “Haley attracts a different kind of voter. She gets a lot of positive media coverage and appeals to women who are unsure of Donald Trump.”

ICYMI: Trump set to work the fryer at McDonald’s

17:46 , Andrea Cavallier

Trump can’t stop obsessing over Kamala Harris’s McDonald’s job she had in the 1980s.

So on Sunday, he’s off to work the fryer at the fast food joint in Philadelphia, a source familiar with the matter told CNN.

Read more:

Trump to work the fryer at McDonald’s after branding Harris’s summer job ‘fake’

Lizzo and Usher to join Kamala Harris for last push in Michigan and Georgia

17:15 , Andrea Cavallier

Lizzo and Usher will join Vice President Kamala Harris on the campaign trail as early voting kicks off in Michigan and Georgia this weekend.

It’s a last push for Harris as she battles against Republican nominee Donald Trump in the campaign’s final weeks.

Read more:

Pop stars Lizzo and Usher to join Kamala Harris for last push in Michigan and Georgia

Trump joins WWE stars as they endorse him for president

16:45 , Andrea Cavallier

‘You’d be worried if grandpa acted like this’: Obama mocks Trump at Arizona rally

16:00 , Andrea Cavallier

North Carolina early voters, still recovering from Helene, break turnout record

15:45 , Andrea Cavallier

More North Carolina residents turned out to cast ballots on the first day of early voting this year than in 2020, even as residents from the mountainous western portion of the state continued to recover from the devastating effects of Hurricane Helene.

A record 353,166 people cast ballots at more than 400 early voting sites statewide on Thursday, compared to 348,599 on the first day in October 2020, the State Board of Elections said Friday.

Read more:

North Carolina early voters, still recovering from Helene, top turnout in 2020

Americans are addicted to gambling on the election because it’s finally legal, sort of

15:30 , Andrea Cavallier

On Polymarket, one of the top online exchanges, people have already spent over $1.2 bn betting on the US presidential election. That includes two mystery individuals betting millions on a Trump win.

Betting market odds are suddenly on the lips of US broadcasters and campaign spin doctors, quoted like polls and watched like the weather.

Betting on elections has long been prohibited in the US, but various exchanges and their users have found ways to get in on the action nonetheless.

But is election betting good fun, civic engagement, or a threat to democracy itself?

Josh Marcus reports:

Americans are addicted to gambling on the election because it’s finally legal, kinda

Obama to campaign for Harris in Vegas tonight

15:15 , Andrea Cavallier

Former President Barack Obama will be in Las Vegas this evening to rally early voters in Nevada for Vice President Kamala Harris.

October 19 is the first day of early voting for the state.

Obama’s last campaign event in Las Vegas was in 2022.

Man who questioned Trump on pet-eating lies during Univision town hall admits he is now voting for Harris

15:00 , Katie Hawkinson

The man who questioned Donald Trump’s pet-eating lies during the Republican nominee’s recent Univision town hall has now revealed he’s voting for Democrat Kamala Harris.

José Saralegui, a registered Republican, asked Trump this week if he truly believes his own false claim that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, are eating pets.

Read more:

Man who questioned Trump on pet-eating lies during town hall says he is voting Harris

DNC knows its key endorsement all too well as it launches new Swift themed ads

14:00 , Mike Bedigan

The Democratic National Committee has launched a last minute campaign designed to capitalize on one of its most high-profile backers – Taylor Swift.

The DNC announced the campaign on Friday – with just over two weeks to go before election day – in an attempt to galvanize younger voters, and fans of the US pop megastar and guide them into their “Kamala Era.”

Read on:

DNC knows its key endorsement all too well as it launches new Swift themed ads

Ratings for Harris Fox News interview blow Trump’s town hall out of water

13:00 , Katie Hawkinson

The ratings for both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump’s latest Fox News appearances have been released – and they reveal the vice president pulled in more than double the viewers than her Republican rival.

Harris’s interview with Bret Baier drew in 7.8 million viewers, while Trump’s town hall garnered an audience of 3.1 million, according to data released by the network on Thursday.

Read the full story from The Independent’s James Liddell:

Ratings for Harris Fox News interview blow Trump’s town hall out of water

Watch: Kamala Harris calls out Trump for devaluing autoworkers

12:00 , Katie Hawkinson

Trump overcharged Secret Service agents staying at his DC hotel while he was president, House Dems allege

11:00 , Kelly Rissman

Donald Trump charged Secret Service agents protecting him while he was president “far more” than other hotel guests, a new report by House Democrats claims.

Democrats in the House Oversight Committee investigating how Trump benefited from his time in the White House assessed guest logs from the Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC during an 11-month period from September 2017 through August 2018.

The report, released on Friday, says that the hotel at times charged the agency more than 300 per cent or more than the authorized government rate.

Read more:

Trump ‘overcharged’ Secret Service agents staying at his DC hotel while in office

Harris shuts down rally hecklers with two-sentence Trump jab

10:00 , James Liddell

Kamala Harris hit back at hecklers with a blistering two-sentence response after the vice president was interrupted while speaking on abortion rights.

The vice president made a campaign stop in La Crosse, Wisconsin – her second rally in the critical swing state in one day and third overall on Thursday as campaign activity hots-up 18-days away from Election Day.

Harris delivered remarks to a crowd at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse’s Recreational Eagle Center where she accused Donald Trump of gaslighting women over reproductive rights.

Read more:

Harris shuts down rally hecklers with two-sentence Trump jab

Watch: Eric Trump insists his father Donald ‘has never been better than he is right now’

09:00 , Katie Hawkinson

Longhorns fans petition to keep Ted Cruz away from big football game, fearing his ‘sports curse’

08:00 , Mike Bedigan

Fans of college football team the Texas Longhorns have started a petition to ban Ted Cruz from games, fearing the Republican senator’s attendance will curse their chances of victory.

The online petition states that the US senator is “just plain bad luck” and claims his “downright sinister energy” kept the Longhorns from making it to the NCAA football championship previously.

“That’s a risk we cannot take again,” the change.org petition states.

“The Longhorns deserve a season of GREATNESS! We are the best, most passionate fans here in the heart of Texas. We can’t let an outsider like Cr*z, someone who didn’t even go to UT, who roots for whatever team he thinks will get Texans to like him, ruin Texas Longhorn sports.”

Read more:

Fans petition to keep Ted Cruz away from Longhorns game, fearing his ‘sports curse’

ICYMI: Trump is selling $100K ‘Swiss-made’ watches. A search for who makes them took a bizarre turn

07:00 , Katie Hawkinson

Donald Trump announced last month he is selling “truly special” Trump Watches priced up to $100,000 and constructed with “premium, Swiss-made” materials.

The watches were part of the latest merchandise push by the former president. The Republican nominee for president wrote on his Truth Social platform about the devices and how “you’re going to love them.” He added: “Would make a great Christmas Gift. Don’t wait, they will go fast. GET YOUR TRUMP WATCH RIGHT NOW!”

Now, the watchmaker’s origins are in question after CNN tried to track down the company behind the devices. They aren’t based in Switzerland, but their address returns to a strip mall. In Wyoming. Next to an HR&Block and a Wendy’s.

Read more:

Trump is selling $100,000 watches. A search for who makes them took a bizarre turn

Ex-Republican operative says Harris will win in November ‘maybe easily’

06:00 , Michelle Del Rey

A former adviser to George W Bush and John McCain believes Vice President Kamala Harris will nab the presidential election “maybe easily.”

Writing in a Vanity Fair op-ed released on Friday, Mark McKinnon, a former chief media adviser to George W Bush and John McCain, said: “I’m going to make a bold prediction here because I just don’t give a s*** if I’m wrong, even if this lives on the internet forever.

“Kamala Harris is going to win.”

He attributed his theory to the level of enthusiasm among Harris’s supporters. Harris’s campaign got an eight-point lead in August when it came to voter enthusiasm after she announced Democratic Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate.

Read more:

Ex-Republican operative says Harris will win in November ‘maybe easily’

Watch: Trump reacts to Harris implying he was exhausted from campaigning

05:01 , Katie Hawkinson

Watch: Kamala Harris accuses Trump of being exhausted from campaign trail

04:30 , Katie Hawkinson

81-year-old woman goes viral after voting for first time because late husband wouldn’t let her

04:00 , Katie Hawkinson

One 81-year-old woman became a first-time voter after years spent obeying her late husband, who didn’t want her to vote.

Until this year, Betty Cartledge had never voted in an election, believing her vote didn’t matter. “I’m going to vote for the first time in my life,” she told WSB-TV Atlanta outside the polls at an early voting location in Covington, Georgia, on Wednesday (October 16). “I’m 81 today, but Sunday I’ll be 82.”

Cartledge, who was voting in the 2024 US presidential election, said she had never done so before because her husband didn’t think she should. He died last year.

Read more:

81-year-old woman votes for first time because late husband wouldn’t let her

Trump insists ‘people from Fox’ helped write his Al Smith dinner speech. The network quickly denied it

03:30 , Katie Hawkinson

Donald Trump claims that Fox allies helped him write his speech at a charity dinner in New York City – but the network itself has denied it.

Trump delivered remarks at the Alfred E Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner on Thursday evening, including jokes at the expense of his Democratic rival Kamala Harris, who did not attend.

The former president was asked about the writers behind his remarks on Fox & Friends on Friday morning after the hosts praised the routine.

Kelly Rissman reports.

Trump claims people from Fox helped write his Al Smith dinner speech – Fox denies it

Man who questioned Trump on pet-eating lies during Univision town hall admits he is now voting for Harris

03:00 , Katie Hawkinson

The man who questioned Donald Trump’s pet-eating lies during the Republican nominee’s recent Univision town hall has now revealed he’s voting for Democrat Kamala Harris.

Read on:

Man who questioned Trump on pet-eating lies during town hall says he is voting Harris

Watch: Marjorie Taylor Greene invokes debunked voting machines conspiracy theory

02:30 , Katie Hawkinson

Trump-supporting pastor calls for women who ‘falsely accuse’ men of assaulting them to be publicly executed

02:08 , Katie Hawkinson

Far-right pastor Joel Webbon, who has said he’ll be rooting for Donald Trump, called for women who “falsely accuse” men of sexual assault to be executed.

“#MeToo would end real fast…All you have to do is publicly execute a few women who have lied,” Webbon said.

The #MeToo movement exploded in 2017 as women around the world used the hashtag to share their stories of surviving sexual harassment and assault.

Trump’s Detroit venue is ‘pretty empty,’ CNN reports

01:48 , Katie Hawkinson

Donald Trump’s rally venue in Detroit is “pretty empty,” CNN reports.

“It’s actually pretty empty,” CNN’s anchor on the ground said. “They have not be able to fill this.”

She added that, “I am told it is not a security issue.”

Dispute over Trump sign in a yard leads to shooting, man getting foot run over

01:30 , Mike Bedigan

A dispute over a pro-Donald Trump sign outside a home in Las Vegas turned violent, resulting in a shooting and a man getting his foot run over.

Timothy Parks, 45, and Jennifer Lund, 38, now face charges of assault, battery and stalking, following the incident on October 13, according to charging documents.

The incident occurred after Parks and Lund parked in front of the residence, which featured the pro-Trump sign, playing a song titled “F*** Donald Trump,” according to full court documents obtained by KLAS.

Read more:

Dispute over Trump sign in a yard leads to shooting, man getting foot run over

Donald Trump’s mic fixed at Detroit rally

01:18 , Katie Hawkinson

Donald Trump’s microphone was fixed after it broke for more than 15 minutes at his Detroit rally.

“I won’t pay the bill for the stupid company that rented us this crap,” he told supporters.

Harris takes stage as Trump mic issues continue

01:12 , Katie Hawkinson

Vice President Kamala Harris has taken the stage at her rally in Oakland County, Michigan and Donald Trump remains unable to address his own crowd in Detroit due to a microphone issue.

The crowd sang “Happy Birthday” to Harris, who will turn 60 on Sunday, as she made her way to the podium.

Trump meanders across the stage after mic malfunction

01:01 , Katie Hawkinson

Donald Trump is pacing back and forth and waving to the crowd at his Detroit rally following a microphone malfunction.

The crowd is chanting in support of the president as he wanders across the stage.

Trump takes the stage in Detroit

01:00 , Katie Hawkinson

Donald Trump has taken the stage for his Detroit rally on Friday night.

“Detroit was decimated as if by a foreign army…Our factories were left in ruins, and under Kamala Harris, the US has lost nearly 50,000 manufacturing jobs,” Trump told his supporters.

When he was in Detroit earlier this month, Trump called the city a “mess.”

“The whole country is going to be like, you want to know the truth? It’ll be like Detroit,” Trump said last week. “Our whole country will end up being like Detroit if she’s your president. You’re going to have a mess on your hands,” he said. “We’re not going to let her do that to this country. We’re not gonna let it happen.”

Obama campaigns for Harris in Arizona

Saturday 19 October 2024 00:45 , Katie Hawkinson

Former president Barack Obama is campaigning on behalf of Kamala Harris in Tuscon, Arizona on Friday night.

Obama slammed Trump’s economic plans, taking a jab at the argument that the US economy under Trump was “good” for the first two years of his presidency.

“Yeah, it was good, it was my economy that I gave to him,” Obama told the audience. “I spent eight years cleaning up the mess that Republicans had left me. So when I handed over the economy to Donald Trump, we had had 75 straight months of job growth…All he did with it was give a tax cut to people who did not need one and drove up the deficit in the process.”

“Now he wants to do it again,” Obama continued.

Meanwhile, Trump and Harris are both speaking in Michigan this evening.

Dispute over Trump sign in a yard leads to shooting, man getting foot run over

Saturday 19 October 2024 00:30 , Oliver O’Connell

A dispute over a pro-Donald Trump sign outside a home in Las Vegas turned violent, resulting in a shooting and a man getting his foot run over.

Timothy Parks, 45, and Jennifer Lund, 38, now face charges of assault, battery and stalking, following the incident on October 13, according to charging documents.

Mike Bedigan has the details.

Dispute over Trump sign in a yard leads to shooting, man getting foot run over

Secret Service lacks ‘critical thinking’ and needs massive reforms says scathing Homeland Security report

Saturday 19 October 2024 00:10 , Oliver O’Connell

The Secret Service has a “corrosive” culture and a “troubling lack of critical thinking,” which contributed to recent security threats and assassination attempts against Donald Trump, a scathing report for the Department of Homeland Security found.

The findings, from a panel of security and law enforcement officials, recommended Thursday that the elite protective agency clean house and replace senior leadership with officials from the outside.

Josh Marcus has the details.

Scathing report after Trump threats says Secret Service lacks ‘critical thinking’

Trump calls for death penalty for cop killers

Saturday 19 October 2024 00:08 , Alex Lang

During a town hall in Michigan, Donald Trump talked about police issues. He also said that he wanted to see the death penalty for anybody who kills a cop.

“We also want to call for the death penalty for anyone killing a police officer,” Trump said to loud applause.

Trump also called for immunity for police in their jobs.

Who lies more? Democrats or Republicans?

Friday 18 October 2024 23:50 , Oliver O’Connell

A top fact-checker finally reveals which party lies more as James Liddell reports.

Top fact-checker finally reveals which party lies more: Democrats or Republicans

Trump fights back after Harris questions whether he is ‘exhausted’

Friday 18 October 2024 23:30 , AP

Donald Trump‘s energy level emerged as a flashpoint on Friday as the Republican nominee and Democrat Kamala Harris scrambled across battleground Michigan with Election Day looming.

Harris told reporters that Trump was “unfit,” “unstable” and “a danger to our democracy” ahead of an afternoon rally. But she appeared to touch a nerve with her Republican rival when she mentioned a report that Trump was “exhausted.”

“Being president of the United States is probably one of the hardest jobs in the world and we really do need to ask, if he’s exhausted on the campaign trail, is he fit to do the job?” jabbed Harris, who has been on the road campaigning since Monday and won’t return to Washington until sometime next week.

Read on…

Trump fights back after Harris questions whether he is ‘exhausted’

NRA took aim at Tim Walz — it totally backfired

Friday 18 October 2024 23:10 , Oliver O’Connell

The National Rifle Association, the influential firearms lobbying group, was mocked online for allegedly getting the facts wrong on a video claiming vice presidential candidate Tim Walz doesn’t know how to use a shotgun.

Josh Marcus has the story.

NRA take a dig at Tim Walz and it totally backfires

Harris asked about gender divide between her supporters and Trump supporters

Friday 18 October 2024 23:02 , Oliver O’Connell

Kamala Harris was asked by NBC’s Peter Alexander about the gender gap between her supporters and those of Donald Trump. Something that has been evident in recent polling.

PETER ALEXANDER: Let me ask you, if I can about one of the challenges the campaign faces right now. Polls show that there is a widening gender gap that Donald Trump leads, particularly among men, by 16 points right now. Why is that? And why do you think there is a disconnect for you with men right now?

KAMALA HARRIS: Let me tell you can look at this audience and you can see that there are people of every background and gender who are showing up by the 1000s, and I think it is because they know I intend to be a president for all Americans, and that is how I’m campaigning to earn the vote of every American, not only about their gender, but about their geographic location and, and unburdened by who they may have voted for in the past. I think this really is a moment like we saw with the Republicans who are supporting me most publicly recently, that it’s a time to put country before party and really, again, with a sense of optimism, fight for what we care about.

PA: Just to be clear, though, men still say by 60% margin of supporting Donald Trump right now. Why do you think that is?

KH: It’s not the experience I’m having to be honest with you.

PA: You, think the men are on board?

KH: Look around.

Watch: Harris plays clip of Trump talking about stiffing workers at Michigan event

Friday 18 October 2024 22:58 , Oliver O’Connell

Why a county where the Ku Klux Klan once marched should worry Trump today

Friday 18 October 2024 22:50 , Oliver O’Connell

Eric Garcia reports from Cumming, Georgia:

On the surface, former president Donald Trump’s Fox News town hall to discuss women’s issues in Georgia earlier this week was the ultimate safe space. Many of the audience there were part of local Republican clubs.

The location of the town hall also had historical significance. Fox chose to have the town hall in a barn in Cumming, about an hour outside of Atlanta. Cumming serves as the county seat of Forsyth County, an overwhelmingly Republican area with one of the darkest chapters in the South’s history of racial violence.

But underneath the surface, Forsyth reveals why Trump and Republicans should worry.

Continue reading…

Why a county where the KKK once operated should worry Trump today

Haley in talks to campaign with Trump, report says

Friday 18 October 2024 22:35 , Oliver O’Connell

The Bulwark reports that former UN ambassador Nikki Haley is in talks to join Donald Trump on the campaign trail to help win over disaffected Republicans, according to sources familiar with the discussions.

No details or dates have been worked out but the most likely scenario would be a town hall toward the end of October possibly involving Fox News host Sean Hannity.

The former ambassador and South Carolina governor ran a fierce primary race against Trump and was the last Republican standing against him.

While there appeared to be no love lost at the end of the primary, she spoke on his behalf at the Republican National Convention. The two have not appeared together since then.

Haley now has a SiriusXM radio show and said last month: “I don’t agree with Trump 100 percent of the time.”

“I have not forgotten what he said about me. I’ve not forgotten what he said about my husband or his, you know, deployment time or his military service. I haven’t forgotten about his or his campaign’s tactics from, you know, putting a birdcage outside our hotel room to calling me ‘bird brain,’” Haley said on her show.

She nevertheless maintains that she believes Trump “will make the country better”.

This morning on Fox & Friends, Trump was given an opening to talk about the possibility of campaigning with her but instead talked about beating her in the primary.

Trump claimed Fox News helped him with Al Smith dinner jokes — the company denies it…

Friday 18 October 2024 22:30 , Oliver O’Connell

During his appearance on Fox & Friends this morning, Donald Trump claimed that “a couple of people from Fox” helped him write jokes for his speech at the Al Smith charity dinner on Thursday night.

Fox News says none of its employees helped the former president:

Fox News says none of its employees wrote jokes for Trump to tell at traditional campaign dinner

Watch LIVE: Trump joins a roundtable discussion in Auburn Hills, Michigan

Friday 18 October 2024 22:22 , Oliver O’Connell

Has the ‘joy’ of the Harris campaign dissipated?

Friday 18 October 2024 22:20 , Oliver O’Connell

“Joy” was a word used to characterize the early days of the Harris campaign. In Michigan today, NBC’s Peter Alexander asked Kamala Harris if perhaps that had dissipated.

PETER ALEXANDER: At the convention, you cast yourself as a joyful warrior, but in recent rallies, you’ve increasingly attacked over President Trump is an unstable and unhinged is closing is that an effective closing argument?

KAMALA HARRIS: I think that one is not to the exclusion of the other. I have a great deal of optimism, as do the people who are here about the future of our country. I think that’s one of the things that is building the momentum that we have. People really do believe in what is the promise of America and our responsibility to fight for it, that is not in conflict, but also being clear eyed about the danger that Donald Trump poses based on the language that he has used and his admiration for dictators, his inability to really focus on the needs of the American people, in particular working people, he says, they not in conflict. They all exist at the same time.

PA: The critics who say the joy is gone, you respond:

KH: Oh, I’m having a great time.

Will the Ted Cruz ‘sports curse’ strike again?

Friday 18 October 2024 22:10 , Oliver O’Connell

Fans of the college football team the Texas Longhorns have started a petition to ban Ted Cruz from games, fearing the Republican senator’s attendance will curse their chances of victory.

The online petition states that the US senator is “just plain bad luck” and claims his “downright sinister energy” kept the Longhorns from making it to the NCAA football championship previously.

“That’s a risk we cannot take again,” the change.org petition states.

Mike Bedigan has the story.

Fans petition to keep Ted Cruz away from Longhorns game, fearing his ‘sports curse’

Harris asked about carving her own path beyond Biden administration

Friday 18 October 2024 21:59 , Oliver O’Connell

In a brief stand-up interview on the sidelines of her rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, this afternoon Peter Alexander of NBC News asked Kamala Harris about carving her own path outside of the Biden administration of which she has been part for more than three and a half years.

Here’s the exchange:

PETER ALEXANDER: Let me ask you if I can, Biden this week, President Biden said this week that every President has to cut their own path. What is one policy that you would have done differently over these last three and a half years than President Biden?

KAMALA HARRIS: I mean to be very candid with you, you, including Mike Pence, vice presidents are not critical of their presidents. I think that really, actually, in terms of the tradition of it, and also just going forward, it does not make for a productive and important relationship.

PA: He’s now giving you that green light with his comments, that you can carve your own path. So now that you have this ability to say that —

KH: Going forward, there is no question that I bring my own experiences and my own life experiences.

PA: Is there a policy that stands out to you in particular?

KH: I mean, my approach to what we need to do around Medicare covering home health care, worn out of my experience of taking care of my mother, my priority on housing one because I know what it means, affordable housing, the ability to buy a home again. My own experience, my mother saved up. Not until I was a teenager was she able to do it. But also, I know that for so many young people who I speak with around our country, the American Dream, Dream is just really out of reach. So my policy about $25,000 down payment assistance to help them get their foot in the door, the work that I have been doing and will bring to the presidency around emphasizing small businesses as being part of the real backbone of America’s economy. Those are the experiences and the ideas that I have that are about moving forward and really being a part of the next generation of leadership in America.

House Democrats: Trump overcharged Secret Service agents staying at his DC hotel

Friday 18 October 2024 21:50 , Oliver O’Connell

Donald Trump charged Secret Service agents protecting him while he was president “far more” than other hotel guests, a new report by House Democrats claims.

Democrats in the House Oversight Committee investigating how Trump benefited from his time in the White House assessed guest logs from the Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC during an 11-month period from September 2017 through August 2018.

The report, released on Friday, says that the hotel at times charged the agency more than 300 per cent or more than the authorized government rate.

Kelly Rissman reports.

Trump ‘overcharged’ Secret Service agents staying at his DC hotel while in office

Full story: Trump bailed on interview because he’s ‘exhausted’ from campaign trail, says report

Friday 18 October 2024 21:30 , Oliver O’Connell

Donald Trump‘s team is pushing back against a claim that he is canceling scheduled interviews because he is “exhausted.”

Trump was reportedly scheduled to appear on The Shade Report for a sit-down interview, but that meeting never materialized. Politico’s Playbook reports that a senior Trump adviser allegedly told a producer that the former president is “exhausted and refusing interviews.”

Graig Graziosi reports.

Trump bailed on interview because he’s ‘exhausted’ from campaign trail, says report

Bret Baier says he made a ‘mistake’ with clip in Harris interview but a former Fox colleague isn’t buying it

Friday 18 October 2024 21:10 , Oliver O’Connell

Fox News host Bret Baier has said he made a “mistake” during his interview with Vice President Kamala Harris this week by showing the incorrect clip of Donald Trump speaking about “the enemy from within”.

At the bottom of his show Special Report, on Thursday, Baier explained to viewers that a particularly heated moment between him and the vice president arose after a clip was played of Trump defending himself for denigrating leftist Americans during a town hall.

“I made a mistake and I want to say that I did make a mistake,” Baier told viewers.

Gretchen Carlson isn’t impressed by his explanation as Ariana Baio reports.

Bret Baier says he made ‘mistake’ in Harris interview – a former colleague disagrees

Trump calls judge ‘most evil person’ as she releases 1,889 heavily redacted pages of evidence in Jan 6 case

Friday 18 October 2024 20:43 , Oliver O’Connell

Alex Woodward reports:

The federal judge overseeing Donald Trump’s election interference case in Washington, DC unsealed nearly 2,000 heavily redacted pages of evidence submitted by the special counsel’s office, with only handfuls of readable pages across four massive filings that trace the history of the former president’s election denialism.

The filings published on Friday included transcripts of Trump’s remarks, social media posts, interviews from the House select committee that investigated the January 6 attack, campaign emails, the so-called “coup memo” outlining the legally dubious attempt to reject the electoral college certification, and excerpts from Mike Pence’s book and his statement refusing to reject election results.

Trump called Judge Tanya Chutkan “the most evil person” and labeled special counsel Jack Smith a “sick puppy” as he lashed out at the criminal case against him during a podcast on Friday.

Continue reading…

Trump calls judge ‘evil’ as she releases 1,889 pages of evidence in Jan. 6 case