August 9, 2024, presidential campaign news

A hearing on the next steps in the federal election subversion case against former President Donald Trump will take place on September 5 after a trial judge on Friday granted an extension sought by special counsel Jack Smith.

The deadline for a status report that the parties were slated to file Friday has now been moved back to August 30, according to the new order from US District Judge Tanya Chutkan.  

Smith’s team on Thursday asked to push back the filing deadline and the hearing — originally scheduled for August 16 — because the prosecutors were continuing “to assess the new precedent set forth last month” by the Supreme Court in its immunity ruling. 

Trump did not oppose delaying the proceedings.

See where all the criminal cases against Trump stand.

Former President Donald Trump (L) and Vice President Kamala Harris.

Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign is responding to former President Donald Trump’s stated reasoning for not hitting the campaign trail recently.

Trump said during a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Thursday that he hasn’t been campaigning because “I’m leading by a lot and I’m letting their convention go through.”

The latest polls show a tight race ahead of the Democratic National Convention, which starts on August 19.

In a statement, Harris-Walz 2024 spokesperson James Singer said:

“Donald Trump is too lazy to fight for anything but himself or leave his country club – fine by us,” the statement added.

Trump is scheduled to hold a rally tonight in Montana to boost GOP Senate candidate Tim Sheehy.

Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign has added three senior hires to its fundraising apparatus as it works to mobilize donors and build on early momentum that resulted in an influx of cash, according to two sources familiar with the matter. 

Kristin Bertolina Faust will be co-chair of the finance operation, joining Rufus Gifford, who has served as chair of the National Finance Committee since President Joe Biden was the candidate. Stephanie Daily Smith and Jen Liu will join in senior adviser roles. 

The addition of the three political consultants comes as the campaign works to bolster its West Coast outreach and capitalize on Harris’ own political network. 

Michael Pratt and Colleen Coffey will continue as co-directors of the finance operations.

CNN previously reported that the team was looking to expand its fundraising team.

Former president and Republican nominee Donald Trump brought out Hulk Hogan and Kid Rock to the Republican National Convention last month, while Megan Thee Stallion, George Clooney and Jennifer Aniston are among the stars who have voiced support for Vice President Kamala Harris in her White House bid.

But do election efforts by celebrities move the needle? Or is it all just hype?

A new study by Harvard University’s Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, shared exclusively with CNN, found that celebrities do play an influential role in promoting civic participation.

Harvard’s report does not examine celebrity endorsements to specific candidates or political parities, instead focusing on the role celebrities play in nonpartisan voter participation efforts, like educating, mobilizing and encouraging Americans to register to vote.

The researchers noted the power of social media, but also explored celebrity campaigns across mediums, including television, documentaries, merchandising and public service announcements. They looked at data from celebrity initiatives in the 2018, 2020 and 2022 election cycles, including efforts by Kerry Washington, Billie Eilish, Hailey Bieber, Trevor Noah, David Dobrik, Questlove and Taylor Swift.

Find out more about the Harvard study here.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp gives an interview inside the spin room during the 2024 CNN Presidential Debate in Atlanta, Georgia, on June 27.

Georgia Republican Gov. Brian Kemp on Friday reiterated he will support the Republican presidential nominee, Donald Trump, in November despite “noise” and “distractions” after the former president recently revived their ongoing feud. 

Trump renewed his attacks on Kemp during a rally last weekend in Atlanta, calling the second-term governor “a disloyal guy” and blamed him for his 2020 defeat. During a news conference on Thursday, Trump also said of Kemp: “I’ve never understood it. When you get somebody elected, they’re supposed to like you.”

Speaking at radio host Erick Erickson’s “The Gathering” event, Kemp said his position remains unchanged on supporting Trump in November because it is in the “best interest” of the Republican Party.

While Kemp plans to vote for Trump in the general election, he previously revealed to CNN’s Kaitlan Collins in June that he didn’t vote for Trump in Georgia’s GOP primary, because “the race was already over when the primary got here.”

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks at the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville, Tennessee, on July 26.

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has filed ballot access petitions in Wisconsin and Washington, DC, according to elections offices in those states.

The Wisconsin Elections Commission announced on Tuesday that Kennedy had filed for ballot access in the state, without specifying how many signatures Kennedy submitted. Independent candidates are required to submit 2,000 valid signatures to qualify in the state.

The Washington, DC, Board of Elections shared on its website that Kennedy’s campaign filed for ballot access on Wednesday. It did not say how many signatures Kennedy’s campaign has submitted. Independent candidates are required to submit 4,573 valid signatures to qualify.

In total, Kennedy’s campaign has either gained ballot access, submitted signatures or completed signature collection in 46 states. Kennedy has repeatedly said he plans to be on the ballot in every state and Washington, DC. 

Kennedy has qualified for the ballot in 16 states. He’s eligible to receive 212 electoral college votes.

Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.

Donald Trump, Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are hitting the campaign trail today in different parts of the country.

Here’s where we expect to see them:

Harris and Walz: At 8 p.m. ET, the vice president and Minnesota governor will deliver remarks at a campaign event in Glendale, Arizona. It’s part of their campaign blitz over the next two days with stops in key battleground states to reach “diverse voters who power our victories,” the campaign team said. The duo will also slam former President Trump and “Project 2025’s agenda to drag voters in the past.” 

These visits come after Harris locked in key endorsements from leaders across the two states, including from mayors representing Arizona’s border communities and some Arizona Republicans after she announced her presidential bid. This will mark Harris’ fourth visit to Arizona this year.

Trump: At 10 p.m. ET, Trump will deliver remarks at a rally in Bozeman, Montana. He is expected to give Republicans a boost in one of the most competitive — and expensive — 2024 Senate races, in which GOP nominee Tim Sheehy, an entrepreneur and former Navy Seal, is looking to unseat Democratic incumbent Sen. Jon Tester.

Sensing the stakes, both parties have poured money into the contest, spending tens of millions on early advertising and booking airtime in the coming months, making it the second most expensive Senate race of the cycle.

The Republican National Committee asked the Supreme Court on Thursday to revive parts of an Arizona law that requires documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote in the state — including provisions that would require those documents to vote in the presidential election and to cast ballots by mail.

The request puts the spotlight on an issue that Republicans have wanted front and center in the 2024 campaign, despite the lack of evidence that non-citizen voting is a significant threat to elections.

Democrats and voting rights advocates say the requirement not only is unnecessary, but could disenfranchise people who don’t have easy access to documents like birth certificates that would prove their citizenship.

Republicans are seeking to renew parts of the law requiring proof of citizenship for Arizonans who register to vote using the state voter registration form. They are also seeking to restore a requirement for proof of citizenship to vote in a presidential election.

The complex way that Arizona crafted the proof of citizenship requirement in the 2022 voter law appears in part aimed at getting around a 2013 Supreme Court precedent that put limits on when states could impose such demands — particularly for those registering to vote using the federal registration form, which does not currently require documentary proof of citizenship.

The lower court orders blocking the provisions in the Arizona law, Republicans told the Supreme Court on Thursday, were “unprecedented abrogation” of the state lawmakers’ authority “to determine the qualifications of voters and structure participation in its elections.”

Keep reading about the details of the Republican request.

Former President Donald Trump speaks to reporters at his Mar-a-Lago estate on August 8, in Palm Beach, Florida.

Former President Donald Trump heads to Montana today to give Republicans a boost in one of the most competitive – and expensive – 2024 Senate races.

It’s one of just two Senate races where the Democratic incumbent, Sen. Jon Tester, is seeking reelection in a state Trump carried in 2020 (the other, Sen. Sherrod Brown in Ohio). Here, Republicans quickly coalesced around GOP nominee Tim Sheehy, an entrepreneur and former Navy Seal, avoiding an internecine primary.

Sensing the stakes, both parties have poured money into the contest, spending tens of millions on early advertising and booking airtime in the coming fall months, making it the second most expensive Senate race of the cycle.

Montana Senate race surges past $216 million in ad spending: According to AdImpact data, the race has drawn a total of more than $216 million in ad spending, including future reservations, trailing only Ohio, where both parties have combined to spend more than $322 million buying ad time. Democrats have outspent Republicans about $117 million to $98 million, counting all the Montana ad buys.

Of that total, $95 million has already aired, and Democrats have outspent Republicans by about $56 million to $39 million in the Montana race so far. About $121 million worth of advertising remains to air, and it’s split about evenly between the parties, Democrats with about $61 million in future reservations, and Republicans with about $60 million.

Cornel West speaks during a rally in Washington, DC, on February 21.

Independent presidential candidate Cornel West submitted signatures to qualify for the ballot in Wisconsin, a key battleground state in November’s presidential election. 

West’s campaign said in a news release it has “significantly exceeded” the 2,000 signatures needed to qualify for November’s ballot as an independent candidate in Wisconsin. The campaign did not say how many signatures it collected. 

The Wisconsin Election Commission said West’s campaign had submitted its signatures prior to Tuesday’s deadline for independent candidates to apply for ballot access. 

West’s signature gathering in Wisconsin continues a targeted effort by his campaign to gain ballot access in key battleground states that are most likely to determine the outcome of November’s election. West has also pursued ballot access in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, Nebraska and Maine. 

West is currently on the ballot in five states: South Carolina, Alaska, Vermont, Oregon and Colorado.

Migrants sit by a makeshift fire to warm up after crossing into the US from Mexico on June 14, in Jacumba Hot Springs, California. The Trump campaign is using Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz's immigration policies to attack Vice President Kamala Harris, who named Walz her running mate.

Vice President Kamala Harris’ newly named running mate is giving former President Donald Trump even more fodder to attack his Democratic rival as being weak on immigration — an issue that’s a top concern for many Americans in this presidential election.

The Trump campaign and Republicans are pointing to several laws that Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz signed last year that open state services and benefits to undocumented immigrants as examples of the Harris-Walz campaign’s “radical left” policies.

Early in a news conference on Thursday, Trump slammed Walz on immigration, saying the governor doesn’t want to have borders or any form of safety for the US. His comments followed a video the GOP posted on X showing both Harris and Walz expressing support for sanctuary states and cities, with Walz saying that if the definition of a sanctuary state is that the federal government enforces immigration law and local law enforcement handles local laws, he agrees with it.

The Trump campaign will use Walz, who has implemented an array of progressive policies as governor, as a way to draw even starker contrasts between the candidates and to highlight her perceived vulnerability — that she’s a San Francisco liberal, said John Thomas, a Republican strategist.

Keep reading here about the GOP strategy on immigration.

Earlier this summer, Alejandra Gomez, executive director of Living United for Change (LUCHA) in Arizona, told CNN it would be difficult for her organization’s canvassers to talk to voters about the Biden administration’s immigration policies.

But now Gomez and the organizers in the pivotal battleground state are excited about Vice President Kamala Harris’ ascension to Democratic nominee for president and her selection of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate. She describes her tapping Walz as “a significant political gesture to voters.”

In Minnesota, undocumented students who meet certain conditions are eligible for free college tuition at public two- or four-year colleges and other state financial aid awards. And last year, Walz signed a bill into law expanding eligibility for a standard driver’s license by allowing state residents, regardless of immigration status, to obtain a license.

The group was also “incredibly encouraged” by Biden’s executive action in June shielding undocumented spouses and children of citizens.

The group aims to knock on 1 million doors by November and has already reached 100,000.

The political arm of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) is endorsing the Harris-Walz ticket on Friday and leadership from the organization will join Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Tim Walz during a campaign event in Nevada on Saturday, the PAC announced. 

LULAC, a civil rights organization dedicated to advancing opportunities for Hispanic Americans, was established in 1929. The PAC says that this is the first time LULAC has endorsed a presidential candidate in its almost 100-year history. The group describes itself as the nation’s oldest and largest Latino civil rights organization.

Harris is expected to hold a campaign stop in Las Vegas on Saturday alongside Walz, her running mate, and LULAC leadership.

The electoral landscape: Nevada has backed the Democrat for president in the past four elections, but the Biden-Harris ticket only won in 2020 by two points and its six electoral votes will be important to helping candidates reach 270 electoral votes. A Pew Research survey from earlier this years showed that Latinos make up 22% of the total eligible voter population in Nevada.

“The stakes of this election require Latinos to unify and organize together like our lives depend on it. That’s what this endorsement makes clear: the organizing power of LULAC Adelante PAC will help us elect Vice President Harris and Governor Walz to fight to deliver for Latinos and our families,” campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez said in a statement. 

Chris LaCivita speaks to reporters in Atlanta on June 27.

The Trump campaign’s attacks on Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s military record are channeling the “swift boating” campaign 20 years ago against John Kerry, which accused the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee of lying about his Vietnam service and decorations.

LaCivita played a key role in the political advocacy group Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, which ran the TV ad campaign questioning Kerry’s military service. It’s a playbook that the Trump campaign appears to be re-running after Vice President Kamala Harris tapped Walz, a 24-year veteran of the Army National Guard, as her running mate.

Neither Harris nor Donald Trump ever served in the military. But Trump’s running mate – Ohio Sen. JD Vance, who is a Marine veteran – quickly zeroed-in on Walz’s military service, accusing him this week of abandoning his unit before it deployed to Iraq in 2006 and of falsely claiming he served in a war zone.

“When Tim Walz was asked by his country to go to Iraq, you know what he did? He dropped out of the Army and allowed his unit to go without him,” Vance said at a campaign stop Wednesday.

Here are the facts: Walz filed to run for Congress in February 2005 – before his unit was notified it could deploy to Iraq. He deployed with the Minnesota National Guard in August 2003 to Vicenza, Italy, as part of support for the US war in Afghanistan, according to a Minnesota Guard spokesperson, but not to a war zone.

The hits on Walz’s military service align with Trump’s penchant for personal attacks against his political opponents, while also harkening back to the effort to sully Kerry’s military record two decades ago.

Could this be effective? There are key differences. For one, Walz is the vice-presidential nominee and not at the top of the ticket, meaning the attempts to undermine his service may not go as far with voters as the attacks on Kerry, which leaned on his activities protesting the Vietnam war after he came home. Military service also played a much more central role in the 2004 campaign when President George W. Bush’s decision to invade Iraq was a key campaign issue.

CNN has reached out to LaCivita for comment.

Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.

President Joe Biden had banked on June’s presidential debate turning around a race that was slipping away from him.

Now, Donald Trump may be laying a similar bet after reversing himself by agreeing to debate on ABC next month as his new Democratic opponent enjoys surging momentum.

Trump clearly doesn’t believe he’ll suffer the kind of debacle that ended Biden’s campaign, but his decision — and call for another two debates on NBC and Fox, which Vice President Kamala Harris has not agreed to — tells an emerging truth about the election.

After a barnstorming week for Harris and her new running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Trump suddenly looks like old news — a crushing new experience for an ex-president who prides himself on driving the narrative.

The build-up to the debate on September 10, assuming it goes ahead, will be intense, and the truncated nature of the new campaign means it could create another historic pivot point on the dwindling road to the White House.

Read the full analysis.

Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Tim Walz greet the crowd at a campaign event in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, on Wednesday.

Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz will continue their campaign blitz over the next two days with stops in key battleground states: Arizona and Nevada.

The Harris-Walz campaign said during the two-day swing through the Southwest, they will “continue our work to reach the diverse voters who power our victories in the Southwest, highlighting the stakes of the race for reproductive rights and the Vice President’s leadership to secure the border.”

The duo will also slam Donald Trump and “Project 2025’s agenda to drag voters in the past.” 

More on Harris’ campaign strategy: As Harris has become the Biden administration’s foremost voice on reproductive rights, both in public events and behind the scenes, the campaign is leaning heavily on the issue of women’s reproductive rights in hopes of mobilizing voters.

The campaign touted a robust ground game in the region with more than 25 coordinated campaign offices throughout Arizona and Nevada and more than 220 full-time staff. The campaign believes their infrastructure will allow them to court “two of the most diverse battlegrounds,” including young and Latino voters in those states.

These visits come after Harris locked in key endorsements from leaders across these two states, including from mayors representing Arizona’s border communities and some Arizona Republicans after she announced her presidential bid.

This will mark Harris’ seventh visit to Nevada and her fourth visit to Arizona this year.

Trump, meanwhile, is holding a rally tonight in Montana.

President Joe Biden and Vice President Harris will hold a joint event next week in Maryland to discuss lowering costs — marking their first formal appearance together since Biden dropped out of the race and Harris became the Democratic standard bearer.

They both attended a welcome ceremony last week for Americans wrongfully detained in Russia held at Joint Base Andrews, and Harris and Biden both attended a Situation Room meeting this week focused on the Middle East.

But they have not shared a stage together since Biden dropped his bid for a second term, making next week’s event a significant moment in the handing-of-the-torch.

The focus of the event, lowering costs, is one of the four pillars Biden plans to focus on during the remainder of his presidency. Aides say that could take the form of expanding student debt relief and continuing efforts to lower the cost of prescription drugs.

How much Biden actually hits the campaign trail for Harris remains to be seen. He is most likely to appear in states like Pennsylvania, where he continues to appeal to voters.

The president will deliver an address on the first night of this month’s Democratic Convention in Chicago.

For the remainder of his term, Biden said he will devote much of his time to fulfilling his official duties, with a focus on foreign affairs.

Audience members cheer as Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris and Democratic vice presidential candidate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz appear at a campaign rally at United Auto Workers Local 900 in Wayne, Michigan on August 8.

Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz rallied union members in a local union hall in Michigan on Thursday, working to drum up support amongst organized labor and draw a sharp contrast between the Democratic ticket and Donald Trump when it came to labor issues.  

In remarks focused on unity and community, Harris highlighted the strength and basic “fairness” of collective bargaining as she drew a throughline to how she believes it’s reflected in her campaign.

Harris has touted her support of unions in the past including walking the picket line with striking workers in 2019. She praised unions for their contributions. 

Walz, who was a union member as a teacher, thanked the auto workers for the “privilege” of joining their picket line last year, and sharply criticized the former president on labor issues.  

“We know that unions built the middle class,” he said, adding, “you know who doesn’t believe that? Donald Trump.” 

United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain offered a warm welcome to the Democratic ticket, telling members that Harris and Walz are both “one of us.”

While Harris and Walz joined autoworkers on picket lines during their major strike last year, Fain noted Trump was “nowhere to be found,” and instead visited Detroit to go to a non-union business 

Remember: Last September, instead of participating in the second Republican presidential primary debate, Trump visited Drake Enterprises, a non-union auto parts supplier in Clint Township, to appeal to a group of current and former union workers.

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump is rushed offstage after an assassination attempt during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13.

US security officials are on alert for possible retaliatory attacks against Democrats following the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, according to a new intelligence report obtained by CNN.

The threat assessment — prepared jointly by the FBI, Department of Homeland Security, and other agencies, including local police in Illinois — outlines various potential security concerns surrounding the upcoming Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

Despite several conspiracy theories that appeared online after the attack blaming Democrats, there is no evidence the shooter was motivated by politics. A review of public records suggests he may have had divergent political leanings, and registered to vote as a Republican while also making a small donation to a Democratic-leaning group.

While the motive of the gunman who fired on Trump remains a mystery to investigators, the bulletin says “politically and socially divisive topics have prompted violence in the past,” and adds that some extremists “will view political and social tensions as an opportunity to use or promote violence to further their ideological goals.”

Read more about the DNC threat assessment.

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks during a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida on August 08.

The Trump campaign is downplaying the significance of the Democratic Party reshuffling its ticket to elevate Vice President Kamala Harris replacing President Joe Biden, arguing that despite the change in the dynamics of the race, the “fundamentals” of the campaign have remained the same. 

Trump campaign officials told reporters on Thursday they believe Harris’ improvement over Biden in public polls can be attributed to “irrational exuberance,” arguing that Harris is making up ground with voters who supported Biden in 2020 but had moved away from Democrats before Harris moved to the top of the ticket. 

The official pushed back on Harris’ attacks on Trump’s presidential record, crystallized in the campaign’s new slogan, “We are not going back,” which Harris and her supporters have latched on to at recent campaign events. 

“When you ask voters whether they’d rather return to the Trump economy, or stay with the Biden economy, we win that two to one,” the official said.  

The official said the campaign’s internal data showed Harris has increased enthusiasm among Democratic voters and does better with undecided voters than Biden, but contended she still trails Trump in both voter motivation and popularity with undecided voters. Officials also said Harris was doing better among Black voters then President Joe Biden was, a demographic that Trump’s team has been heavily targeted this cycle.