October 5, 2024, presidential campaign news

Our live coverage has ended. Follow the latest 2024 election news here or read through the posts below.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk endorses Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump during a campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show fairgrounds in Butler, Pennsylvania, on October 5.

In his first appearance with Donald Trump on the campaign trail, billionaire Elon Musk on Saturday called on people to register to vote as he cast Democrats as a threat to democracy.

“Register to vote, OK? And get everyone you know and everyone you don’t know. Drag them to register to vote. … And then make sure they actually do vote,” Musk said at the former president’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. “If they don’t, this will be the last election. That’s my prediction.”

The billionaire owner of X and high-profile Trump backer used his appearance onstage Saturday to argue that the 2024 presidential race is no ordinary campaign and that Trump’s opponents “wants to take away your freedom of speech. They want to take away your right to bear arms. They want to take away your right to vote effectively.”

Musk, who endorsed Trump over the summer and helped form a super PAC that already has spent tens of millions on the presidential race, painted a bleak picture of the stakes of the election, arguing that free speech in America as well as the preservation of the Constitution will happen only if Trump beats Harris.

Read more here.

Actor Jennifer Garner, former Trump White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham and former UN Ambassador Susan Rice campaigned for Vice President Kamala Harris in battleground Arizona on Saturday, warning about reelecting former President Donald Trump.

Rice argued that some Republicans are “setting a foundation to deny the outcome of this election whatever it might be.”

Grisham, who resigned from the Trump White House following the January 6, 2021, riot and who has endorsed Harris for president, said that she believes Trump, if reelected, would surround himself with “only yes men.”

Asked how Harris supporters in the room could reach out to Republican voters, Garner said, “Remind your Republican friends, it’s not forever. That they can support the next John McCain who comes along, there will be another one they can support.”

Former US President Donald Trump walks onstage during a campaign event at the Butler Farm Show in Butler, Pennsylvania, US, on Saturday.

Former President Donald Trump baselessly suggested his political opponents “maybe even tried to kill me” in remarks at his Saturday rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, at the same venue where he survived an assassination attempt in July.

Trump continued, “But I’ve never stopped fighting for you and I never will.”

After the attempt on his life at his Florida golf club last month, Trump sought to blame President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, claiming, “Their rhetoric is causing me to be shot at.”

Law enforcement officials are still investigating the motives of the suspects in both assassination attempts, and there is no evidence Trump’s political opponents are involved in any manner.

Former President Donald Trump hugs Elon Musk at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday.

Donald Trump invited tech billionaire Elon Musk to speak onstage during the former president’s Saturday rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Musk said he thought the 2024 election would be “the most important election of our lifetime.”

Some background: Musk, the head of Tesla and X, endorsed Trump shortly after the assassination attempt against the former president in July. Musk has since become a full-throated advocate and defender of Trump, and the former president said Musk would serve as the head of a government efficiency commission if Trump is elected.

A firefighter's turnout gear marks the spot where Corey Comperatore was killed on July 13 during an attempted assassination on former President Donald Trump during campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday.

Former President Donald Trump held a moment of silence at his Saturday rally for Corey Comperatore, who was killed at the former president’s July rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

“At this time, it is 6:11. Twelve weeks to the minute that the shooting began. And I would like to ask everyone to join me in a moment of silence,” Trump said during his return to Butler, the site of the first assassination attempt against him.

Singer Christopher Macchio then appeared onstage and sang “Ave Maria.”

Family members of Corey Comperatore, including his wife Helen, second from right, stand with Lara Trump and Senate candidate Dave McCormick, left, during the campaign rally on Saturday.

Trump said Comperatore’s wife, Helen, and other family members were in attendance at the rally. Comperatore was killed as he was trying to shield his wife and daughters from the gunfire.

“In the face of murderous hate, Corey answered the most selfless kind of love,” Trump said.

Former President Donald Trump arrives at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday.

Former President Donald Trump is speaking at a high-profile rally at the Butler, Pennsylvania, venue where he survived an assassination attempt in July.

He began his speech, as he said he might, with: “As I was saying.”

Trump said, “Tonight, I return to Butler in the aftermath of tragedy and heartache to deliver a simple message to the people of Pennsylvania and to the people of America: Our movement to make America great again stands stronger, prouder, more united, more determined and nearer to victory than ever before.”

Former President Donald Trump speaks at the campaign rally.

Trump said the field where the crowd was gathered was “now a monument to the valor of our first responders, to the resilience of our fellow citizens and to the sacrifice of a loving and devoted father. A really great man.”

Corey Comperatore, 50, was fatally shot during the July assassination attempt. The campaign had positioned a firefighter jacket and helmet with Comperatore’s name on it in the stands, and the crowd broke out into a chant of “Corey.”

The former president previously described this weekend’s trip to Butler, an hour’s drive north of Pittsburgh in what could be the election’s most important swing state, as unfinished business.

This post has been updated with additional remarks from Trump.

Vice President Kamala Harris meets with members of the North Carolina Air National Guard in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Saturday.

Vice President Kamala Harris on Saturday met with members of the North Carolina Air National Guard and expressed her gratitude for those doing “God’s work on the ground” following Hurricane Helene.

Harris detailed her conversation with the National Guard members, emphasizing that some of them were “directly hit themselves” by the storm.

Harris also met with families who were affected by the disaster, the White House said. One family she met with was forced to temporarily relocate from western North Carolina to Charlotte with their 6-month-old until they can safely return to their community.

She also met with volunteers at the Dream Center, a primary care facility in Charlotte, and assisted them with packing essentials for victims of Hurricane Helene.

“We’re here for the long haul. … We’re putting all hands on deck,” Harris said to one volunteer.

President Joe Biden called Donald Trump a “liar” in a Saturday social media post slamming the former president’s false accusations that the White House stole money intended for hurricane relief.

Trump baselessly claimed this week that Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris “stole” money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and gave it to undocumented immigrants.

Biden’s post includes a screenshot of a Washington Post fact check that reads: “No, Biden didn’t take FEMA relief money to use on migrants — but Trump did.”

In 2019, Trump’s administration moved $155 million meant for FEMA disaster relief to support immigration enforcement.

Biden’s Saturday post reflects a more forceful tone taken by the White House at combatting some of the misinformation that has been swirling in the wake of Hurricane Helene’s destruction.

Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance speaks from behind bullet resistant glass at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday.

Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance blamed Democrats and Vice President Kamala Harris for continuing to use “dangerous, inflammatory rhetoric” after the first assassination attempt against Donald Trump — which he believes led to the second — and at the same time, claimed they have “declared war” against the First Amendment.

“Even after that terrible assassination attempt that took one man’s life and nearly took many others, they continue to use dangerous, inflammatory rhetoric,” Vance said ahead of Trump’s remarks Saturday in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Harris has argued Trump is a “threat to our democracy and fundamental freedoms.”

Claiming Democrats have tried to censor, bankrupt and jail Trump, Vance said it was no surprise there was a second assassination attempt, which was thwarted by Secret Service.

“Three weeks ago, while these guys still go out there and attack at him as a threat to democracy, another gunman, armed with an AK-47-style rifle, tried to finish the job,” he said.

Law enforcement officials are still investigating the motives of the suspects in both assassination attempts.

Vice President Kamala Harris on Saturday thanked first responders and provided an update on the federal response to Hurricane Helene ahead of being briefed on the devastation in North Carolina.

“I think that these moments of crisis bring out some of the best of who we can be and who we are,” she added.

Harris was joined by Gov. Roy Cooper and FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell, among other officials, ahead of the briefing.

More on the hurricane: The death toll from Helene has risen to at least 227 across six states, according to CNN’s tally, making it the second-deadliest hurricane to strike the US mainland in the last 50 years, behind Hurricane Katrina.

A massive relief effort is ongoing across the devastated region to restore power, rebuild damaged water and cell infrastructure, and get supplies to areas cut off to road access.

Attendees at former President Donald Trump's rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday show off their shirts.

“The Return to Butler,” “Let Me Get My Shoes,” “Cats, Dogs for Trump,” and “I Was There” are just a few of the slogans featured on shirts attendees are wearing at former President Donald Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday.

Three women wearing “Let Me Get My Shoes” shirts — referring to Trump’s comments after Secret Service agents shielded him during the July assassination attempt against him — told CNN they didn’t feel scared for “one minute” returning to the site where the former president nearly lost his life.

“If he’s back, we’re back,” said the women, who attended the July 13 rally in Butler.

When asked about the meaning of their shirts, they explained, “He didn’t run away; he stayed to look for his shoes,” which they said holds deep significance for them because “in a way it told us to stay, to fight.”

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks to supporters at the Redford Fire Department on October 4, in Redford, Michigan.

Former President Donald Trump should be running away with this election given how few people think the country is heading in the right direction.

Instead, Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are neck and neck in the polls. Now, it’s not clear whether Harris can continue to win over so many voters who think we’re heading in the wrong direction. What is clear is that Harris would need to defy certain fundamentals if she wants to win next month, and recent history suggests she has a shot.

When I speak of fundamentals, I mean questions beyond the horse race, like asking Americans whether they think the country is on the right track.

A minority of Americans have historically said the country is heading in the right direction, but it’s usually not as bad as the current figures. Only about 28% of Americans believe the country is on the right track these days, according to the latest NBC News poll. That’s well below where things were when Joe Biden took office in 2021, when that percentage was well north of 40%.

Indeed, 28% is not where a president’s party wants to be a month before the election — whether the incumbent is running or not. Since 1980, in elections won by the incumbent’s party, an average of 42% of Americans have said the country was on the right track.

We see something similarly troubling for Harris on another fundamental — presidential approval ratings.

The incumbent’s party has never won when the president had higher disapproval ratings than approval ratings. Biden’s disapproval rating is about 10 points above his approval rating.

Read more here.

Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance is attending a private fundraiser in Gloucester, Massachusetts, according to a source familiar with the matter.

As CNN previously reported, Vance will speak later at Donald Trump’s rally as the former president returns to Butler, Pennsylvania, the site of the first assassination attempt against him.

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley is traveling with Vance today, according to pool reporters.

Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.

It’s the final month of the 2024 presidential election, an affair that has felt bonkers for months.

Americans witnessed the sitting Democratic president drop out of the race, the Republican nominee narrowly escape an assassination attempt and the rise of the first woman of color on a national ticket.

Where are the candidates spending money?

Money isn’t everything in politics, but it’s certainly not nothing. Where the campaigns — and the super PACs that support them — spend funds is, if nothing else, a good indicator of where they see opportunity.

CNN’s David Wright tracks spending, and here’s what he messaged me when I asked where the money is headed in this final month as the ad wars intensify:

You can see how each side is placing bets on their best path to 270 electoral votes. In the first week of October, the Harris campaign is spending the most in the critical trio of “blue wall” states — they’ve got more than $5 million booked in Pennsylvania, about $4 million booked in Michigan, plus about $2.7 million booked in Wisconsin. The Trump campaign, on the other hand, is looking to the Sun Belt. This week, Trump’s campaign is spending the most on ads in Pennsylvania, $3.8 million — it’s really the linchpin to both sides’ strategies. 

How are the two sides getting out the vote?

The policy proposals have been rolled out, and the candidates have tried to define each other. Now it’s time to get voters to the polls or the mailbox.

Voting early and by mail is already underway in much of the country, although early voting is not expected to reach the same level as it did in the Covid-19 pandemic election of 2020. Trump remains a mail-voting skeptic, but Republicans are embracing the practice in key states this year in an effort to keep pace with Democrats.

Read more here on what to watch.

It’s not just Donald Trump and JD Vance. Numerous other 2020 election deniers are running in 2024 elections.

At least 23 of this year’s 51 Republican nominees for governor, state elections chief or the US Senate have rejected or contested the legitimacy of Joe Biden’s 2020 victory over Trump.

The list includes prominent Republican nominees in competitive states, like gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson of North Carolina and Senate candidates Kari Lake of Arizona, Bernie Moreno of Ohio, Sam Brown of Nevada and Ted Cruz of Texas. It also includes the favorites to become elections chief in Missouri and West Virginia and the favorites in the races for governor in Indiana, Missouri, Montana and West Virginia.

The success of so many 2020 election deniers in Republican primaries this year demonstrates that Trump’s ongoing campaign of election lies continues to have a strong hold on his party. Even four years later, candidates’ views on the 2020 election are relevant in important practical ways.

At least five of this year’s 11 Republican nominees for governor, at least four of this year’s six Republican nominees for state elections chief, and at least 14 of this year’s 34 Republican nominees for the US Senate have rejected or contested the legitimacy of President Joe Biden’s 2020 victory.

Look into these Republican candidates here.

Vice President Kamala Harris’ struggle to match previous Democratic nominees’ levels of support with union voters is coming under more intense scrutiny following decisions by the Teamsters and the International Association of Fire Fighters to withhold endorsements in the presidential race.

Leaders from both unions, in public statements, cited internal disagreements within their organizations as their primary reason for staying on the sidelines.

“This decision, which we took very seriously, is the best way to preserve and strengthen our unity,” Edward Kelly, general president of the International Association of Fire Fighters, said in a statement this week explaining the choice.

The Trump campaign has celebrated these announcements, saying they are a sign that organized labor is fleeing Harris and the Democratic Party. The campaign on Thursday called the firefighters’ union’s decision to decline to endorse a 2024 candidate “another blow” to Harris, pointing to the union’s early endorsement, months ahead of the Democratic primary, of Biden

The reality, though, is murkier — and reflects the upheaval and increasingly testy internal politics among the unions’ leaders. Harris retains a polling lead over Trump with union voters and households, but the margin, according to multiple surveys, is smaller than those enjoyed by Joe Biden four years ago and roughly even with Hillary Clinton’s levels in 2016.

Exit polls from CNN following the past two presidential elections found Biden with a 16-point lead among voters from union households. Clinton, whose loss came down to thousands of votes in labor-heavy states, won by 9 points among the same cohort.

Read more about the battle for labor support in the final weeks of the election.

In a side room backstage at a Friday campaign rally in Flint, Michigan, Arab American advocates asked Vice President Kamala Harris to break from President Joe Biden’s Israel policy and push harder for an end to the war in Gaza.

The conversation, scheduled to last 10 minutes, ended up lasting for 20, according to Wa’el Alzayat, the CEO of Emgage Action, a group aimed at boosting the Muslim American vote. Harris did not make any promises, he said, but told them “that she also wants the war to end and that she will do all she can to work in this regard.”

“She pledged to work with our community, include our community, and (said) that she completely understands what we’re saying. She is hopeful that if she wins, she’ll be able to deliver on all of this once she’s president,” Alzayat told CNN.

The Emgage Action leader said he and other Arab American leaders in the room had been contacted and invited within the previous 48 hours. Their message to Harris was simple, he said. She needed “to show distance between how she would govern on this matter with the current administration policies, which we don’t agree with.”

Further context: The meeting came amid increasing frustration over Harris’ response to Israel’s recent escalations in Lebanon and concerns that her campaign was not willing to hear from critical voices. Harris is hamstrung, in part, because of her position: Vice presidents do not set US foreign policy.

But as the ongoing Israel-Hamas war has expanded to a multifront conflict involving Iran, which launched missiles at Israel this week, and Iranian-backed groups in Lebanon and Yemen, prominent Arab American groups have been pushing for more.

Read more on Arab American advocates’ meeting with Harris.

Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.

Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are racing to make their pitch to voters in key battleground states with less than five weeks until Election Day.

They are both back in key states on Saturday.

Here’s a recap of what happened on the campaign trail yesterday:

Republican ticket

Democratic ticket

Election security

A man waves a flag as attendees wait in line prior to a rally by Republican presidential nominee, former U.S. President Donald Trump, at the Butler Farm Show Inc. on October 5, in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Donald Trump is returning Saturday to the Pennsylvania venue where he narrowly survived an assassination attempt in July, holding a high-profile rally in what his allies are billing as a key moment as the 2024 race for the White House enters its final month.

The former president described this weekend’s trip to Butler, an hour’s drive north of Pittsburgh in what could be the election’s most important swing state, as unfinished business.

Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance and Tesla CEO Elon Musk will be joining Trump, according to a campaign official.

The Trump campaign also announced Friday that family members of the man who was killed during the assassination attempt in July and a number of other guests — including GOP members of Congress — will also join Trump at the rally.

Some background: The rally in Butler comes less than three months after the July 13 attempt on the former president’s life. Trump was minutes into a speech when a gunman fired eight shots at the stage, bloodying the former president’s right ear. Secret Service agents killed the gunman at the scene.

Trump’s reaction to the shooting — standing and raising his right fist while mouthing “Fight” to the Butler crowd as the Secret Service rushed him off stage — became a rallying cry at the Republican convention and in his campaign appearances since.

Read more on Trump’s return to Butler.

CNN’s Piper Hudspeth Blackburn and Brian Rokus contributed reporting to this post.