October 20, 2024, presidential campaign news

Former President Donald Trump on Sunday said Israel “wouldn’t be in the good position they’re in right now if they listened to the White House,” and congratulated Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when the two spoke by phone yesterday for “doing a very great job keeping Israel safe.”

The White House’s relationship with Netanyahu has grown increasingly frosty as the humanitarian crisis in Gaza has worsened and Netanyahu has made unilateral steps in the region without consulting the administration.

Trump told reporters in Philadelphia that he also spoke with Netanyahu about the drones launched toward the Israeli prime minister’s home.

In response to a question from CNN about the call, Trump said, “I had a very nice call with him. He called me up yesterday morning we talked. I congratulated him on obviously doing a very great job keeping Israel safe. He’s doing very well. He calls me on occasion. I think he wants my views on things.”

“But we had a very good talk. It lasted for a while,” Trump said.

Nikki Haley speaks at the Hudson Institute on May 22, in Washington, DC.

Former President Donald Trump said Sunday he expects his former GOP presidential opponent Nikki Haley to hit the campaign trail with him in the final stretch before Election Day.

“I think she is going to be,” Trump said when asked by a reporter if he wanted to see Haley on the campaign trail with him.

CNN has reported that Trump’s campaign is in talks with Haley to join him on the trail as he seeks to broaden his appeal among female voters, two sources familiar with the talks told CNN.

Former President Donald Trump speaks with reporters at Philadelphia International Airport on October 20.

Former President Donald Trump suggested that his opponent Vice President Kamala Harris should be investigated over her “60 Minutes” interview, which he claims was grossly edited by CBS at the direction of the Harris campaign.

He suggested that he’s planning to “subpoena” CBS’ “records” to “see how much else did she do.”

“60 Minutes” in a response Sunday rejected the former president’s claims and noted that Trump backed out of his interview with the show earlier this month.

“Former President Donald Trump is accusing 60 Minutes of deceitful editing of our Oct. 7 interview with Vice President Kamala Harris. That is false,” the CBS show said in a statement.

“60 Minutes gave an excerpt of our interview to Face the Nation that used a longer section of her answer than that on 60 Minutes,” the statement reads. “Same question. Same answer. But a different portion of the response. When we edit any interview, whether a politician, an athlete, or movie star, we strive to be clear, accurate and on point. The portion of her answer on 60 Minutes was more succinct, which allows time for other subjects in a wide ranging 21-minute-long segment.”

Trump also repeated his false claims about Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio. When Kurtz pointed out that his claims have been debunked by local officials, Trump said, “I don’t think it’s been debunked at all. I think nobody talks about it, except you.”

Trump stood by his comments that January 6, 2021, was a “day of love,” and insisted that “there was a beauty and love to it that I’ve never seen before” at the rally. He also falsely claimed that law enforcement was “ushering” protesters into the US Capitol that day.

This post has been updated with comment from “60 Minutes.”

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz sought to contrast his and Vice President Kamala Harris’ roots in the religious community with that of former President Donald Trump during remarks at a predominantly Black church congregation in Saginaw, Michigan, on Sunday.

At the service at Victorious Believers Ministries, Walz said his and Harris’ Christian values have informed some of the policy platforms of the campaign, while drawing a “distinct difference” with actions and policies endorsed by Republicans.

“My faith is very clear. My faith tells me to care for the poor, not to rig the system for the wealthy, but to care for the poor,” he said.

Walz also acknowledged “systemic barriers” that contribute to Black Americans having lower life expectancies, more challenges getting credit and less funding for education programs, and said Harris’ proposals will “provide the opportunities to make sure it ends.”

“I think for all of you, this idea of really focusing, and certainly in the Black community, focusing on the things that matter, health,” Walz said.

Sen. JD Vance serves beers at a sports bar in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on October 20.

Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance swung by a Packers tailgate in Green Bay as he campaigns in Wisconsin, encouraging people to vote early and by mail in the final push to Election Day.

Vance continued, “If you can vote early, vote early. If you get your friends to vote early, vote early, vote by mail, do everything that we can.”

Earlier in the day, Vance made an unannounced stop at Kroll’s West sports bar in Green Bay, Wisconsin, serving beers ahead of the Packers’ game.

Sporting a Trump-Vance half-zip, Vance was greeted by loud cheers and chants of “J-D.”

“What percentage of the fans today are going to vote for Donald Trump?” Vance said as the bar cheered.

“That’s good,” Vance said. “I don’t know what the exact answer is, but it’s good.”

Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson speaks during a House Administration Committee hearing on September 11, in Washington, DC.

Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson on Sunday condemned “adversaries of democracy” that she said were spreading false rumors about the security of the election.

Benson has been vocal on X, formerly Twitter, warning voters about Elon Musk - who she argues is intentionally spreading false information about Michigan voters. She encouraged voters to direct questions to election officials and to look through data rather than default to social media.

More than one million Michigan voters have returned their absentee ballots in just over two weeks, according to Benson. Benson said the turnout shows how enthusiastic voters are this election cycle.

In 2020, Benson said Michigan had its election results within 24 hours of the polls closing and expects the results to possibly come out by Wednesday night or earlier this year.

Rep. Mike Lawler speaks during a press conference in Washington, DC, on May 23.

New York Rep. Mike Lawler urged political unity during a time of heightened party polarization and inflammatory rhetoric on the campaign trail, saying “all of the rhetoric needs to stop.”

Both Vice President Kamala Harris and ex-President Donald Trump have weaponized strong wording to criticize their political opponents on the trail. Harris agreed that Trump is “about fascism” in a recent podcast interview, and Trump called Democrats the “enemy from within.”

The Republican congressman said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” that political division distracts from the “threats that are actually facing the United States” from countries like China, Russia and Iran.

Lawler is in a tight reelection race against former Democratic Rep. Modaire Jones in his Hudson Valley district as Republicans try to maintain their slim majority in the House.

Former President Donald Trump arrives on stage at a campaign rally in Detroit on October 18.

Former President Donald Trump on Sunday repeated his “enemy from within” remarks, referring to California Democratic Reps. Adam Schiff and Nancy Pelosi as the “enemy.”

“Well, of course, he’s an enemy. He’s an enemy,” Trump said Sunday of Schiff in an interview on Fox News’ “MediaBuzz.”

In a previous interview with Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo, Trump had suggested using the military to handle what he called “the enemy from within” on Election Day, saying that he isn’t worried about chaos from his supporters or foreign actors, but instead from “radical left lunatics.”

In his interview on “MediaBuzz,” Trump argued that Schiff wanted to put his son, Donald Trump Jr., in jail over the findings from the 2016 Russia investigation – or “scam” as Trump called it. He falsely claimed that they were spying on his campaign.

“Think of how bad you have to be when you say you’re going to put any son, not just a president’s son, but any son. You’re going to put somebody in jail on a scam that you knew was made up by you. That’s an enemy from within,” he said.

Trump also called Pelosi an “enemy from within,” claiming that she had the opportunity to protect the US Capitol as house speaker on January 6, 2021.

CNN has previously fact checked these claims by Trump and found them to be false.

Former President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, on October 19.

Donald Trump has pivoted to making his closing argument to voters heading into the final stretch of his race for the White House.

Or so his campaign said Saturday as the former president took the stage in Latrobe, Pennsylvania.

But shortly after walking out to a pro wrestler’s entrance music, Trump swiftly veered into a rambling anecdote about the late Arnold Palmer, the golfing legend after whom the local airport was named. The story, which seemed to serve little purpose beyond invoking a regional icon and which lasted nearly 15 minutes, included tangents on Palmer’s immense wealth and several offhand remarks about the Hall of Famer’s naked body.

“Arnold Palmer was all man, and I say that in all due respect to women, I love women… This man was strong and tough, and I refused to say it, but when he took showers with the other pros they came out of there, they said ‘Oh my god. That’s unbelievable,’” Trump said.

The anecdote prompted one rallygoer to comment, “I didn’t expect to hear that tonight.”

Read more about Trump’s closing pitch here.

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said the Southern swing state will probably see record numbers of people voting early in the 2024 election, predicting 65% to 70% of Georgia voters will cast their ballots before Election Day.

Referring to former President Donald Trump’s recent comment that Raffensperger and GOP Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp are “doing everything possible to make 2024 difficult for Republicans to win,” the secretary of state said such a comment “doesn’t influence me” and reiterated the voting security measures that have been implemented in the state.

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks in Stonecrest, Georgia, on October 20.

Vice President Kamala Harris on Sunday delivered remarks at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Stonecrest, Georgia, as part of a campaign push known as “souls to the polls” aimed at mobilizing early voting among Black voters.

The vice president detailed growing up in church, where she said she often attended Sunday school and sang in the choir.

Harris was dressed in a black suit and pink blouse in honor of the church’s “pink day” to raise awareness about breast cancer and reflected on her mother’s legacy as she highlighted the significance of attending Sunday’s service.

“As some of you may know, my mother was a breast cancer researcher. She was one of the very few women, and fewer even women of color, who was engaged in studying breast cancer, and she had two goals in her life, to raise her two daughters, my sister Maya and me, and to end breast cancer,” Harris said.

Migrants pass through razor wire after crossing the Rio Grande into El Paso, Texas, on February 1.

Former President Donald Trump focused on the US-Mexico border and illegal immigration when asked in a SiriusXM interview this weekend about what his closing message was in the final stretch of the 2024 campaign.

“I happen to think that the biggest item is really going to be the border. It’s really the border. People, inflation is big, it’s horrible, it’s a country-buster and the economy and all of that but I happen to think that the border is going to be,” Trump said.

Trump has repeatedly said he thinks the border and illegal immigration is the most important issue this election.

Stoking fears about undocumented immigrants is a central part of Trump’s campaign message and he has ramped up his use of dehumanizing and degrading language of immigrants in the final stretch before Election Day.

He has vowed to conduct mass deportations of undocumented immigrants, as he highlights instances of violent crime committed by undocumented immigrants and promotes false and sensationalized claims about Venezuelan gang members taking over parts of Colorado and Haitian migrants eating pets.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks in Saginaw, Michigan, on October 20.

Democratic vice presidential candidate Gov. Tim Walz made the case that former President Donald Trump’s “floor and ceiling” for November’s presidential election are “about the same thing,” conceding that core Trump supporters will turn out for him in high numbers but arguing he is not persuading new voters to the same degree as Vice President Kamala Harris.

Walz told a few dozen supporters at a plumbers’ union hall in Saginaw, Michigan, on Sunday that he believes high early voting numbers are coming from “new voters” and people who support Harris, rather than Trump supporters, whom he portrayed in particularly evocative terms.

Walz also attacked Trump’s plan to increase tariffs, suggesting the plan would cause particular damage to rural farmers and business owners, and called Trump “a horrible businessman.”

“I was just talking to a friend of mine. His brother has a custom combining business or whatever, tariffs on that and tariff on farmers are absolutely destructive. And I keep coming back to this. Let’s just dispel the myth in its entirety, Donald Trump was a horrible businessman, and he knows nothing about business right now,” Walz said.

Democratic Maryland Gov. Wes Moore believes recent poll numbers showing Vice President Kamala Harris struggling with Black voters have a lot to do with “skepticism.”

“We’re all very clear that we don’t have a ten-to-one racial wealth gap because one group worked ten times harder, but there have been policies that have been put into place to make that happen,” Moore said during an appearance on “Fox News Sunday.”

Moore believes proposals released this week by the Harris campaign zero in on key issues in the Black community and will help increase support among the key demographic.

The proposals include providing forgivable loans to Black entrepreneurs, creating and investing in programs that provide opportunities for Black men, and addressing health challenges specific to the community.

GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham, a staunch ally of former President Donald Trump, defended the Republican nominee amid criticism of his latest controversial comments, including his suggestion that he would use the military against the “enemy from within,” and whether they are the message he should be sending to voters.

“We’re winning, and going to win not because of what Donald Trump saying, but because of what they’ve done for four years,” Graham said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

In a repeated and heated back and forth with NBC’s Kristen Welker, Graham criticized former Trump officials and Republicans who now say the former president is unfit for office.

“I think they’re wrong. I think they’re totally wrong,” Graham said, before going on to criticize the Biden-Harris administration.

Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.

Vice President Kamala Harris turns 60 on Sunday – and, her campaign wants voters to know, that makes her 18 years younger than Donald Trump.

Harris’ campaign is increasingly questioning the former president’s mental and physical fitness in the final weeks of the 2024 presidential race.

It’s a reversal of the strategy Republicans, led by Trump, used to attack President Joe Biden for years – and a remarkable turnaround for Democrats after the 81-year-old incumbent dropped out of the race in July.

Harris herself has pointed to age repeatedly in recent days to differentiate herself from Biden – and, implicitly, the 78-year-old Trump, too.

“I represent a new generation of leadership,” Harris said in an interview with Fox News on Wednesday.

Read more about the Harris campaign’s strategy on Trump’s age here.

Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders defended Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign stops with Republicans and move to the center, saying that the dangers of a Trump presidency is causing people to overcome disagreements on key issues.

Harris recently campaigned with former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, who while conservative in her political views, has been a consistent and vocal critic of former President Donald Trump and has tried to make the case that his reelection would put American democracy at great risk.

He also defended Harris’ moving to the center on issues such as single-payer healthcare and an end to fracking. While he maintained these are the issues he thinks will win with voters, he also acknowledged Democrats are trying to bring people together across the political spectrum.

House Speaker Mike Johnson repeatedly defended former President Donald Trump on Sunday in an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper, choosing to deflect or not to answer when pressed about Trump’s latest controversial comments such as his vulgar remarks about Arnold Palmer or his suggestion that he would use the military against the “enemy from within.”

In a back and forth with the speaker, Tapper asked whether Trump’s comments in Pennsylvania about the former pro golfer’s genitalia were the closing message Johnson wants voters to hear.

When pressed by Tapper about Trump’s cognitive state and fitness for office, Johnson rejected the idea that Trump was unfit for the presidency.

When asked about Trump’s suggestion to use the military against the “enemy from within” on Election Day, Johnson started by arguing that the former president was referring to criminal or transnational gangs.

“What he’s talking about is marauding gangs,” Johnson said.

But when Tapper pushed back, noting that Trump has described Democrats such as Rep. Adam Schiff as the “enemy from within,” Johnson said Trump was not talking about using the military on political opponents.

“I did not hear President Trump in that clip say he’s going to sic the military on Adam Schiff. That’s not what he’s saying,” Johnson said.

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'Nope, nope': Tapper pushes back on Johnson's defense of Trump

05:43 - Source: CNN

The McDonald's logo is displayed at a restaurant in Burbank, California, on July 22.

Donald Trump is pulling one of the most iconic American companies – McDonald’s – into the political arena in the final days of his third White House bid.

The former president is expected to stop by one of the fast-food chain’s Pennsylvania franchises during his Sunday swing through the Keystone State. There, he plans to work as a fry attendant, CNN reported last week.

It’s the same job Vice President Kamala Harris has said she held as a young woman, a biographical detail revealed during her first campaign for president. It has since become a centerpiece of the middle class origin story she has made key to her pitch to voters as the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee.

Trump, whose deep affection for the Golden Arches and its offerings is well documented, has meanwhile grown fixated on Harris’ employment there. In interviews and on the campaign trail, he regularly accuses Harris – without evidence – of making up the factoid. His visit to the restaurant is his latest attempt to sow doubt about the Democrat’s work history.

Read more about Trump and Harris’ relationship with the Golden Arches here.

Former President Barack Obama speaks during a campaign rally in support of Vice President Kamala Harris in North Las Vegas on October 19.

Former President Barack Obama on Saturday took people to task whom he said have “made excuses” for former President Donald Trump’s behavior as him being funny or unserious, arguing that “everything a president says is serious.”

Obama, who has been attempting to help Vice President Kamala Harris shore up support with Black men, said that he’s noticed this “especially among some men who seem to think Trump’s behavior of bullying people or putting them down is somehow a macho sign of strength.”

“That’s what we should want in our sons and our daughters. That’s what I want to see in the president of the United States,” he added.

The day after January 6, 2021, Mike Rogers was blunt.

The former Republican congressman blamed then-President Donald Trump’s “chaotic leadership style” for costing his party two critical Senate seats in Georgia. And in discussing a news report a week later saying that Trump privately acknowledged some responsibility for the attack, Rogers made his own view crystal clear.

Nearly four years later, as Rogers now battles Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin for a prized Senate seat in Michigan, Rogers and Trump are in a much different place, a relationship solidified over phone calls that led to Trump’s crucial primary endorsement of Rogers earlier this year.

Rogers’ evolution on Trump underscores both the former president’s enduring grip on the party and the calculation down-ticket Republicans have made in navigating the polarizing presence atop their ticket.

Read more about the deeply competitive Michigan Senate race here.

Vice President Kamala Harris waves to the crowd before speaking at a campaign rally in Atlanta on Saturday.

Vice President Kamala Harris on Saturday said the shift in her campaign strategy to sharpen attacks on former President Donald Trump in recent days is because “he’s becoming increasingly unstable and unhinged.”

“He’s becoming increasingly unstable and unhinged, and it requires that response. I think the American people are seeing it,” Harris said to reporters in Detroit when asked about ramping up attacks on Trump.

Ahead of a get-out-the-vote event in Michigan, Harris praised the recent record early voting in battleground Georgia as she encouraged voters to cast ballots ahead of Election Day.

“I think it’s great that people are turning out and voting and being active,” she said, adding that Americans should all want people to understand “their civic duty but also that they can make a difference.”

In the first two weeks of October, Donald Trump and his allies directed about a third of all their spending on broadcast TV advertisements to ads about transgender health care, a significant increase reflecting a major tactical shift from previous months’ ad expenditures.

On the other side, Kamala Harris and her allies continued to put money into ads focused on taxes, character and health care, while lowering their investment in spots about abortion rights. Democrats have also abandoned an earlier emphasis on immigration and crime when Harris and her allies sought to blunt sustained GOP attacks in the weeks after she took over the ticket.

The ad tracking firm AdImpact catalogs the issues that are referenced in broadcast TV campaign ads and tracks the amount of money behind those spots. Comparing changes since August illustrates how the two campaigns and their allies are tailoring their messages and how much they’re spending to do so.

Pro-Trump campaign ads: Since the beginning of October, Republican advertisers in the presidential race have flooded the airwaves in battleground states with a series of stark attack ads, blasting Harris for previously expressing support for taxpayer-funded gender transition surgeries for detained immigrants and federal prisoners, a position she took during her unsuccessful 2020 presidential campaign.

Pro-Harris campaign ads: In the first two weeks of October, tax policy was the top issue, as spots about taxation drew about half of all broadcast TV ad spending. Taxation has been a consistent point of emphasis in Democratic presidential advertising, part of a two-pronged approach — touting Harris’ tax policies aimed at working and middle-class families while attacking Trump’s approach and criticizing tax cuts for corporations and top earners.

Read more on ad spending here.

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign event in Atlanta on Saturday.

Members of the Harris campaign will visit churches across swing states Sunday to make an early voting push to Black voters, according to a campaign official.

Vice President Kamala Harris will deliver remarks during a service at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Stonecrest, Georgia, the campaign said. She will then attend an additional “Souls to the Polls” event at Divine Faith Ministries International, where she will urge churchgoers to vote ahead of Election Day. Prior to her arrival, legendary singer Stevie Wonder is set to perform and deliver remarks.

The campaign launched the “Souls to the Polls” initiative last week on a national call featuring gospel performances, national and state faith leaders, senior elected officials and campaign surrogates. The effort is led by a board of Black faith leaders who will travel across battleground states as an all-hands-on-deck effort.

Harris will also sit down with the Rev. Al Sharpton for an interview airing at 5 p.m. ET on MSNBC.

Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, will attend church service at Victorious Believers Ministries in Saginaw, Michigan. His wife, Gwen Walz, will join Congressional Black Caucus Chair Steven Horsford at Nehemiah Ministries Christian Church in Las Vegas.

Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump

The presidential candidates, along with their running mates, will bring their pitches to voters in critical swing states Sunday as the race for the White House enters its final leg.

Here’s where they’ll be:

Vice President Kamala Harris will deliver remarks at the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Stonecrest, Georgia, on Sunday morning before attending a “Souls to the Polls” voter mobilization event. Later in the day, MSNBC will air an interview with Al Sharpton and the vice president.

Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, will start his day at a church service in Saginaw, Michigan, before delivering remarks at campaign receptions in Boston and Greenwich, Connecticut.

Second gentleman Doug Emhoff will also make the case for the Harris-Walz ticket in Michigan on Sunday, delivering remarks at a Jewish voters event in Detroit and joining billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban to highlight Harris’ vision for small businesses in Grand Rapids. And former President Bill Clinton will talk to voters in eastern North Carolina on Sunday, concluding his four-day swing in the state on behalf of campaign.

Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump is expected to hold a campaign town hall in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. While in the battleground state, he is expected to visit a McDonald’s and work the fry cooker as he continues to baselessly claim that Harris never worked at the fast-food chain.

Trump’s running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, will attend the Green Bay Packers vs. Houston Texans football game in Green Bay before attending campaign event in Waukesha, Wisconsin.