Trump and Harris in final stages of preparation for crucial presidential debate: Live

Trump and Harris in final stages of preparation for crucial presidential debate: Live
Kamala Harris campaign unveils ‘New Way Forward’ ad ahead of debate with Donald Trump

Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are currently neck-and-neck in the polls ahead of their crucial first presidential debate on ABC News on Tuesday, with a New York Times/Siena College survey placing the former president ahead of the vice president by a single point on 48 per cent to 47 per cent.

The Republican has meanwhile accused his Democratic rival of hiding from the media.

“The last thing we need for our Nation in Decline is another President who is not smart enough to answer reporters [sic] questions,” he wrote on his Truth Social platform, also promoting a spurious warning from Tucker Carlson about voter fraud in Pennsylvania, seemingly preparing the ground for contesting his ultimate defeat in November’s election.

Trump spent the weekend rallying his supporters in Mosinee, Wisconsin, his first visit to a deep red, rural region of a swing state expected to play a major role in determining the next occupant of the White House.

He used the event to tease the idea of expanding the 25th Amendment to include the possibility of removing a vice president, lied about transgender surgery and warned the mass deporation of illegal immigrants would be “a bloody story”.

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Pennsylvania Governor shoots down MAGA mail-in voting conspiracy theory

Josh Shapiro, who was almost Kamala Harris’s running mate, brings us this debunking of the latest nonsense being circulated about postal voting in his state by Donald Trump, Tucker Carlson and other conservative fearmongers.

Joe Sommerlad9 September 2024 17:00

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Young Black Americans more motivated to turn out for Harris, new poll finds

The latest Washington Post/Ipsos poll of Black Americans’ voting intentions reveals that more people are willing to turn out and vote for Kamala Harris, with 47 per cent now committed to making their mark, up from 32 per cent in April when Joe Biden was still on the Democratic ticket.

On the other side of the coin, support for Donald Trump remains stagnant, down to 12 per cent from 14 per cent in the spring.

Joe Sommerlad9 September 2024 16:40

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Trump ‘well prepared’ and ‘doesn’t need traditional debate prep’, says aide

Hype woman Karoline Leavitt was talking tough on Fox and Friends this morning but you have to wonder: does Trump really not need to prepare or is he just refusing to interrupt his customary Monday golf game?

Behind the scenes, however, Trump staffers are said to be worried that “angry Trump” (the Incredible Hulk with a hairpiece?) will turn up to the debate and self-sabotage in front of millions of viewers.

Rhian Lubin reports.

Joe Sommerlad9 September 2024 16:20

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Ex-Republican lawmaker Adam Kinzinger would ‘certainly’ join Harris’s Cabinet

The former Illinois representative, who, like Liz Cheney, was effectively drummed out of the Republican Party over his opposition to Trump in the wake of the Capitol riot, has told The Los Angeles Times that he would happily serve in a future Kamala Harris administration.

“I love defense. I love foreign policy. And I think that’s where she’s frankly shown she’s a little more hawkish than Democrats have been, so that would be a good area to bring a standard Republican in,” Kinzinger said at the Toronto International Film Festival, where he is a promoting a new documentary about his break with the GOP entitled The Last Republican.

“I want her to win. I want her to succeed. The most important issue that this country is facing, which doesn’t get enough attention to me, is Ukraine’s ability to defend itself against a Russian invasion. She’s the best counter for that, and I would love to help her in any way achieve that goal.”

Republican former Illinois representative Adam Kinzinger speaking on the final night of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago last month
Republican former Illinois representative Adam Kinzinger speaking on the final night of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago last month (EPA)
Joe Sommerlad9 September 2024 16:00

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Veteran Tulsi Gabbard ‘sickened’ by Harris saying she was ‘honored’ to have Dick Cheney’s endorsement

Gabbard, the former soldier, Hawaii representative and 2020 Democratic presidential contender, who has since gone full-MAGA and is said to be helping Donald Trump with his debate preparations, has been attacking Kamala Harris for accepting Dick Cheney’s endorsement.

Speaking at an event in Colorado Springs with Tucker Carlson on Friday evening, Gabbard told her audience: “I have a very simple message for my Democrat friends, my independent friends, those who may not be sure about who they’re voting for in this election, Dick Cheney has just made the choice very clear, a vote for Kamala Harris is a vote for Dick Cheney, the architect of everything that has gone wrong in the Middle East for the last few decades.

“Her [Harris’s] response to the Dick Cheney announcement today was that she was honored to have his endorsement, and we got military veterans in the house?

“Got a lot of you who probably served in the Middle East like I did, and so it sickened me, Tucker, to read those words today from Dick Cheney, Liz Cheney, and Kamala Harris because we have people who we care very much about who were killed in those wars because of Dick Cheney.”

Joe Sommerlad9 September 2024 15:40

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Harris talks small business support and cost of living on Rickey Smiley Morning Show

The Democratic presidential contender called into the nationally-syndicated drivetime morning show earlier today, hoping to reach its considerable audience with her plans to encourage entrepreneurship and help working families.

You can hear her interview in full below.

Joe Sommerlad9 September 2024 15:20

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Meet the man who pretends to be Trump for Harris’s debate prep

He helped Hillary Clinton prepare for her infamous clashes with Donald Trump in 2016 and now he’s helping Kamala Harris do the same.

Here’s Richard Hall on Philippe Reines, the “malevolent George Costanza” impersonating Trump in Harris’s debate preparations.

Joe Sommerlad9 September 2024 15:00

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‘Let Trump be Trump’: Inside Harris’s unconventional debate prep

“It can’t be just Biden 2.0 – it’s got to be Harris 1.0,” one Democratic strategist tells Andrew Feinberg as he digs into the debate preparation being done by the Kamala campaign and how it contrasts with her predecessor’s.

Joe Sommerlad9 September 2024 14:30

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Kimberly Guilfoyle forced to ask audience to clap as MAGA speech falls flat

Yeesh. This is almost as bad as RFK Jr’s latest tortured upload.

Here’s more on Don Jr’s girlfriend having to request her own applause from Gustaf Kilander.

Joe Sommerlad9 September 2024 14:05

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Trial to begin over Texas ‘Trump Train’ ambush of Biden-Harris campaign bus during 2020 election

A jury trial opens in Austin, Texas, today seeking to hold a number of Trump supporters to account for allegedly ambushing a Biden-Harris campaign bus on a state highway during the 2020 presidential election.

Plaintiffs in the lawsuit claim they were terrorised and intimidated when their bus was swarmed by a “Trump Train” convoy of at least 40 vehicles flying “Make America Great Again” banners for more than 90 minutes in what the suit describes as a “madcap game of highway ‘chicken’”.

The plaintiffs are seeking punitive damages under both Texas law and the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871, a federal statute intended to shut down political violence and voter intimidation.

Joe Sommerlad9 September 2024 13:45

Source: independent.co.uk