Trump tears into ‘lyin’ Harris in Truth Social rant as his age is scrutinised: Live

Trump tears into ‘lyin’ Harris in Truth Social rant as his age is scrutinised: Live
Trump formally accepts Republican presidential nomination at RNC

Donald Trump has raged at new Democratic presidential contender Kamala Harris on his Truth Social platform across a string of unhinged posts in which he dubbed her “Lyin’ Kamala” and claimed the US Vice President and former California senator and attorney general is “Dumb as a Rock.”

Joe Biden’s bold decision to drop out of the 2024 presidential race on Sunday leaves Trump as the oldest presidential nominee in American history at 78, promising a renewed spotlight on his own misstatements and verbal gaffes on the campaign trail.

Trump and his running mate, Ohio Senator JD Vance, gave a joint interview to Fox News on Monday night in which they were cruel about Biden, conspiratorial about the FBI and backslapping towards each other.

Before that, Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle admitted that her agency had failed to protect Trump from the assassination attempt at his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, 10 days ago, calling it the “most significant operational failure… in decades.”

Cheatle was grilled by House Oversight Committee members at a contentious hearing over the blunders that allowed gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, to scale a roof and open fire with his father’s AR-15 assault-style rifle.

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Secret Service Director on Trump shooting: ‘We failed’

Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle admitted on Monday that her agency failed to protect Trump from the assassination attempt at his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, 10 days ago, calling it the “most significant operational failure… in decades.”

Cheatle was grilled by House Oversight Committee members at a contentious hearing over the blunders that allowed gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, to scale a roof and open fire with his father’s AR-15 assault-style rifle.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have come out demanding Cheatle step down as the agency’s leader.

Here’s more from Eric Garcia and Justin Rohrlich.

Joe Sommerlad23 July 2024 13:15

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Scarborough says Trump is ‘freaking out’ over Biden’s withdrawal

Morning Joe presenter Joe Scarborough has claimed that Donald Trump and the Republican Party are “freaking out” over Biden’s decision to withdraw his re-election bid, an opinion certainly supported by Trump’s latest Truth Social ravings.

Reacting to the news of Biden’s abdication on Monday’s instalment of the MSNBC program, the former congressman said: “I’ve heard from inside the Trump campaign for some time right now that the one thing Donald Trump feared was not having Joe Biden to run against.

“If you talk about boxing, he was used to going against Biden, right? So, what have they done? They’ve switched it up – it’s going to be a southpaw now.”

Inga Parkel has more.

Joe Sommerlad23 July 2024 12:45

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Boebert demands ‘proof of life’ from Biden

Republican firebrand Lauren Boebert has demanded “proof of life” from Joe Biden in a bizarre rant following the president’s announcement that he is dropping his re-election campaign.

The attention-seeking Colorado Congresswoman, who has gloated at Biden’s leaving the White House race, said she wanted confirmation that the commander-in-chief was really still alive.

See also Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’s “Weekend at Bernie’s presidency” attack at the RNC last week.

Mike Bedigan reports.

Joe Sommerlad23 July 2024 12:15

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Trump threatens to sue FBI over Mar-a-Lago search for classified docs

Trying to drag the Department of Justice into court over a legally-authorized warrant would be little more than a fool’s errand, one former federal prosecutor tells The Independent.

Here’s Justin Rohrlich’s report on Trump’s latest vindictive legal threat.

Joe Sommerlad23 July 2024 11:45

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Trump campaign releases update on ear injury

The Republican nominee’s campaign has released an update on the candidate’s, a little over a week after he survived an attempted assassination at a MAGA rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

The memo, from Texas Congressman Ronny Jackson, who served as Trump’s White House physician, offers new details on the nature of the GOP nominee’s injuries and the treatment he received in the immediate aftermath of the attack.

According to Jackson, Trump sustained a gunshot wound to the right ear from a high-powered riffle that came “less than a quarter of an inch from entering his head, and struck the top of his right ear.”

Here’s more.

Joe Sommerlad23 July 2024 11:15

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Vance attacks Harris and speculates on cancellation of Diet Mountain Dew

Trump’s new veep nominee was on the campaign trail in Virginina and in his hometown of Middletown, Ohio, on Monday but struggled to land a blow on Kamala Harris or build on his tedious convention speech last week.

Here’s Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, already looking like a strong contender to be Harris’s running mate, taking apart Vance’s nonsense with ease.

Joe Sommerlad23 July 2024 10:45

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Trump, 78, now the oldest presidential nominee in US history

MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, for one, has wasted no time in attacking Trump on precisely this point.

Here’s more from Gustaf Kilander, who has lost a key line of attack now that the Democrats have seemingly swapped Biden for Harris.

Joe Sommerlad23 July 2024 10:15

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Trump and Vance trash Biden after calls for unity: ‘He draws flies’

The Republican nominee and his running mate gave a joint interview to Jesse Watters of Fox News last night in which they were inevitably cruel about Joe Biden (remember last week’s post-shooting “unity” message?), conspiratorial about the FBI and backslapping towards each other.

Here’s Alex Woodward’s report.

Joe Sommerlad23 July 2024 09:45

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Truth Social: Trump attacks ‘Lyin’ Kamala’ and calls her ‘Dumb as a Rock’

The Republican presidential nominee appears very agitated indeed about the events of the last 48 hours, taking to his Truth Social dungeon to attack Kamala Harris in a series of angry posts overnight.

Kamala did say this about him yesterday, which might well have got his goat.

Here’s Mike Bedigan on her stinging opening attack.

Joe Sommerlad23 July 2024 09:15

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What the polls say: Could Kamala Harris beat Trump?

Vice President Kamala Harris has now been endorsed by President Joe Biden, making it all but guaranteed that she’ll feature on top of the Democratic party ticket and take on Donald Trump in November’s election.

But how would Harris actually fare against Trump?

Alicja Hagopian looks at the numbers.

Oliver O’Connell23 July 2024 08:30

Source: independent.co.uk