What to know about the campaigns today
- Vice President Kamala Harris sat for an interview with radio host Charlamagne Tha God in Detroit and fielded questions from listeners.
- Her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, is holding events in Pennsylvania, including Butler, the site of the first assassination attempt on Trump.
- Former President Donald Trump did an interview with Bloomberg News' editor-in-chief at the Economic Club of Chicago, where he pushed back against questions about his age. He then traveled to Cumming, Georgia, to tape a town hall on women's issues with Fox News' Harris Faulkner before heading to Atlanta for a rally tonight.
- Trump's running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, is in Pennsylvania for a town hall with Moms for America in Lafayette Hill.
Biden on Trump's music-focused town hall: 'What's wrong with this guy?'
Biden made a dig tonight at Trump as he was talking about Trump's unusual town hall that turned into a music-listening event.
“Look at his rallies,” Biden told an audience in Philadelphia. “Last night, his rally stopped taking questions because someone got hurt. And guess what? He stood on the stage for 30 minutes and danced.
“I’m serious. What’s wrong with this guy?” Biden added.
Georgia sets record on the first day of in-person early voting
As polls close in Georgia on the first day of early, in-person voting, voters cast more than 300,000 ballots, according to Gabriel Sterling, the chief operating officer at the Georgia secretary of state's office.
Georgia voters broke the previous record earlier today, when 234,000 votes had been cast by 3:30 p.m., according to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.
Walz refers to his 'Fox-watching' brother at Pittsburgh rally
Reporting from Pittsburgh
At a rally in Pittsburgh tonight, Walz referred to his brother’s being vocal about supporting Trump.
Walz has often referred to his relatives at campaign events but without explicitly calling out his brother.
“Here’s for your Fox-watching Republican uncle, or in some of our cases, our brothers. Clip this and send it to him, because think about this: The Republican Party has added much to this country. They have contributed much over the years," Walz said, before adding, "That’s not who Donald Trump is."
"Because when did the party of Ronald Reagan decide that it was OK for the government to make personal choices for you? They can’t. They never did. You think Ronald Reagan would think it’s OK for Donald Trump to make decisions about your health care, about the books you read and things like that? I would sure hope the heck not.”
Trump to work fry machine at McDonald's
Trump plans to work a fry machine at a Philadelphia McDonald's this month, a campaign official said today.
Trump will work the fry cooker during a campaign stop at the fast food-giant on Sunday, the official said.
Trump has repeatedly teased doing a behind-the-counter visit at a McDonald's for weeks as a way of mocking Harris, who has said she worked at McDonald's when she was younger, a claim Trump maintains is false.
Harris pushed back against Trump's efforts in an interview last month with MSNBC's Stephanie Ruhle. “Part of the reason I even talk about having worked at McDonald’s is because there are people who work at McDonald’s in our country who are trying to raise a family,” she said. “I worked there as a student.”
Biden says Harris has been 'loyal so far' but would 'cut her own path'
Biden said tonight that all presidents forge their own paths and that Harris would cut a path different from his if she wins next month.
"Every president has to cut their own path. That's what I did. I was loyal to Barack Obama, but I cut my own path as president. That's what Kamala's going to do. ... She's been loyal so far, but she's going to cut her own path," Biden said in Philadelphia at the Democratic City Committee Autumn Dinner.
"Kamala will take the country in her own direction, and that’s one of the most important differences in this election," Biden added. "Kamala’s perspective on our problems will be fresh and new. Donald Trump’s perspective’s old and failed and, quite frankly, thoroughly, totally dishonest."
Jimmy Carter to vote by mail in Georgia, spokesperson says
One prominent Georgian has yet to take advantage of today's start of early voting.
Former President Jimmy Carter "is voting by mail and hasn't voted yet," said a spokesperson for the Carter Center.
Carter's grandson Jason Carter told reporters today that the former president is likely to vote in the coming days.
"You know, he’s, he is up and at ’em most days, but not every day. So he needs to be engaged, be interested and be ready to go. And I think he will be in the next couple days. And we’re looking forward to seeing him cast that ballot the way that he’s been looking forward to casting that ballot for the last several months," Jason Carter said.
Carter, the oldest living president, celebrated his 100th birthday this month in Plains, Georgia, where he has been receiving hospice care for the last 19 months.
Anti-Trump group and pro-Harris PAC launch ad blitz on economic issues
Republican Voters Against Trump and Future Forward, a super PAC backing Harris’ presidential bid, announced an eight-figure ad buy that will run nationally on broadcast, digital and streaming, as well as digitally, across battleground states starting today.
The ad features a woman named Rebecca from Jacksonville, Florida, who says she voted for Trump in the past but will vote for Harris this time.
“I am not rich as hell. I work hard. I scrape to get by. Donald Trump wants to give tax breaks to billionaires, but Kamala Harris has plans to help us,” the woman says.
Sarah Longwell, the executive director of Republican Voters Against Trump, said in a statement that Trump’s policies would be a “disaster” for the economy.
“The people he claims to stand for would be hit hardest by his economic agenda,” Longwell said in a statement. “In these critical final weeks, we are reminding these voters of what they stand to lose from a second Trump term, coming straight from one of his former supporters.”
Future Forward PAC President Chauncey McLean said in the statement, “A growing number of former Trump voters are ready to turn the page on his economic policies that only help a few instead of an agenda that works for working people.”
Harris says election will be free and fair if voters 'stand up for that'
A listener asked Harris during her interview with Charlamagne Tha God about the potential use of the U.S. military after the election if Trump incites an insurrection, referring to his effort to overturn the 2020 election results.
Harris did not respond directly, but she described Trump's involvement in the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.
"Donald Trump incited a violent mob to try and undo the will of the people and undo the results of a free and fair election," she said before she detailed examples that she said described his weakness and unfitness for a second term.
Charlamagne Tha God appeared to cast doubt over the election’s being free and fair, suggesting Trump would try to steal it, to which Harris responded: “It will be a free and fair election if we, the American people, stand up for that.”
Question of reparations for Black people 'has to be studied,' Harris says
During a radio interview moderated by Charlamagne Tha God, a listener asked Harris whether she supports reparations for Black people.
"I do have clear eyes about the disparities that exist and the context in which they exist," Harris said. "On the point of reparations, it has to be studied. There’s no question. And I’ve been very clear about that position."
She then laid out the Biden administration's efforts on racial bias and home appraisals and a series of economic policy positions, including providing down-payment assistance to first-time homebuyers.
Harris says 'yes' when asked whether Trump is about fascism
Charlamagne Tha God, who is hosting this evening's live interview with Harris, suggested that Trump is "about fascism," a comment Harris met with agreement.
"Donald Trump is about taking us backward," he said, adding that Trump is "about fascism."
"Why can't we just say it?" Charlamagne Tha God said, to which Harris responded, "Yes, we can say that."
DNC steps up pressure on Jill Stein with battleground billboards
After it launched a TV ad attacking her last week, the Democratic National Committee this week commissioned billboards in battleground states portraying Green Party Nominee Jill Stein as a stalking horse for Trump.
"Jill Stein helped Trump once. Don't let her do it again," read the billboards, which will appear in Detroit, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Phoenix and smaller cities.
Democrats have traditionally ignored third-party candidates, but they changed that approach this year, believing they contributed to the party's only two presidential losses in the 21st century, in 2000 and 2016, when the number of votes won by the Green and Libertarian parties outstripped the Republican candidates' winning margins in key states.
“We’ve seen it before. In 2016, Donald Trump’s margin of victory was 77,000 votes in the blue wall states — Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania. Jill Stein secured 132,000 votes. Stein won’t win this election, but she can decide who does," DNC senior adviser Mary Beth Cahill said in a statement.
Harris says she'll work toward decriminalizing marijuana
Harris said in an iHeart Radio interview with Charlamagne Tha God that she plans to work on decriminalizing marijuana if she wins the election.
"I will work on decriminalizing it, because I know exactly how those laws have been used to disproportionately impact certain populations, and specifically Black men," Harris said in the live interview in Detroit.
The Justice Department this year moved toward reclassifying marijuana as lower-risk. Cannabis for years has been classified in a category that includes drugs like heroin.
DOJ to monitor voting in Ohio county where sheriff suggested residents keep list of homes with Harris yard signs
The Justice Department said today that it will monitor compliance with federal voting rights laws in Portage County, Ohio, during early voting and on Election Day.
Voters in Portage County raised concerns about “intimidation resulting from the surveillance and the collection of personal information regarding voters, as well as threats concerning the electoral process,” the Justice Department said, adding that such action is prohibited by the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
In a since-deleted public Facebook post last month, Sheriff Bruce Zuchowski suggested that residents compile lists of addresses where they saw yard signs in support of the Democratic ticket. He also made disparaging remarks about Harris and used anti-immigrant rhetoric in his post.
Zuchowski, who has expressed support for Trump, had previously posted photos on his Facebook page with Vance and Trump allies Michael Flynn and Vivek Ramaswamy.
Hakeem Jeffries pitches calm governance over chaos as Democrats seek the House majority
Reporting from Albuquerque, New Mexico
The way Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., sees it, House Democrats haven’t held the majority this Congress — but they’ve governed as if they did.
From avoiding government shutdowns to raising the nation’s debt limit to passing an annual defense authorization bill, “we’ve been required to consistently rise to the occasion,” Jeffries said in an interview during a recent campaign stop here. “Democrats have provided the support necessary, almost overwhelmingly in most instances, in order to get things done.”
Now, he wants the gavel to go with the governing.
Ex-special prosecutor in Trump Georgia case testifies behind closed doors
Former Fulton County, Georgia, special prosecutor Nathan Wade sat for a closed-door interview with the GOP-led House Judiciary Committee for about 4½ hours today.
The committee is probing Wade’s personal relationship with Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. They oversaw the investigation that led to Trump’s indictment on charges he interfered in the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.
Wade did not talk to reporters on his way out. His attorney, former Georgia Gov. Roy Barnes, a Democrat, said: “We gave our testimony, cooperated and we’re through.”
Last night, the Judiciary Committee posted on X a copy of Willis’ letter to chair Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, expressing her concerns about the testimony while prosecutions are pending.
“There are extremely compelling reasons why congressional committees should avoid—and many historically have avoided—interference with ongoing criminal matters,” Willis wrote.
“Mr. Wade has been instructed to not to answer any questions about his role in the election interference case or about any evidence in that case,” she continued. “My legal duty to protect the secrecy and integrity of all criminal investigations has been bestowed upon me by Federal, State and Local law — and, I have no interest in waiving this responsibility for your politically motivated tactics.”
Trump Media stock plunges suddenly after recent surge
Shares of Truth Social parent company Trump Media plummeted suddenly this afternoon, ending the day down nearly 10% at about $27 a share.
The stock had been up about 13% on the day before its sudden swing down, triggering a trading halt on the shares on the Nasdaq stock exchange. It's unclear what pushed the stock down. Trump's new crypto project, meanwhile, got off to a rough start today, marked by technical problems and low participation.
Trump Media shares have been on a tear of late, having more than doubled in price since they hit their low point for the year Sept. 24. Trump is the biggest shareholder in Trump Media, with a stake of about 57% — equivalent to more than $3 billion at today's close.
Trump has vowed not to sell his shares, even though he has been free to do so since Sept. 19. He posted at 1:37 a.m. ET today on Truth Social: "I LOVE TRUTH, THE REAL VOICE OF AMERICA."
Harris campaign deploys Obama and Bill Clinton again for swing state events
The Harris campaign has organized two campaign events with two former presidents: Barack Obama and Bill Clinton.
On Thursday, Clinton will join Walz at a rally in Durham, North Carolina, where, the campaign said, they'll encourage people to cast their votes early in the battleground state.
Next Tuesday, on the first day of early voting in the swing state of Wisconsin, Obama will travel with Walz to rally voters in Madison, also urging people to vote early, before Nov. 5.
Walz says 'outsiders' Trump and Vance take rural voters for granted
Speaking at a farm in Pennsylvania, Walz criticized Trump and Vance for not having the connection he has with rural communities. He called them "outsiders" and referred to Vance as a "venture capitalist cosplaying like he's a cowboy."
"They don’t respect rural communities. And I’ll tell you what, they take a hell of a lot of their voters for granted by the policies they put out that don’t do a damn thing for rural Pennsylvania or rural Minnesota or any place in this country," he said.
Walz also mentioned Trump's town hall last night, when Trump stayed onstage for over 30 minutes while music played in the background. Walz said it would be "funny" if Trump weren't running to be president.
Former KKK leader David Duke endorses Jill Stein
Former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke endorsed Green Party nominee Jill Stein over Trump this week, citing their stances on Israel — but Stein's campaign says it wants nothing to do with Duke, the former American Nazi Party member.
Duke, a proudly antisemitic white supremacist, endorsed Trump in 2016 and 2020, but on his radio show yesterday, he slammed Trump's "subservience to Israel and to the Jewish lobby" and said only Stein would stand up to Israel and its "genocide" against Palestinians.
"I endorse for president of the United States Green Party candidate, Dr. Jill Stein," Duke said. "Although Dr. Stein and I obviously have our differences on important issues, she’s the only candidate who speaks clearly against the war in the Middle East."
Duke acknowledged that his endorsement of a far-left candidate — who, ironically, is Jewish — would "shock" even his supporters. But he said he put significant thought into "what’s good for white people, Europeans," and said his backing of Stein is "one of the most important statements that I have ever made politically."
Duke suggested that Trump, who has shown steadfast support for Israel, is now a puppet of what he baselessly alleges to be a vast global Jewish conspiracy that he called "the greatest threat to us and to all mankind."
Trump stumbled in 2016 when he seemed reluctant to immediately disown Duke's endorsement.
Stein’s campaign manager, Jason Call, disavowed the endorsement and called Duke "trash."
"We had no idea about this and are very, very not interested in David Duke's endorsement," Call told NBC News.
Arizona GOP to forgo election night party, diverting funds to campaigns
The Arizona Republican Party announced today that it will forgo an election night party, instead channeling the funds to various Republican campaigns in the state.
“We believe it’s more important to invest every resource we have into ensuring our candidates’ victories rather than hosting a party,” Arizona GOP Chair Gina Swoboda said in a statement. “It’s all hands on deck until Election Day, and we’re laser-focused on winning up and down the ballot.”
The money will go toward boosting candidates’ efforts, mail campaigns, voter turnout initiatives and advertising against a proposition to introduce ranked-choice voting, the party said.
Pro-Hamas group that helped organize college protests is a ‘sham charity,’ Treasury says
A pro-Hamas organization that has helped organize protests on American college campuses is a “sham charity” that fundraises for a terrorist group, the Treasury Department said today.
In a joint action, the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network was sanctioned by the Treasury Department and listed as a terrorist entity by the government of Canada, where it is based.
The Treasury Department said today that Samidoun is a front organization and fundraiser for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which the U.S. deemed a terrorist organization in 1997 and 2001.
U.S. warns Israel it may restrict military aid if Gaza humanitarian situation doesn’t improve
The Biden administration has warned Israel that if the humanitarian situation in Gaza doesn’t improve within the next 30 days, the U.S. may restrict military assistance to Israel.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a letter Sunday to Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Israel’s minister of strategic affairs, Ron Dermer, that the U.S. must continually assess under its own law whether Israel is “directly or indirectly” impeding the transport of U.S. humanitarian assistance to Gaza. If it is, they warned the U.S. could halt additional foreign military financing, according to two U.S. officials and a defense official.
The Biden administration sent a similar warning to Israeli officials in April ahead of a required report, and the U.S. ultimately determined the actions taken by Israel to improve the humanitarian situation afterward met the requirements under the law.
Trump pushes back on questions about his age
The day after his bizarre music listening session at a town hall in Pennsylvania, Trump brushed off questions about his age during a Bloomberg interview on the economy in Chicago.
Asked today if he would appoint a CEO who's 78, like himself, Trump said he would — but not one like Joe Biden. That's not because of his age, he insisted. "I never attacked him on his age," Trump said. "I attacked him on his lack of competence."
Trump said he'd already taken two cognitive tests and "aced them both" but did not say when he took them and has not released them publicly.
As he's done previously, he suggested Harris, who's about 20 years younger than him, would not be able to pass one. "I don’t think she could pass a cognitive test," he said.
Harris released a summary of her medical history this weekend, while Trump has not put out a comprehensive report on his health. A Harris campaign adviser said after Trump's Pennsylvania event that voters "are seeing a diminished Trump, one who rambles for hours at end, makes no sense, freezes for 30 minutes and forces people to listen to his Spotify playlist."
Trump says Jan. 6, 2021, was full of 'love and peace'
At his interview with Bloomberg News' editor-in-chief, John Micklethwait, Trump dodged the question on whether he would accept the election results this year and insisted he did have a peaceful transfer of power after the last one, when his supporters overran the U.S. Capitol, battled police and rioted for hours.
"The primary scene in Washington was hundreds of thousands, the largest group of people I've ever spoken before, and I've spoken before, and it was love and peace," he said.
Trump also referred to his line at the rally in which he called on his supporters to march to the Capitol "peacefully and patriotically" to "make your voices heard."
He again referred to the 2020 election as "100% crooked" and repeated false claims that rioters were waved in by police and not armed.
"Some people went to the Capitol, and a lot of strange things happened there," Trump said. "A lot of strange things, with people being waved into the Capitol by police, with people screaming 'Go in' that never got into trouble."
Exclusive: ISIS-K directed alleged Election Day plot in the U.S., sources say
ISIS-K, the Afghan branch of ISIS, was directing an Afghan man’s plot for an Election Day attack in the United States prior to that man’s arrest by the FBI last week, according to two senior U.S. officials briefed on the matter.
The revelation that a foreign terror organization was in communication with a would-be attacker inside the United States makes this alleged plot different from most of the terrorism cases in the past decade. Most of those plots involved people who self-radicalized online or were self-directed in their attempts.
Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, 27, was arrested by the FBI last week in Oklahoma and is accused of planning to purchase two AK-47 rifles, 10 magazines and ammunition, and carry out a mass shooting attack on Election Day targeting large groups of people, according to court documents and Tawhedi’s alleged statements to the FBI after his arrest.
The charging documents say Tawhedi told the FBI that he was communicating with a person named “Malik” and that he knew “Malik” was affiliated with ISIS. Tawhedi has not yet had his arraignment and no plea has been entered in his case.
When asked about ISIS-K’s direct involvement in the case, an FBI spokesperson declined to comment.
The emergence of ISIS-K as a deadly terrorist organization plotting and directing attacks worldwide has been a growing problem, multiple U.S. officials have previously told NBC News.
In March, the group directed an attack that killed 130 people and injured hundreds more at Crocus City Hall concert venue near Moscow, Russia. It also launched an attack in Iran this year that killed dozens, and other high-profile attacks have been disrupted in Europe.
Arizona lawyers keep distance from GOP’s ‘election integrity’ operation amid concern over Kari Lake’s fraud claims
PRESCOTT VALLEY, Ariz. — Multiple Republican lawyers in Arizona say they and others who were involved in the party’s election litigation efforts in past cycles are keeping their distance this time around, in large part due to Senate candidate Kari Lake’s history of spurious fraud claims.
Earlier this month, Kory Langhofer resigned his position as the chief legal counsel for former President Donald Trump and the Republican National Committee’s “election integrity” operation in Arizona. He is now among more than a dozen Republican lawyers in the state who were a part of the GOP’s Arizona litigation team in past election cycles, including in 2020 and 2022, but are not slated to participate in its efforts this fall.
It’s a dynamic that has created uncertainty around the party’s much-touted legal efforts in a key state in the battle for the White House and the Senate weeks out from Election Day.
Vance participates in town hall with Moms for America
Vance will sit for a town hall today with the conservative parents-rights group Moms for America.
The event will be held in Lafayette Hill, Pennsylvania.
Trump to rally Friday in Detroit, a city he trashed during a recent visit
Trump will hold a rally in Detroit at 7 p.m. EST on Friday, his campaign announced today.
When he visited last week, Trump compared the city to a developing nation and claimed the “whole country will end up being like Detroit” if Harris wins. He also said, “You’re going to have a mess on your hands.” Trump’s remarks have continued a trend in rhetoric he has expressed about large, Democratic-run cities.
Harris will make a campaign stop in Detroit today to speak with Black entrepreneurs and return to the city on Saturday for an event to kick off early voting in Michigan.
Trump says he won't comment on Putin calls
At an event at the Economic Club of Chicago with Bloomberg News, Trump said he wouldn't comment on whether or not he called Putin multiple times after he left office.
"Well, I don’t comment on that, but I will tell you that if I did, it’s a smart thing," he said. "If I’m friendly with people. If I can have a relationship with people, that’s a good thing, not a bad thing in terms of a country."
Last week, journalist Bob Woodward released reporting that Trump had spoken to Putin at least seven times, including most recently this year.
Harris to sit for live radio interview with Charlamagne Tha God
Harris will be interviewed this afternoon by “The Breakfast Club” host Charlamagne Tha God in Detroit.
The live interview comes as Harris' campaign is ramping up its pitch to Black men in the final stretch of the 2024 race.
Mark Robinson files $50M defamation lawsuit against CNN
North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson is suing CNN over a report alleging he made a series of inflammatory and sexually graphic comments on a pornography website’s message board.
The defamation lawsuit, filed today in Wake County Superior Court, is seeking $50 million in damages.
At a news conference announcing the suit, Robinson — the Republican nominee for North Carolina governor — described CNN’s report as a “high-tech lynching on a candidate who has been targeted from day one by folks who disagree with me politically and want to see me destroyed.”
Jesse Binnall, Robinson’s lawyer, said an investigation has shown “a number of inconsistencies” in CNN’s report. He added that CNN declined to retract the article or grant access to the data used in the reporting.
“I’m saying that a left-wing media outlet is going to do everything they can to stop this man from being governor, because they know that this man has an ability to connect with voters in a way that, quite frankly, scares them, and they don’t want him to be involved in politics at any level,” Binnall said.
A CNN spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
According to the CNN KFile investigation, Robinson referred to himself as a “black NAZI!” and “perv,” among other explicit comments, on the pornographic website Nude Africa. He has repeatedly denied the report.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told NBC News’ “Meet the Press” days after CNN’s report published that Robinson “has an obligation to defend himself,” adding that the lieutenant governor would be "unfit to serve" if the allegations were true, but should sue the network if not.
Trump’s bizarre music session reignites questions about his mental acuity
Trump’s campaign wants its candidate to talk more about policy, but on Monday night it was all about the music.
Trump was in Oaks, Pennsylvania, to host the type of town hall event his advisers hope will keep the former president on track talking both about his policy positions and those of his opponent, Harris. But the evening quickly took a bizarre turn after two rallygoers had medical issues.
Rather than continue after paramedics assisted the two people, Trump instructed his staff to just play music from a playlist he has personally curated and famously often turns on during dinners at Mar-a-Lago.
“Who the hell wants to hear questions?” Trump said at the event where the entire point was to take audience questions. “Right?”
What followed was more than 30 minutes of Trump swaying onstage and occasionally doing his well-known two-handed dance to some of his favorite tunes, chatting with the event’s host, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, and occasionally interacting with attendees who were seated behind the stage.
“This is the weirdest church service I have ever been to,” a first-time rallygoer who did not give their name told NBC News of the music portion of the event, which opened with “Ave Maria.”
Local election officials in Georgia must certify results, judge rules
County election boards in Georgia are not allowed to refuse to certify election results, a state judge ruled on Tuesday.
Concerns of fraud or abuse are to be settled in court, the judge said, not by county officials acting unilaterally.
“If election superintendents were, as Plaintiff urges, free to play investigator, prosecutor, jury, and judge and so — because of a unilateral determination of error or fraud — refuse to certify election results, Georgia voters would be silenced. Our Constitution and our Election Code do not allow for that to happen,” Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney said in his order.
Trump says he's not thinking about Election Day in 'all-out' final sprint
As the final days of the campaign season dwindle, Trump said he tries not to think too much about Election Day itself and has avoided taking time off in the final push to win over voters ahead of Nov. 5.
The former president was responding to a question from the hosts of the Barstool Sports “Bussin’ With the Boys” podcast on whether he gets nerves or pregame jitters ahead of the first votes being tallied.
“In some ways, you don’t want to think of it, right?” Trump said. “I don’t want to really even think about it. I don’t. I just do. I go from day to day, I do what I have to do. I work hard — I’m a hard worker, always been. So I’ve gone like 36 days in a row with no rest.”
“It’s an all-out run,” he added. “It’s an all — you would say it’s an all-out sprint, and it is, it’s an all-out sprint. We’re sprinting to the finish line, and we’re almost there.”
Trump pretaped the interview last week on the same day he spoke to the Detroit Economic Club.
Gen Z advocacy group launches TikTok campaign against voting for Jill Stein
A young-voter advocacy group backing Vice President Kamala Harris is launching a campaign on TikTok meant to target young voters — but not necessarily those backing Trump.
Voters of Tomorrow released a series of videos Tuesday aimed at convincing young supporters of Green Party candidate Jill Stein to back Harris, working to rebrand the third-party nominee as a “scammer.”
“She’s literally worse than Elizabeth Holmes, the Fyre Fest guys and Anna Delvey combined,” 21-year-old Katy Gates said in one of the campaign’s videos. “Despite the sweet old lady look, she’s been scamming the entire country for over eight years.”
Harris embarks on battleground blitz this week
After rallying in Erie yesterday, Harris will continue her battleground state blitz this week with a series of campaign events in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin and Georgia
Today: Harris will stop in Detroit to speak with Black entrepreneurs.
Tomorrow: Harris will visit Philadelphia for a campaign event.
Thursday: Harris will host an event in Milwaukee and rally in Green Bay and La Crosse.
Friday: Harris will return to Michigan to rally in Grand Rapids and make stops in Lansing and Oakland County.
Saturday: Harris will kick off early voting in Michigan with an event in Detroit and then head to Atlanta for another event.
Trump's day: An interview, a town hall and a rally
Trump will sit for an interview with Bloomberg Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait at the Economic Club of Chicago.
He will then head to Cumming, Georgia, to tape a town hall with Fox News before holding a rally in Atlanta.
First to NBC News: Obama cuts ad for Arizona Democratic Senate candidate Ruben Gallego
Reporting from Phoenix
Rep. Ruben Gallego, the Democrats' Senate nominee in Arizona, released a new digital ad today featuring former President Barack Obama.
In a minutelong spot shared first with NBC News that will run throughout the state, Obama touts Gallego’s military experience.
“As commander in chief, I had the honor of working with so many dedicated Marines, soldiers, public servants, and veterans,” says the 44th president in the ad. “In Congress, Ruben has proven that he’ll stand up to corporate price gouging and work to lower costs for families. The guy is tough and a proven fighter.”
Gallego served as a Marine between 2002 and 2006. He deployed to Iraq in 2005 and often leans on his military experience on the campaign trail.
Obama has begun to ramp up his activity for Democrats up and down the ballot in the closing weeks of the election. He has also recorded ads for Democratic Senate candidates in Florida, Maryland and Michigan.
The former president is scheduled to campaign for Harris in Tucson, Arizona, on Friday.
Campaigning in Pennsylvania, Walz to announce Harris' plans for rural America
Walz is campaigning in Pennsylvania, attending three events in the western part of the battleground state, including in Butler County, where a gunman attempted to assassinate Trump during a campaign rally in July.
At a farm in Lawrence County, Walz is set to unveil Harris' "Plan for Rural America" and plans to attack Trump and Vance's record in other rural communities.
The plan seeks to add 10,000 health care workers in rural areas and expand access to telemedicine. The proposal also aims to lower child care costs and expand the Child Tax Credit, lower the costs of buying a home, and boost access to markets, credit and land for farmers and producers.
"I know, and Vice President Harris knows, the work our rural neighbors do is tough under the very best of conditions" Walz is expected to say, according to excerpts provided by a Harris-Walz campaign official. "And we owe them our full support to ensure that they can find opportunity right in their hometowns.”
“Now, recently, there’s been a lot of talk of outsiders coming into rural communities, stealing jobs away, and making life worse for the people living there," he'll say. “Those outsiders’ names are Donald Trump and JD Vance.”
Before the event, Walz is scheduled to participate in a series of rural radio interviews in the battleground states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin and Georgia to discuss the proposals.
The campaign has also launched a new radio ad targeting rural voters in those battleground states and the swing state of North Carolina.
Trump comments on his town hall event that turned into a music party
Trump just commented on the town hall event he participated in last night in which a two attendees suffered medical events and he decided amid the emergency response to play music and listen to it rather than take questions, a situation that went on for about 40 minutes.
“I had a Town Hall in Pennsylvania last night. It was amazing! The Q and A was almost finished when people began fainting from the excitement and heat. We started playing music while we waited, and just kept it going. So different, but it ended up being a GREAT EVENING!” he posted on Truth Social.
McConnell's super PAC spends another $10.5 million in Michigan Senate race
The Senate Leadership Fund, the super PAC of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is spending another $10.5 million in Michigan’s toss-up Senate race between GOP former Rep. Mike Rogers and Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin, according to an SLF spokesperson.
“Michigan is competitive" the super PAC’s president, Steven Law, told NBC News in a statement. "Michiganders don’t like that Elissa Slotkin has consistently voted for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’ green energy agenda. These voters are looking for a change from the Democrat status quo.”
The Senate Leadership Fund's latest spending was first reported by Axios.
In interviews with NBC over the weekend, both candidates weighed in on their race, with Rogers praising Trump and Slotkin applauding Harris' impact as a "sea change" from Biden's campaign.
The two contenders, who debated each other last night, are virtually tied in most polls.
Trump to host high-dollar N.Y. fundraiser as part of MSG event
Trump and Vance are hosting a fundraiser in New York as part of his Madison Square Garden event Oct. 27. The top give is $924,600 for the “ultra MAGA experience,” per the invite. The least expensive ticket is $5,000.
Trump says he's healthier than Clinton, Bush, Obama, Biden and Harris
In a pair of Truth Social posts this morning, Trump appeared unwilling to release any further medical information about himself despite Harris' release of her medical records over the weekend and her calling on him to do the same.
“As to her completely desperate request for my Medical Statements, she is dying to see my Cholesterol (which is 180!), I have already provided them, many times, including quite recently, and they were flawless," he wrote.
The former president suggested that Harris has health issues, referring to her report that she's dealing with urticaria (also known has hives), allergic rhinitis and allergic conjunctivitis, which Trump calls “a very messy and dangerous situation.”
"These are deeply serious conditions that clearly impact her functioning," he wrote. All of them are common allergic reactions that aren't serious conditions.
"I am far healthier than Clinton, Bush, Obama, Biden, but especially, Kamala. Also, I am far too busy campaigning to take time, from the 22 days left, as I am using every hour, of every day, campaigning, because we have to take back our Country from the Radical Left people that are destroying it. MAGA2024!," he wrote in a second post.
Trump turns political event into surreal listening party
Trump turned a town hall event in front of supporters in Oaks, Pennsylvania, into an impromptu listening party Monday night, playing a unlikely selection of tunes for more than 30 minutes after the event was paused for medical emergencies.
Trump is famed for his lengthy and unorthodox political rallies, but none have followed such an unusual format, featuring the Republican nominee swaying along and occasionally punching the air to songs including the Village People’s “YMCA,” Sinead O’Connor’s “Nothing Compares 2 U” and “Memory,” from the musical “Cats.”
The event was meant to be a Q&A focused on Trump’s policy platform, but during a pause while two people received medical attention, Trump told the crowd: “Let’s not do any more questions. Let’s just listen to music. Let’s make it into our music. Who the hell wants to hear questions? Right?”
Democratic nominee Harris said on her campaign’s X account that Trump rambled and “looked confused” on stage during the event.
Republican campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said on X the event showed “something special” was happening. “@realDonaldTrump is unlike any politician in history, and it’s great,” he said.
How Trump allies stoked election chaos in Detroit in 2020 — and what they’re planning in 2024
At 10:04 a.m. the day after the 2020 election, Trump tweeted he was “leading” in the vote count in several “Democrat run & controlled” states — until, that is, “surprise ballot dumps” took those leads away. The implication that something nefarious was happening was categorically false. But primed by months of Trump’s baseless warnings about massive voter fraud and his false claim hours earlier that he’d won the election, Michigan Republicans answered the call.
They hurried to the convention hall in downtown Detroit, then known as the TCF Center, where more than 170,000 mail ballots in America’s largest majority-Black city were being counted. Millions had voted by mail for the first time in 2020, and the new processes in Michigan seemed foreign to them.
What followed was chaos. Trump supporters furiously alleged a campaign of fraud when none existed. When officials declared that the room was over capacity and stopped letting Republican and Democratic poll observers in, Trump’s backers felt their fears were validated: They started arguing with police and election officials, banging on windows and chanting “stop the count” outside a room of poll workers tabulating military ballots.
Man arrested near Trump rally denies he was trying to assassinate the former president
Vem Miller, the man arrested near former Trump’s rally Saturday in Coachella, California, denied in an online video yesterday that he was trying to assassinate Trump.
Miller, 49, of Nevada, who was arrested on state weapons charges a quarter-mile from the rally, said he is a longtime supporter of Trump. He said that he was invited to the rally by Republican officials in Nevada and that “false and defamatory statements have been released by the police in the region.”
“I’m a Trump caucus captain. I’ve collected votes for Donald Trump, and I’m also a Trump team leader,” Miller said in the video. “It is with that that I decided to come to Coachella after receiving a special invitation from members of the Nevada Republican Party.”
NBC News was not able to verify Miller’s claim that he worked as a Trump caucus captain or a Trump team leader and that he was invited to the rally.
In an interview later in the day, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco stood by his statements that his deputies may have prevented a third attempt to assassinate Trump.
“We do know that he showed up with multiple IDs, an unlicensed, unregistered vehicle with fake plates and weapons and ammunition,” Bianco said in an interview with NBC Los Angeles. “In the end, we found the person with all those monstrous red flags and we were able to arrest him on weapons charges and get him away from the facility before the president got there.”
Democrats see path to victory in tough Florida Senate race
In a memo to supporters, shared first with NBC News, former Democratic Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell's Senate campaign in Florida argues that a late fundraising boost to her campaign could push her to victory next month.
The memo comes the same day that a new campaign ad funded jointly by Mucarsel-Powell's campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is set to launch. The ad paints her opponent, GOP Sen. Rick Scott, as a "snake" who is "squeezing" Florida families.
The DSCC, the campaign arm for Senate Democrats, announced weeks ago that it would invest "millions" in the Florida and Texas Senate races, which are both considered long-shot seats for Democrats to flip.
Mucarsel-Powell's campaign said in today's memo that it's having an impact on voters.
"When asked to describe any negative things they’re heard or seen about Rick Scott, Florida voters overwhelmingly mentioned the terms 'Social Security,' 'Medicare,' and 'abortion,'" campaign manager Ben Waldon wrote in the memo, highlighting the top three issues Mucarsel-Powell's campaign has hammered the senator on.
The memo also points to Scott's history of winning statewide races by slim margins and the idea that with rising rates of independent voters in the state, Mucarsel-Powell could win with a majority of their support.
In a statement, an adviser to Scott's campaign, Chris Hartline, highlighted a Scott-funded ad currently on the airwaves that's focused on hurricane recovery.
Hartline told NBC News, "This is a pretty sad display from a desperate candidate staring another loss in the face. Senator Scott is focused on supporting Floridians recovering from back to back hurricanes. Debbie’s science fiction memo is not worth wasting time responding to.”
Poll: Half of voters plan to cast their ballots early — with a stark partisan divide
Americans are more eager to vote early than they were before the pandemic, but a deep partisan divide on early voting remains, the latest national NBC News poll shows.
With not even a month to go before Election Day, 5% of registered voters said they had already cast their ballots (3% by mail and 2% in person), according to the new poll, which surveyed people between Oct. 4-8.
Another 47% said they plan to vote early (20% by mail and 27% in person).
Trump’s dark rhetoric about big cities returns to the campaign trail
When Trump visited Detroit last week, he unfurled a string of insults.
He compared the city, which is 77% Black, to a developing nation and posited that the “whole country will end up being like Detroit” if Harris wins.
If there was any question whether Trump thinks this is good or bad, he quickly clarified.
“You’re going to have a mess on your hands,” the former president said.
Trump’s comments continued a long-running and racially charged message in which he trashes large, Democratic-run cities. Such rhetoric was a staple of his unsuccessful re-election campaign in 2020, when he warned of crime and low-income housing spilling into the suburbs, indulging fears that decades earlier had prompted “white flight” migration from the inner cities.
Including Detroit, Trump this year has pointedly attacked the most populous cities in three battleground states crucial to winning the White House: Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. He denigrated Philadelphia as “ravaged by bloodshed and crime” and maligned Milwaukee as “horrible” before he traveled there for the Republican National Convention.