With three weeks to go before the US election, and with the outcome on a knife edge, Kamala Harris has admitted her race against Donald Trump is “tight”. Listen to our latest podcast on the election as you scroll.
Tuesday 15 October 2024 23:59, UK
Barack Obama and Bill Clinton are planning to join Tim Walz on the campaign trail over the next week as early voting in battleground states gets under way.
Mr Walz – the Democratic vice presidential nominee – and Mr Obama have planned a rally in the Wisconsin capital of Madison next Tuesday, when voters can start casting their early ballots.
The state has backed the winning candidate every year since 2008.
On Thursday, former president Bill Clinton will also join Mr Walz at a rally in Durham, North Carolina, where the campaign said they’ll encourage people to cast early votes.
Read more about the pivotal states that could decide the election:
Trading in shares of Donald Trump’s media company was briefly paused today after its shares plummeted suddenly in the afternoon.
Shares of Trump Media, the parent company of Mr Trump’s Truth Social platform, ended the day down by nearly 10% despite decent gains earlier in the day.
They had been up around 13% on the day before ahead of the sudden drop, which triggered a trading halt on its shares on the Nasdaq stock exchange.
It’s unclear what pushed the stock down.
Trump Media shares have been experiencing a major comeback in recent weeks after hitting a low point last month.
More now from that radio interview with Kamala Harris, where the vice president has agreed with a suggestion by host Charlamagne Tha God that Donald Trump is “about fascism”.
“Why can’t we just say it?” he said.
“Yes, we can say that,” Ms Harris replied.
It came after she said her vision as president was about taking the US “forward” and “investing in the American people”, while Mr Trump was “taking us backward”.
Ms Harris called Mr Trump “weak” and said he was running a campaign focused on “instilling fear”.
Questioned on why she doesn’t push back against the former president for repeatedly referring to her as a failed “border czar” in his attack lines on immigration, she said: “If I respond to every name he called me, I wouldn’t be focused on the things that actually help the American people.”
The vice president was also asked whether she supports reparations for black people.
“I do have clear eyes about the disparities that exist and the context in which they exist,” she said. “On the point of reparations, it has to be studied. There’s no question. And I’ve been very clear about that position.”
Ms Harris then laid out the Biden administration’s past efforts on racial bias and home appraisals, and a series of economic policy positions.
As we mentioned in our previous post, Kamala Harris is sitting down this evening for a radio town hall in Detroit hosted by Charlamagne Tha God.
“This is a margin-of-error race. It’s tight. I’m gonna win. I’m gonna win, but it’s tight,” the vice president told him.
She said what is at stake in the 5 November election is “truly profound and historic”.
Ms Harris has faced criticism during her campaign for largely sticking to the script during media appearances.
Asked what she would say to people who say she stays “on the talking points”, Ms Harris replied: “I would say you’re welcome.”
“That would be called discipline,” she said, adding that repetition was important for points she wanted to get across to voters.
She was also asked how she felt about being parodied by comedian Maya Rudolph on US show Saturday Night Live.
“Hasn’t Maya Rudolph been wonderful? I have nothing but admiration for the comedy,” she responded.
Kamala Harris is in Detroit for the first of several scheduled appearances in Michigan this week, as she looks to shore up voters in one of the US’s key battleground states.
This evening she is being interviewed by radio host Charlamagne Tha God in a town-hall style radio show, which we’ll bring you the key lines from as they come.
Our US correspondent Mark Stone says Michigan, which Joe Biden won by three points in 2020, is a “fascinating state”.
“There’s a very, very tight margin,” he says.
He adds that there are “three key demographics” in Michigan that Ms Harris “should think she has in the bag, but may not”.
Arab-American vote
This demographic is “really important” for the vice president and makes up around 3% of the electorate, Stone explains.
“[They’re] very worried about the Middle East and many of them are saying they will not vote for her.”
White working class union members
These are also a key demographic, says Stone.
“They allowed Biden to carry the state by that small margin four years ago. They too, it is suggested, are fed up with the Democrats,” he says.
Black vote
Ms Harris’s campaign is worried about slipping support from black voters.
Stone says a “growing number” of black men, particularly young black men, are deciding they want to choose Donald Trump over Ms Harris.
“The reason? The economy. They are worried about their back pocket,” he says.
“They don’t buy this idea that he is racist. If he is racist, they say ‘well, so what? Maybe he’s not perfect’, but they are thinking about the economy.
“In places like Detroit, in the suburbs, they are hurting and they think Donald Trump is the answer.”
Tim Walz has criticised Donald Trump and his running mate JD Vance for not having the connection he has with rural communities in the US.
The vice presidential nominee is in Pennsylvania today to unveil his ticket’s plan to improve the lives of rural Americans.
He called Mr Trump and Mr Vance “outsiders” and referred to Mr 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.
He vowed that he and Kamala Harris would “have rural America’s back” if they win the election.
Walz pokes fun at Trump over ‘background checks’
During the rally, Mr Walz also mocked Mr Trump for not being able to pass a background check due to the criminal cases against him.
“The vice president and I can pass them. On the other side of the ticket? You know the 34 felonies? He can’t pass a background check,” he said.
His remarks came during a discussion about gun ownership and safety.
As the US election campaign enters its final weeks, Donald Trump says 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 5 November.
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?” Mr Trump said.
“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.”
He added that it was an “all-out sprint” to the finish line.
Mr Trump pre-recorded the interview last week.
Early in-person voting kicked off in the key swing states of Georgia and North Carolina this week, with thousands already casting their ballot weeks before the big day.
Officials in Georgia say a record 204,793 votes had been cast today as of 7.30pm UK time (2.30pm local time).
A recent poll by our US partner network NBC News revealed 52% of US voters are planning to cast their ballots early this year, with 44% planning to vote in person on election day.
An Afghan man arrested on charges of planning a terrorist attack on election day was being directed by IS-K, the Afghanistan branch of Islamic State, two senior US officials have told our US partner network NBC News.
Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, 27, was arrested last week in Oklahoma and accused of plotting to kill Americans in a mass shooting attack on behalf of IS.
He was detained as he was planning on purchasing two AK-47 rifles, 10 magazines, and ammunition in relation to the planned attack, according to court documents and Tawhedi’s alleged statements to the FBI.
An FBI spokesperson declined to comment when asked about IS-K’s involvement in the case.
In March, the group was responsible for an attack on a concert venue near Moscow, Russia, that killed 130 people.
According to charging documents, Tawhedi told the FBI that he was communicating with a person named “Malik” and that he knew “Malik” was affiliated with IS. Tawhedi has not yet had his arraignment and no plea has been entered.
Donald Trump claims he has taken and “aced” two cognitive tests and has reiterated calls for Kamala Harris to take one.
Mr Trump was asked at a business-focused event at the Economic Club of Chicago whether he would appoint a company chief executive who was his age – 78.
The former president said he would but it “depends”, and added that he wouldn’t appoint his ex-rival Joe Biden as he is “in bad shape”.
“But some of the smartest people I know… I know a man who made all his money when he was 80 to 90,” he said.
He insisted he “never attacked” Mr Biden for his age before he dropped out of the presidential race. “In fact I used to defend him on his age, I attacked him for his lack of competence,” Mr Trump added.
“If you look throughout history, some of our great world leaders are in their 80s,” he continued.
It’s rare for country leaders to retain their positions into their 80s. Currently, only a handful of leaders are in such a position now, including Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran (85), Paul Biya, the president of Cameroon (91), and Irish president Michael D Higgins (83).
Mr Trump then said he “took two cognitive tests and aced them both”.
“I think that frankly people, regardless if they’re 50 or 40, I think people should take cognitive tests, not because of the age but because of something else.
“I don’t think she could pass a cognitive test,” he said, referring to Ms Harris.
It echoes comments Mr Trump made yesterday, when he said it was “very important” that his opponent passes a test on her “cognitive stamina and ability”.
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