Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump took their presidential campaigns back to Pennsylvania on Monday. About 7 million votes are up for grabs in the election's largest battleground state, where mail-in voting is well underway.
Harris spoke in Erie while Trump held a town hall in suburban Philadelphia.
Harris unveiled a plan intended to empower Black men. President Joe Biden received strong support from Black men in 2020, but Harris' advisers believe some African American men would rather withhold their vote than support either Harris or Trump.
Meanwhile, a recent poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander adults are more likely than the overall U.S. population to view legal immigration as a “major benefit” that contributes to economic growth. Trump has focused on the threat of immigration in his campaign.
Follow the AP’s Election 2024 coverage at: https://apnews.com/hub/election-2024.
Here’s the latest:
Trump ended his town hall with an impromptu concert
While taking audience questions in Oaks, Pennsylvania, Trump was twice interrupted for medical emergencies in the room. He waited on stage along with South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, who was moderating the event, while medics assisted.
During the first interruption, Trump requested “Ave Maria” be played and was answered with an instrumental version of the song. During the second incident, he said he meant Italian opera singer Luciano Pavarotti’s version of the tune. It was promptly tuned up.
Once Noem announced the second person was up and moving, Trump spoke for a few more minutes before calling for music to be played, as many in the crowd lingered, unsure whether he was done speaking.
“Those two people who went down are patriots,” Trump said after the music. “We love them. And because of them, we ended up with some great music, right?”
That’s when he called for the Village People’s “YMCA,” the song that plays at the end of all his rallies. Still, Trump remained, and so did much of the crowd.
“Nobody’s leaving,” Trump said. “What’s going on?”
More music played. Ninety-five minutes after Trump started speaking and 40 minutes after his town hall turned into a concert, Trump left the stage as “Memory” from the musical “Cats” played.
Vance backs Trump's idea of using the military to stop the ‘enemy from within’
Sen. JD Vance is defending Trump’s suggestion that the U.S. military may need to be used to deal with “ the enemy from within ” should Election Day be disturbed by agitators.
“Is it a justifiable use of those assets if they’re rioting and looting and burning cities down to the ground? Of course it is. Right?” Vance told reporters in Minneapolis when asked about comments made by Trump in a Fox News interview aired Sunday. “I think the question is, is it a justifiable use of assets, depends on what’s actually happening.”
Trump was asked in the Fox News interview about “outside agitators” potentially disrupting Election Day. He responded by speaking of the need to deal with what he called “the enemy from within.”
“I think the bigger problem is the enemy from within,” Trump said. He added: “We have some very bad people. We have some sick people, radical left lunatics. And I think they’re the big — and it should be very easily handled by, if necessary, by National Guard, or if really necessary, by the military, because they can’t let that happen.”
In Green Bay, Walz says he and Harris are the underdogs
Tim Walz began his speech at a downtown Green Bay convention center by noting his previous stop at Lambeau Field, home of the Green Bay Packers. The Minnesota governor joked that his staff told him not to say anything about his state's team, the Vikings, during the stop, to which he replied that would be akin to swearing in church.
He then launched into a litany of grievances against Donald Trump and his running mate, JD Vance, starting by questioning Trump’s mental acuity, saying the former president is forgetful and simply rants at his rallies until people leave.
He also attacked Trump's call to use U.S. troops to enforce domestic policies, saying such a move could amount to treason and is clearly “a call to violence.” He warned that Trump will “gut” the Affordable Care Act, impose tariffs on imports that will drive up costs of goods by thousands of dollars and cut Social Security benefits (which the former president has denied).
Walz also criticized Trump for bragging about invalidating Roe v. Wade, which essentially legalized abortion. He noted that the move has led to emergency rooms turning women away, leaving them to have miscarriages in parking lots and forcing them to carry pregnancies conceived through rape and incest to term.
Imploring the crowd to vote for Harris on Nov. 5 he said, “We are the underdogs.”
“For Christ’s sake, I’m a Vikings fan. We’re always the underdog.”
Harris visits a Black-owned small business in her effort to court Black men
Harris stopped by a newly opened coffee shop and record store in northwestern Erie, Pa., as she continued to seek support from Black men.
The visit to LegendErie Records and Coffee House, a Black-owned small business, came after her campaign unveiled a plan earlier Monday to give Black men more economic opportunities and other chances. The campaign is trying to build momentum among the key voting bloc.
She spoke with a small group of Black men from the area and bought a Marvin Gaye record.
The business, just opened five weeks ago, is the passion project of Ishmael and Allana Trainor, a married couple and Erie natives who returned to their hometown after living for years in Arizona.
Harris’ newly unveiled plan includes providing forgivable business loans for Black entrepreneurs, creating more apprenticeships and studying sickle cell and other diseases that disproportionately affect African American men.
Walz visits a Oneida Nation casino
Tim Walz stopped at a restaurant at the Oneida Nation casino in Green Bay on Monday, Indigenous Peoples Day, a holiday celebrating the original inhabitants of North America, observed by some in lieu of Columbus Day. He was joined by Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and tribal representatives.
He posted on X that he and Kamala Harris will “always honor tribal sovereignty and self-determination.”
The stop was part of Walz’s afternoon tour of swing state Wisconsin. He is expected to hold a rally at a convention center in downtown Green Bay early Monday evening.
Walz gives a wide-ranging interview to a Wisconsin TV station
Tim Walz gave a wide-ranging five-minute interview with Madison, Wisconsin, television station WISC-TV during a tour of the crucial swing state that included stops on the UW-Eau Claire campus and at Lambeau Field in Green Bay.
He said that he and Harris are making the best case for middle-class families no matter where they live in the United States, stating that middle-class families don’t want to see Trump repeal the Affordable Care Act and care about personal reproductive decisions.
Walz also said that his Midwestern personality helped him keep his debate with Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance civil and that Vance didn’t act like Trump. In another play to showcase his Midwest bona fide, Walz said Wisconsin-based fast-food chain Culver’s has the best mushroom-and-Swiss hamburger in the country.
Asked how he and Harris will capture the pro-Palestinian voters, Walz instead said that U.S. allies don’t trust Trump, dictators love him because he wants to be one of them and he has no plan. Walz also warned that Trump’s “horrific” tariff plan will hurt rural voters.
Vance attacks Walz while in Minnesota for a fundraiser
JD Vance visited Minnesota, the home state of his VP rival Monday for a fundraiser where he criticized Gov. Tim Walz for his response to the violence that followed the murder of George Floyd in 2020.
Vance stood outside the shell of a Minneapolis police station that was torched during the rioting, joined by several retired police officers and GOP candidate Joe Teirab, a former federal prosecutor who’s trying to unseat Democratic Rep. Angie Craig in the state’s most competitive congressional race.
“We have to remember that what this represents is the complete abandonment of basic public safety by the leadership of the state, including Gov. Tim Walz,” Vance said.
As president, Donald Trump praised Walz’s handling of the crisis in a conference call shortly after calm returned to the city, but Vance suggested that Trump was just being “polite.”
No GOP presidential candidate has carried Minnesota since President Richard Nixon in 1972, and no Minnesota Republican has won a statewide race since 2006.
While Vance said he wasn’t sure if Trump would return before Election Day, he said he thinks they “actually have a chance in Minnesota” but also acknowledged that they're “obviously rowing uphill.”
Harris to hone in on Trump's age and health
In her rally speech in Pennsylvania, Harris, 59, is expected to criticize Trump, 78, for only releasing limited information about his health over the years, a campaign official said.
The White House on Saturday released a letter from Harris’ doctor that summarizes her medical history and declared the vice president in “excellent health” and “possesses the physical and mental resiliency.”
If Trump, who is 78, were to be elected next month, he would be the oldest president in U.S. history by the time his term ended in 2029.
President Biden, 81, who dropped out of the presidential contest in July and endorsed Harris, was also dogged by concerns over his age.
Harris will criticize Trump's plans to expand use of the military on US soil
Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to use a campaign speech on Monday evening to spotlight former President Donald Trump’s comments over the weekend suggesting that the U.S. military be used to deal with “the enemy from within,” according to a senior Harris campaign official.
The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to preview the remarks ahead of a campaign rally in Erie, Pa., said Harris will argue that Trump believes that Americans who disagree with him are enemies.
She’ll disavow the comments the former president made in a Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” interview as the latest example of threatening rhetoric that should concern Americans about a potential second Trump term.
Trump made the comment in response to a question about “outside agitators” potentially disrupting Election Day, responding by pivoting to what he called “the enemy from within.”
“I think the bigger problem is the enemy from within,” Trump said. He added: “We have some very bad people. We have some sick people, radical left lunatics. And I think they’re the big — and it should be very easily handled by, if necessary, by National Guard, or if really necessary, by the military, because they can’t let that happen.”
Trump uses ‘Full Metal Jacket’ clips to portray his ideal military
Donald Trump is embracing perhaps Hollywood’s most memorable drill sergeant to portray his vision of a hardened military and mock the Biden administration’s embrace of the LGBTQ+ community serving openly.
Trump’s recent rallies have featured a video with clips of R. Lee Ermey as Marine Gunnery Sgt. Hartman in Stanley Kubrick’s 1987 classic Vietnam War film “Full Metal Jacket.” Ermey’s character was known for his vulgar and at times racist outbursts as he taunts and bullies recruits. Those clips, captioned “THEN,” are juxtaposed against clips of people expressing support for LGBTQ+ rights and drag performers, captioned “NOW” and “THE BIDEN HARRIS MILITARY.”
In using the movie to illustrate Trump’s ideal military, the campaign borrowed from what is recognized as an anti-war film. Never mind that the film is about Vietnam, for which Trump received medical deferments, despite having attended high school at New York Military Academy.
Read more about Trump's latest ad.
Miriam Adelson’s $1 million donation to Gov. Kemp’s PAC could help Trump in Georgia
Republican megadonor Miriam Adelson has contributed $1 million to Gov. Brian Kemp’s super PAC, according to federal campaign finance records, a development that appears to be helping presidential nominee Donald Trump in battleground Georgia and showing evidence of his rapprochement with Kemp.
The influx of cash will help fuel Kemp’s robust get-out-the-vote operation in the state on behalf of the former president and other Republicans. In 2020, Trump lost Georgia by 11,779 votes — roughly three-tenths of a percentage point. Trump’s 2024 contest with Democratic nominee Kamala Harris is viewed as extremely competitive.
The contribution also opens the relationship between the Georgia governor and Adelson, one of the nation’s top Republican donors and the widow of the late casino magnate Sheldon Adelson.
Her contribution is at least a small measure that Trump and Kemp have achieved at least an uneasy peace. The two have disagreed publicly in recent years, especially about Trump’s defeat in Georgia in 2020.
Read more about the impact of Adelson's donation.
Pelosi decries threats to government federal emergency workers after hurricane
LONDON — House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi decried the threats being made against federal emergency workers in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene during a talk Monday in London.
“Imagine that right now, while people are trying to save lives in North Carolina, they’ve had to withdraw humanitarian assistance because trucks of these people are hunting FEMA workers,” Pelosi said, referring to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, during a wide-ranging conversation at Chatham House, the international think tank.
The California Democrat was asked about the potential for another Jan. 6-style attack on the U.S. Capitol following this year’s presidential election and she insisted there’s “no place for political violence."
Walz praises 2 Republicans in podcast interview
Gov. Tim Walz is heaping praise on a couple of Republican former colleagues — a message that echoes Vice President Kamala Harris' promises to nominate a member of the GOP for her Cabinet if she's elected.
In an interview with the SmartLess podcast aired Monday, the Democratic vice presidential nominee and Minnesota governor showered compliments on Oklahoma U.S. Sen. James Lankford and Jeff Flake, a former U.S. representative and U.S. senator from Arizona who also served as U.S. ambassador to Turkey until last month.
Lankford authored a bipartisan immigration deal that appeared to have a chance of passing before falling apart earlier this year after former President Donald Trump expressed his opposition to it.
“That guy is the most conservative person I ever met, but he’s also one of the most honorable,” Walz said of Lankford. “Some of these people need to be put in a position where they truly have the ability to influence things because they are ethical and they care about this country.”
Flake, who describes himself as a “conservative Republican,” last month endorsed Harris and Walz.
Walz described Flake as “super conservative” and “as honest as anything.”
The SmartLess podcast is hosted by Hollywood actors Will Arnett, Jason Bateman, and Sean Hayes.
Walz served in the U.S. House from 2007 to 2019. He was inaugurated as Minnesota governor on Jan. 7, 2019.
Arab American PAC declines to endorse either Harris or Trump
LANSING, Mich. — A political action group of Arab American leaders is withholding endorsement from both Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump in this year’s presidential election. It’s the first time in over two decades that the Arab American PAC will not back the Democratic presidential nominee, according to Osama Siblani, a co-founder of the group and publisher of the Arab American News.
In a statement, the group expressed that “neither candidate represents our hopes and dreams as Arab Americans,” adding that “both are a threat to our principles and they cannot be entrusted with our domestic and foreign policies.”
Michigan, home to the nation’s largest concentration of Arab Americans, has seen each presidential campaign vying for endorsements from community leaders for months. Siblani had engaged in discussions with top Democratic leaders throughout the past year, including an August meeting with Julie Chavez Rodriguez, Harris’ campaign manager, to address tensions in the community.
Founded in 1998, the Arab American PAC was created to organize and promote political engagement among Arab Americans. Many Arab American elected officials in the state are or were members of the PAC, Siblani said.
Pennsylvania is generating the most attention by far in both campaigns
Pennsylvania has generated the most attention by far from the Democratic and Republican presidential campaigns. Including Monday’s scheduled events, the candidates will have made 46 stops in the state, according to The Associated Press' tracking of the campaigns’ public events. Michigan, with 33 visits, and Wisconsin, with 29, are the next most-visited states, illustrating how both campaigns are focusing on winning states that had been part of the Democrats’ so-called blue wall until Trump emerged as the Republican standard-bearer.
Harris will be interviewed on Fox News
Vice President Kamala Harris will be interviewed by Fox News anchor Bret Baier on Wednesday in Pennsylvania as she steps up her travel and conversations with news outlets in the closing stretch of the presidential campaign. The network announced the interview in a news release on Monday. It will be Harris' first sit-down with the network, and her first interview with a news outlet outside of her ideological comfort zone since becoming the Democratic nominee. Harris has previously granted interviews to CNN and CBS’ “60 Minutes,” as well as friendly venues including ABC’s “The View” and Howard Stern’s radio show.
Harris seeks to energize Black male voters
Vice President Kamala Harris talks about her economic agenda and how Black men will benefit from it in a pair of interviews released Monday.
The interviews are part of a push by the Democratic presidential nominee to energize a key voting block that has Democrats concerned about a lack of enthusiasm. The interviews with Roland Martin Unfiltered and The Shade Room were released as Harris announced a plan to give Black men more economic opportunities and other chances to thrive.
On Tuesday in Detroit, Harris will also sit for an interview with Charlamagne Tha God, another prominent Black media personality.
Harris’ Republican rival, former President Donald Trump, has been appealing to men, and making a strong pitch to Black men in particular, as he campaigns to be reelected to a second term.
In the interviews released Monday, Harris says Trump has no proposals that would help the people who will be watching her conversations.
The Associated Press
