Donald Trump has visibly been in meltdownmode since Kamala Harris replaced Joe Biden on the Democratic ticket. And according to new polling results, that meltdown appears to be pretty warranted.
A Quinnipiac poll conducted between August 8–12 and released on Wednesday shows Harris:
Beating Trump in Pennsylvania, 48% to 45%
Beating Trump among women, 54% to 41%
Beating Trump among independents, 46% to 42%
Beating Trump on caring about average Americans, 50% to 46%
Beating Trump on having the “personality and temperament it takes to serve effectively as president,” 52% to 46%
Beating Trump on honesty, 46% to 37%
And the bad news, for Trump, doesn’t stop there. A Monmouth University poll also released on Wednesday shows that among “double haters,” i.e., voters who dislike both candidates, Harris receives 53% versus 11% for Trump; when the same question was asked in June, just 28% of respondents backed Biden, while 19% went for Trump. (The most recent Monmouth poll also finds that Harris has the support of 53% of voters between the ages of 18 and 35, versus Biden’s 33% in June, while essentially maintaining the support Biden had from voters 65 and older.)
Rounding out the bad news for the former guy?
Incidentally, Trump’s VP pick, JD Vance, isn’t faring great in the polls either. According to the Quinnipiac poll, just 43% of those supporting Trump say Vance has made them more enthusiastic about the ex-president’s candidacy, while 59% of those supporting Harris say the choice of Tim Walz as her running mate has made them more enthusiastic about hers. Though, really, can you blame them?
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The United States have won their eighth consecutive Olympic women’s 4×400-metre relay crown to clinch the country’s 14th track and field gold medal of the Paris Games.
A star-studded USA quartet, which included two-time Olympic 400-metre hurdles champion Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and 200-metres gold medallist Gabby Thomas, powered home in 3 minutes and 15.27 seconds on Saturday.
The Netherlands took silver in 3:19.50 with Great Britain grabbing bronze in 3:19.72.
“The US just has so much depth,” McLaughlin-Levrone said after the win. “Every woman from the trials to the final was going to do their job.
“I’m grateful that we were all able to do that and come out with a gold medal.”
Gabby Thomas, Sydney Michelle McLaughlin, Alexis Holmes and Shamier Little of the United States pose after winning the gold medal in the women’s 4×400 metres relay final [Ashley Landis/AP]
And in the men’s 4×400 metres relay final, the USA came out on top again but only just, as Rai Benjamin held off Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo in a thrilling last-leg battle between two individual gold medallists, with Britain taking bronze.
The USA dropped Quincy Wilson, the 16-year-old who struggled badly in the heats, but did not bring in individual 400-metre champion Quincy Hall, instead adding 400m hurdles champion Benjamin to run the final leg.
Chris Bailey took them out but handed over in third to Vernon Norwood, who ran a stormer in the heats and repeated it in the final to send Bryce Deadmon off in the lead.
Botswana’s Anthony Pesela, however, closed the gap to set up a dramatic finale.
Tebogo, the 200-metre champion who was drafted in at the last minute to run the first leg for Botswana in the heats on Friday, sat on Benjamin’s shoulder and looked poised to pass him entering the final straight.
Benjamin’s one-lap speed endurance showed, however, as he held him off to win in an Olympic record of 2:54.43.
Botswana, bronze medallists in Tokyo, took silver in an African record 2:54.53 with Britain taking bronze in a European record 2:55.83.
Rai Benjamin of the United States crosses the line to win the men’s 4 x 400-metre relay final [Petr David Josek/AP]
Kerr wins jump-off to bag gold
In the field events, Qatar’s Mutaz Barshim won bronze in the men’s high jump final, losing the gold he won in Tokyo four years ago to Hamish Kerr of New Zealand.
Kerr said he was “in shock” after a rare athletics gold for his country.
He tasted glory after a dramatic jump-off with American Shelby McEwen.
Both men managed bests of 2.36 metres in regular competition, but could not be separated on the countback of missed jumps.
They opted for a jump-off, Kerr clearing 2.34 metres when the American failed after the bar was lowered from 2.38 to 2.36 metres.
“I was just in shock. Both me and Shelby were getting a little bit tired after all the jumps we took,” said Kerr.
“I knew I had a good one in me and I knew that if I could get it up sooner rather than later, then I could just finish the comp and start recovering.”
There was a hint of deja vu at the Stade de France as Barshim had shared Olympic gold with Italian Gianmarco Tamberi in the COVID-hit Tokyo Games three years ago.
“That has such a special place in history for high jumps,” Kerr said.
“To have an exact same scenario this time around, but to choose to do the jump-off, was putting at peace some of those people who wanted to jump off, so we’re both really happy to add to that history.”
The discussion Kerr and McEwen shared with officials was short and to the point. Both athletes wanted to continue and there was to be no shared gold.
“We’re good buddies, good opponents and good jumpers when we jump together,” McEwen said of Kerr.
“He said he wanted to face off and I was all for it.
Barshim had a best of 2.34 metres, but Tamberi – struggling with kidney stones – had a night to forget, finishing 11th in the 12-strong field with a best jump of 2.22 metres.
It was a fourth medal at a fourth Olympics for Barshim, but the Qatari insisted he would not be competing in Los Angeles in 2028.
“You will see me with popcorn, a few more kilograms and watching the guys. This is my last Olympics for sure,” said the 33-year-old three-time world champion who won Olympic silvers in 2012 and 2016.
His four medals, he added, were “the legacy I want to leave behind. I have so much to give, maybe now it’s my time to give to the next generation and hopefully, you’ll see the next champion”.
Gold medallist Hamish Kerr of New Zealand celebrates on the podium with silver medallist Shelby McEwen of USA and bronze medallist Mutaz Essa Barshim of Qatar [Aleksandra Szmigiel/Reuters]
Russell beats home favourite in 100m hurdles
Earlier in the day, American Masai Russell produced a stunning run to win the Olympic 100-metre hurdles title in a blanket finish, edging out the home hope Cyrena Samba-Mayela and Tokyo champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn.
Russell clocked 12.33 seconds as French President Emmanuel Macron watched Samba-Mayela (12.34) deliver France’s first track medal of the Paris Games with silver. Puerto Rico’s Camacho-Quinn (12.36) took bronze.
“I knew from the beginning I was a little hesitant when the gun went off,” Russell said.
Cyréna Samba-Mayela of France reacts after winning the silver medal in the women’s 100 metres hurdles final [Ashley Landis/AP]
Rep. Ilhan Omar fends off primary challengers following other ‘squad’ member defeats
Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., fended off several primary challengers today, NBC News projects, a victory for progressives after two of her fellow members of the “squad” suffered defeats this summer.
Omar defeated former Minneapolis City Council member Don Samuels, who lost to her by just 2 percentage points in the 2022 primary, and two other challengers in Minnesota’s 5th District.
Reps. Jamaal Bowman, of New York, and Cori Bush, of Missouri — also members of the progressive “squad” of lawmakers of colors — lost primaries in recent weeks that centered on the Democratic Party’s split over the Israel-Hamas war.
Democrat Ruben Gallego leans into border security in battleground Senate race
TV advertising showing candidates touring the U.S.-Mexico border has become a staple of Republican political campaigns around the country. But this summer, Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego got in on the action as his party tries to win voters’ trust in his battleground Arizona Senate race — and beyond.
“Ruben Gallego has stood side by side with me, the only member of Congress that has come regularly to my border,” Santa Cruz County Sheriff David Hathaway says in the ad. “He is fighting for solutions. Better technology. More manpower.”
It’s far from the only border security ad on Arizona’s airwaves. Gallego’s competitor, GOP Senate candidate Kari Lake, has been bashing him on the border, with one ad tying Gallego to Biden and Harris’ border policies and featuring a 2017 clip of Gallego on the House floor referring to “Trump’s stupid, dumb, border wall.”
Inside the tax battles Tim Walz fought — and won — in Minnesota
Six years before Walz was tapped to be Harris’ running mate, he was busy running for governor of Minnesota. Shortly before Election Day, Walz huddled with dozens of business leaders at a luxurious hotel off the shores of Gull Lake.
Eric Gibson, then president of Ultra Machining Co., recalled asking Walz whether he believed high corporate and state taxes hurt workers.
“We’re not taxing people,” Walz replied, according to Gibson. “We’re taxing businesses.”
Matchup set between Tammy Baldwin and Eric Hovde in key Wisconsin Senate race
Businessman Eric Hovde won the Wisconsin Republican primary for the Senate, NBC News projects, setting up a critical battleground state race against Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin.
Hovde, who was backed by Trump and other national Republicans, easily fended off two lesser-known primary opponents, while Baldwin ran unopposed as she seeks a third term.
Baldwin’s seat is a top priority for both parties in the battle for control of the closely divided Senate. She has worked to build up a sizable campaign war chest and leverage her appeal in rural parts of the state.
Vance takes in a night of tennis at the Cincinnati Open
Reporting from Cincinnati
Vance and his wife, Usha, are enjoying a night of professional tennis in their hometown before Vance is back on the campaign trail tomorrow.
The Vances are seated in a box overlooking center court at the Cincinnati Open as American players Taylor Fritz — fresh off his bronze medal in doubles at the Paris Olympics — and Brandon Nakashima face off in the first round of the tournament’s men’s singles championship.
Between points, Vance has been chatting with his seatmates and offering applause at the end of most points.
When he is back on the campaign trail, he’ll be in western Michigan, followed by stops in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Walz says ‘no one is asking for the crap’ Trump is proposing
Walz blasted Trump’s stance on key issues, saying, “No one is asking for the crap he’s asking for.”
Speaking at a fundraising event today in Newport Beach, California, Walz said that instead of being focused on banning books, many voters are thinking about child care and educating their kids.
He also addressed reproductive freedom after Trump last week signaled an openness to banning a drug that is used in medication abortion.
“This obsession with telling women how to run their lives and what their health care is, it is not popular,” Walz said.
He also acknowledged what he sees as a challenging race ahead.
“This is going to be a tough race. It’s going to be hard. But the thing that’s on our side is is she’s bringing out the joy,” Walz said of Harris.
Harris campaign makes plans for Milwaukee rally during DNC in Chicago
The Harris campaign is making plans to hold a rally in Milwaukee on Aug. 20, the second day of the Democratic National Convention, two sources with knowledge of the planning told NBC News.
Logistics are still fluid, according to the sources, but the discussions center on Harris’ seizing the chance to energize crowds in the battleground state 80 miles from the convention site.
The sources said it was too early to specify the time of day the rally would be held, and noted that former President Barack Obama is tentatively slotted to speak at the convention on the night of Aug. 20.
The campaign is in talks to hold the rally at Fiserv Forum, home to the Milwaukee Bucks and the site of last month’s Republican National Convention. It was also the official host of the 2020 Democratic National Convention, but in-person attendance was scratched because of the Covid pandemic. Biden ended up accepting the nomination from his home state, Delaware.
The New York Times first reported the potential rally in Milwaukee. The Harris campaign had no comment.
Wisconsin is a critical swing state and an integral part of the so-called blue wall of states, in addition to Michigan and Pennsylvania, that Democrats have long said they need to win in November if they are to keep the White House.
Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District, which has one electoral vote, could play a decisive role in this year’s presidential election by preventing a tie between Harris and Trump in the Electoral College. NBC News’ Jacob Soboroff spoke with voters there about key issues, including inequality and the cost of living.
Trump allies ratchet up pressure to refocus message and increase campaigning intensity
There is mounting pressure on Trump to abandon his race-focused, off-message criticism of Harris and hasten his return to the campaign trail to talk about the issues at stake as the Republican nominee works to navigate a new state of play in the presidential race.
Some feedback has been private, with lawmakers, donors and informal outside advisers asking Trump and top campaign aides directly to stick to the issues and drop the race- or personality-driven attacks, according to four sources briefed on the discussions.
“When we’re able to effectively put Biden’s record on her, it will go back to what it was before,” said an outside adviser who is familiar with the dynamics of the race but was not authorized to speak publicly. “Everybody knows what needs to be done.”
Former Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey endorses Trump and Kari Lake
Former Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey said today that he is endorsing both Trump and Kari Lake, the state’s Republican nominee for the Senate.
“Much is on the line this election year & I’m encouraging all eligible Arizonans to vote & prioritize the issues that most affect our state & nation,” Ducey wrote on X. “I will be voting for Republicans up & down the ballot in November — and both Donald Trump and Kari Lake have my endorsement.”
Ducey sustained attacks from Trump after he certified Biden’s 2020 electoral victory in Arizona. He also broke with Trump when he backed Karrin Taylor Robson over Lake in the 2022 governor’s race, which was ultimately won by Democrat Katie Hobbs.
In explaining his endorsements today, Ducey cited concerns about border security and inflation, among other issues.
“Differences aside, there is too much on the line and only a Republican in the White House and a majority in the House and US Senate can ensure it,” he said.
Rep. Steny Hoyer suffered a mild stroke Sunday, spokesperson says
Elleiana GreenElleiana Green is a Digital Politics intern with NBC News
Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., suffered a mild stroke Sunday and sought medical treatment, a spokesperson for the former House majority leader said in a news release today.
Hoyer, 85, responded well to treatment and has no lingering symptoms, his office said. The spokesperson, Margaret Mulkerrin, also said Hoyer plans to return to his normal schedule next week.
The House is not in session.
GOP former senator who voted to convict Trump says he plans to vote for him this fall
Elleiana GreenElleiana Green is a Digital Politics intern with NBC News
Former Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., says he plans to vote for Trump in November, even though he voted to convict him at his second impeachment trial.
Burr, who did not seek re-election in 2022, told Spectrum News that the impeachment trial after the Jan. 6, 2021, riot was “not a disqualifier as to whether you can serve” and that he plans to vote for Trump.
Burr told Spectrum News that despite the backlash, he voted to convict Trump because it was a “bad choice I thought a president made one time.”
Biden announces $150 million as part of cancer ‘moonshot’ initiative
Biden was in Louisiana today to announce what the White House described as $150 million in federal awards as part of Biden’s “moonshot” initiative to combat cancer.
The “goal is to end cancer as we know it,” Biden said at Tulane University in New Orleans. The grants will go toward technology that makes it easier and faster to identify cancerous cells.
Tulane is developing an imaging system that would allow doctors to scan a tumor and quickly determine whether any cancer tissue was missed in minutes instead of days or weeks.
It will “reduce the need for follow-up surgeries,” Biden said.
Biden began working on the “cancer moonshot” project while he was vice president after his son Beau Biden died of the disease. “Cancer touches us all,” he said.
Walz defends his military record amid Republican attacks during first solo campaign event
Walz today defended his military record amid attacks from Republicans led by his election rival, JD Vance, who has accused him of stolen valor.
“I am damn proud of my service to this country,” Walz said in Los Angeles at his first solo event on the campaign trail.
Walz said he served in the National Guard for 24 years “for the same reason all my brothers and sisters in uniform do: We love this country.”
Trump campaign posts racist meme focusing on Black migrants
A Trump campaign account today posted side-by-side photos contrasting homes and well-manicured lawns with a group of mainly Black migrants gathered outside a New York City immigration reception center.
The houses, one of which has an American flag flying outside, is labeled “Your neighborhood under Trump,” while the photo of the migrants is labeled “Your neighborhood under Kamala.”
“Import the third world,” the campaign account, which is named “Trump War Room,”posted. “Become the third world.”
The phrase has been used by Trump allies before, including former White House adviser Stephen Miller, the architect of the Trump administration’s hard-line immigration policies.
Harris campaign says FBI notified it last month about foreign influence operation
Elleiana GreenElleiana Green is a Digital Politics intern with NBC News
A Harris campaign official told NBC News today that the FBI notified the campaign in July that it had been targeted by a “foreign influence operation.”
“We have robust cybersecurity measures in place and are not aware of any security breaches of our systems resulting from those efforts. We remain in communication with appropriate law enforcement authorities,” the official said, a day after the FBI said it was investigating efforts to hack both the Trump and Harris campaigns.
The Trump campaign said over the weekend that an Iranian group hacked it in June.
‘Economic terrorism’: Teamsters president blasts union-busting actions praised by Trump
International Brotherhood of Teamsters President Sean O’Brien today bashed employment actions that Trump praised last night in his interview with Elon Musk.
“Firing workers for organizing, striking and exercising their rights as Americans is economic terrorism,” O’Brien said in response to the UAW’s filing federal labor charges against Trump and Musk after their comments last night.
O’Brien spoke at the Republican National Convention last month and called for both parties to support labor.
The Teamsters, representing more than 1 million U.S. workers, has not endorsed a presidential candidate in the election.
Harris’ campaign is transforming big crowds into volunteers on the ground in key swing states
Harris’ campaign is intently focused on making sure the burst of enthusiasm after her rapid ascent to the Democratic presidential nomination is organized into a sustained campaign that will mobilize an army of volunteers ahead of November.
In the last week, as Harris and Walz has crisscrossed the country speaking to packed rallies with thousands of voters, the campaign has also been hard at work signing up volunteers at those events in an effort to ensure victory.
Vance will rally with veterans in Congress next week in Pennsylvania
Elleiana GreenElleiana Green is a Digital Politics intern with NBC News
Vance will hold a rally in New Kensington, Pennsylvania, next week alongside three members of Congress who are also veterans, the Trump-Vance campaign announced in a news release.
Vance will be joined by GOP Reps. Jim Banks, of Indiana, and Brian Mast and Michael Waltz, both of Florida, as Vance and his allies continue to attack Walz over his military service. Meanwhile, Democratic House members who served in the military and the progressive veterans group VoteVets have come to his defense.
Sanders says Trump’s false AI photo claims could lay the groundwork for more election denial
Elleiana GreenElleiana Green is a Digital Politics intern with NBC News
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., said Trump’s recent false claims that a photo showing a large crowd at Harris’ Michigan rally was AI-generated is “laying the groundwork for rejecting the election results if he loses.”
“If you can convince your supporters that thousands of people who attended a televised rally do not exist, it will not be hard to convince them that the election returns in Pennsylvania, Michigan and elsewhere are ‘fake’ and ‘fraudulent,'” Sanders said in a news release.
Trump in a Truth Social post Sunday pointed to a photo of the rally and said that Harris “A.I.’d” it. The Harris campaign denied the photo was manipulated. Video from the event matches the photo in question, and reporters who attended the rally denied Trump’s claim.
Sanders has not endorsed Harris for president.
Abortion rights measure certified to appear on Missouri’s ballot
An amendment that would enshrine access to abortion in Missouri’s Constitution will appear on the November ballot, the Missouri secretary of state’s office announced today.
If voters approve the ballot initiative, abortion rights would be protected up until fetal viability, around the 24th week of pregnancy, with exceptions after that point for the life and health of the woman.
Missouri has one of the strictest abortion bans in the country, with exceptions to protect the life of the woman and for medical emergencies.
Eight states now have measures to protect abortion rights on their ballots this fall.
Trump’s plan to quell protests: ‘Deport pro-Hamas radicals’
Since the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel, Trump and other senior GOP leaders have repeatedly called for the Biden administration to revoke the visas of foreign nationals in the U.S. who openly support Hamas or other U.S. designated terrorist organizations.
Last month, one of the 20 promises in the preamble of the platform adopted at the Republican National Convention was to “deport pro-Hamas radicals and make our college campuses safe and patriotic again.”
But protest organizers contend that Trump and other Republicans are ignoring a key fact. The overwhelming majority of demonstrators are U.S. citizens who, under the First Amendment and current U.S. law, have the right to express pro-Hamas, antisemitic or anti-Israel views as long as they don’t break the law.
Criminal trial for former Rep. George Santos set to begin Sept. 9
Jury selection for former Rep. George Santos‘ trial on fraud charges will begin Sept. 9 and should last about a week, the judge presiding over the case said today.
Federal prosecutors said they have about three dozen witnesses who will testify against Santos, R-N.Y., a number U.S. District Judge Joanna Seybert urged them to whittle down at a conference in federal court on Long Island.
The judge also shot down Santos’ request for potential jurors to answer a 137-question questionnaire that included queries about their political views and familiarity with the allegations against him. Prosecutors had contended it was too late in the process to use such a questionnaire. Seybert said she would question the potential jurors herself.
Santos, who was expelled from Congress last year following an ethics investigation, faces charges that include conspiracy to commit offenses against the U.S., wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. He pleaded not guilty.
Actor Julia Louis-Dreyfus to host panel of Democratic women governors during DNC next week
Actor Julia Louis-Dreyfus will host a panel of Democratic women governors during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago next week, the Democratic Governors Association announced today.
“They will discuss the essential leadership of Democratic women governors as state executives, this historic class of women governors, and the DGA Women Governors Fund,” the DGA said in a news release.
Memes and clips from Louis-Dreyfus’ show “Veep” have been circulating on social media since Harris announced that she was running for president.
Harris is expected to travel to Raleigh, North Carolina, on Friday to deliver a speech “focused on her plan to lower costs for middle-class families and take on corporate price-gouging,” Harris campaign spokesperson Kevin Munoz said in a post on X.
Harris’ visit to North Carolina comes after her swing-state blitz with Walz last week. Biden lost North Carolina in 2020 by less than 2 % of the vote.
UAW hits Musk, Trump with federal labor charges over union-busting comments
Rebecca Picciotto, CNBC.com
Rebecca Picciotto, CNBC.com and Lora Kolodny, CNBC
The United Auto Workers today filed federal labor charges with the National Labor Relations Board against Trump and Musk for publicly applauding the practice of firing employees who threaten to strike.
“I look at what you do,” Trump said to Musk during a two-hour interview on X last night. “You walk in, you say, ‘You want to quit?’ They go on strike,” Trump said of Musk, who is CEO of the EV car maker Tesla and SpaceX. Musk also owns X, formerly Twitter.
“I won’t mention the name of the company, but they go on strike and you say, ‘That’s OK, you’re all gone. You’re all gone. So, every one of you is gone,’” Trump said.
Trump was referring to the 2022 gutting of Twitter staff after Musk took over the social media business and renamed it X.
“When we say Donald Trump is a scab, this is what we mean,” UAW President Shawn Fain said in a statement today on the new charges. “When we say Trump stands against everything our union stands for, this is what we mean.”
Michigan secretary of state says her home was swatted twice this week
Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said her house was “swatted” twice this week.
“Hateful rhetoric and violent threats have no place in our democracy. Yet twice in the last 48 hours my home was targeted in a disturbing ‘swatting’ attack,” Benson, a Democrat, wrote last night in a post on X. “I’m grateful for the professional, coordinated response from local and federal law enforcement who quickly contained the threat and worked to ensure our safety.”
“Swatting is a form of political violence that is horrific, dangerous and intended to terrify its victims. But hear me clearly: I will not be intimidated,” she added. “These threats never have and never will deter me from my job: ensuring Michigan citizens can have confidence in their secure, fair, accurate elections.”
“Swatting” happens when a false call is made to law enforcement claiming that there is a life-threatening scenario happening in the area. A number of high-profile political figures were the target of swatting attacks this past winter, NBC News reported in January.
The homes of Michigan Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin and her Republican challenger in her Senate bid, Mike Rogers, were targets of swatting last week.
Lynsey Mukomel, a spokesperson for Slotkin, said the congresswoman was not home when Michigan state police responded to a false threat.
“This is the latest in a disturbing trend of swatting incidents targeting members of Congress,” Mukomel said in a statement, adding that Slotkin is “deeply grateful for the swift and professional response by law enforcement to this unfortunate incident” and that U.S. Capitol Police will follow up to investigate.
Chris Gustafson, communications director for Rogers’ Senate campaign, said in a statement that the Republican candidate and his family are “beyond grateful for the professionalism and swift response” of the Michigan State Police to the swatting attempt last week.
Gustafson said this was the second time Rogers’ home was a target of swatting, with the first incident happening in 2013 during his time serving in Congress.
“Reports that Rep. Slotkin was also the target yesterday are a clear example of the deeply concerning trend of political violence that has quickly become the norm,” he said. “This kind of violence cannot be tolerated, and it is our hope that those responsible will be quickly prosecuted and held accountable.”
Rep. Josh Gottheimer says he is considering a run for New Jersey governor
Rep. John Gottheimer, D-N.J., said that he is “strongly considering” jumping into the crowded field of candidates running for New Jersey governor next year.
“I’ve been incredibly honored that everybody from labor leaders to mayors to party leaders and communities around the state have encouraged me to run, and I’m strongly considering it,” Gottheimer said in an interview with Axios yesterday.
Gottheimer, a member of the moderate Blue Dogs Coalition and co-chair of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus, suggested he wouldn’t make any announcement before the November presidential election.
Harris is an AKA member and spoke at the organization’s convention last month.
NBC News has reached out to PAC organizers for comment.
Ramaswamy says Trump should reset his campaign to focus on policy
Elleiana GreenElleiana Green is a Digital Politics intern with NBC News
In an interview on NPR’s “Morning Edition,” former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy discussed the Trump campaign ahead of the election and said it should reset to focus on policy.
Ramaswamy, who dropped out of the race and endorsed Trump, has been vocal about the campaign needing to focus on policy and not personal attacks. NBC News reported that Trump allies and advisers have also privately urged him to stay on message.
“I think a stronger focus on policy is the path to winning this election,” Ramaswamy said on NPR.
He added, “Who’s going to secure the border, who’s going to grow the economy, who’s going to stand at World War III and more intangibly, who’s going to restore national pride in this country? I think Donald Trump has a strong case on all of those counts.”
Biden will discuss progress in his ‘Cancer Moonshot’ initiative
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden are scheduled to participate in an event on the administration’s “Cancer Moonshot” initiative at Tulane University in New Orleans at 4:30 p.m. ET today.
They will participate in a tour and deliver remarks on how the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) is fast-tracking progress made in the initiative aimed at preventing, treating and detecting cancer.
Biden in 2022 relaunched the “Cancer Moonshot” program that began under the Obama administration with the goal of reducing the deaths of more than 600,000 people a year from cancer in the U.S. The president, whose eldest son, Beau Biden, died of brain cancer in 2015, also formed a “Cancer Cabinet” advisory group in 2022.
The White House last year announced a $240 million investment from the ARPA-H to fight cancer, with the investment going toward research on cancer prevention, detection, treatment and survival projects.
GOP women’s group launches new ads in key House districts
Winning for Women, a group supporting GOP women candidates, is launching a new ad campaign in three competitive House districts.
The ads, shared first with NBC News, are part of a $1 million investment in a TV, mail and digital ad campaign across the three districts, supporting California Reps. Michelle Steel and Young Kim and Virginia Rep. Jen Kiggans. All three women are top Democratic targets, representing districts Joe Biden won in 2020. The ads encourage viewers to call the congresswomen and urge them to support a measure aimed at reducing regulations around online sales.
“Life has become too expensive. Excessive regulation and red tape are increasing everyday costs,” a narrator says in one of the ads. “But Congresswoman Kim is leading in Congress, championing bipartisan solutions to make life more affordable for California families.”
Winning for Women Executive Director Danielle Barrow said in a statement that the Biden-Harris administration’s policies have led to increased costs.
“Our endorsed women are leading the fight to lower costs and have shown their willingness to work across the aisle to deliver real results and overdue relief for American Families,” Barrow said.
Former Rep. George Santos will appear in court today for pretrial conference
Former Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., will appear for a pretrial conference today in the federal fraud case against him on Long Island.
During the court proceeding, parties are expected to discuss pretrial deadlines, jury selection and a trial schedule.
The trial is set to begin with jury selection Sept. 9 and according to an agenda from prosecutors for today’s pretrial conference, the parties have proposed that opening statements begin Sept. 16.
Ex-Colorado clerk Tina Peters, one-time hero to election deniers, convicted in computer breach
The Associated Press
Former Colorado clerk Tina Peters, the first local election official to be charged with a security breach after the 2020 election as unfounded conspiracy theories swirled, was found guilty by a jury on most charges yesterday.
Peters, a one-time hero to election deniers, was accused of using someone else’s security badge to give an expert affiliated with My Pillow chief executive Mike Lindell access to the Mesa County election system and deceiving other officials about that person’s identity.
In a fundraising email released after the conclusion of the online discussion, titled “Trump/Musk: The two worst people you know are live this evening,” the campaign wrote that “the richest person in the world is a lackey for Team MAGA.
The campaign noted Musk’s endorsement of Trump, writing that Musk is “using his purchased platform — one of the largest social media sites in the world — to spread Trump’s unhinged and hateful agenda to millions of users.”
In a separate statement, Harris campaign spokesperson Joseph Costello slammed Trump and Musk as “self-obsessed rich guys” and cited the technical difficulties that delayed their online discussion last night.
“Donald Trump’s extremism and dangerous Project 2025 agenda is a feature not a glitch of his campaign, which was on full display for those unlucky enough to listen in tonight during whatever that was on X.com,” Costello said. “Trump’s entire campaign is in service of people like Elon Musk and himself — self-obsessed rich guys who will sell out the middle class and who cannot run a livestream in the year 2024.”
Walz will deliver remarks at the annual convention of a major public sector union today
Harris does not have any public events scheduled today. But Walz, her running mate, is scheduled to deliver remarks at the convention of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), one of the nation’s largest public sector unions, in Los Angeles today at 12:35 p.m. PT.
Walz is also scheduled to deliver remarks at a campaign reception in Newport, California, at 2:30 p.m. PT today.
Harris’ campaign adds top adviser to lead outreach to Muslim and Arab voters
Harris’ campaign is hiring Nasrina Bargzie to lead outreach to Muslim and Arab voters, according to a campaign official who first shared details of the plan with NBC News — a move focused on a key constituency that soured on President Joe Biden over his support of Israel.
Bargzie worked in Harris’ White House office until July as a policy adviser on Muslim, Arab and Gaza-related issues, as well as reproductive rights, voting and democracy, the campaign official said. She will cover the same broad portfolio on the campaign.
Harris has faced interruptions from pro-Palestinian protesters at recent rallies, and Democrats are bracing for large protests at the Democratic National Convention next week in Chicago.
Today’s primaries in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Connecticut and Vermont will set the matchups in a slew of competitive races that will be key to the battle for the House and the Senate in November.
While there is not much drama in this week’s primaries, they will officially kick off the general election in four states, most notably in Wisconsin, a presidential battleground that will also be central to Democrats’ efforts to protect their narrow Senate majority.
Businessman Eric Hovde, who secured Trump’s endorsement, is expected to advance out of Wisconsin’s Republican primary to face Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin, as he does not face any high-profile opponents.
Tech billionaire Elon Musk’s highly anticipated online event with former President Donald Trump was delayed Monday by technical difficulties as some users of Musk’s X app said they couldn’t access the discussion.
The discussion, which beganabout 40 minutes after its scheduled 8 p.m. ET start time, was largely a Trump monologue, not unlike his public rallies, with Musk occasionally jumping in with friendly questions about subjects on which the two men generally agree. They bonded over their shared opposition to immigration, as both said that the U.S. would cease being a real country if immigration continued at current levels.
Speaking apparently off the cuff, Trump tossed out casual insults of his enemies, including saying President Joe Biden has a “stupid face.” He also repeated debunked claims, including the theory that “the Congo,” which isn’t a country, had emptied its prisons of murderers and sent them to the U.S.
Musk, the CEO of Tesla, tried to nudge Trump to act on climate change and move away from fossil fuels, but he appeared to have little impact as Trump said energy innovation was “not my world.”
“I’m sort of waiting for you to come up with solar panels on the roofs of your cars,” Trump said.
The tech problems echoed similar difficulties in May 2023, when Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis launched his Republican presidential bid on X and was repeatedly disrupted because the site’s servers apparently couldn’t handle the surge in traffic.
The audio-only discussion eventually began and lasted more than two hours. It attracted more than 1.3 million listeners at its peak, according to X’s public tally. The event came as Trump has scaled back his in-person appearances after a would-be assassin shot at him at a rally in Pennsylvania on July 13.
Trump and Musk spent the beginning of the event recounting the attempted assassination, including what the Secret Service could have done differently to prevent it and Trump’s reaction immediately afterward holding up a fist.
“I just want to say that I think a lot of people admire your courage under fire there,” Musk said.
Trump later joked, “Illegal immigration saved my life,” nodding to the topic and a chart he was talking about when shots began to fly.
A Trump spokesperson posted what appeared to be a picture of Trump during the conversation.
Trump’s campaign billed the event ahead of time as “the interview of the century,” while Musk had promised it would be “unscripted with no limits on subject matter.”Musk said that the initial technical difficulties were caused by a “massive DDOS attack on X,” referring to a “distributed denial-of-service” attack, in which hostile users try to overwhelm a system to cause chaos, though Musk didn’t provide evidence of an attack. NBC News was unable to verify Musk’s claim.
One expert in volumetric DDoS attacks, the most common type of DDoS that entails simply directing a massive amount of fake traffic at a computer network, said a scan of recent internet traffic showed no signs of an attack aimed at X, which seemed to otherwise work normally. The expert asked to not be named for fear of retaliation.
Alp Toker, the director of Netblocks, a company that tracks internet traffic, said on X, “Any sufficiently overloaded server is indistinguishable from a DDoS.”
Some X users said they believed the problem was X’s technical capabilities, rather than an attack. The word “crashed” appeared on X’s trending list at one point, in reference to the app’s software, as users posted in frustration about not being able to join the event.
As users struggled to join, scammers appeared to be taking advantage of the moment. A fake Tesla YouTube account posted a livestream of what appeared to be a doctored video of Musk asking users to scan a QR code to “double” their cryptocurrency. Many crypto scams use similar tactics in an effort to steal bitcoin.
The event demonstrated how much Trump and Musk have reconciled after years of ups and downs in their relationship. It appeared to be their first joint public event since Trump was in the White House, although the two men met privately at least once this year in Palm Beach, Florida.
A Trump win in the fall could be a boost to Musk’s business empire. His companies, including Tesla and SpaceX, are entangled in multiple regulatory fights with the Biden administration, and Trump has vowed to push a deregulatory agenda.
Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, have also received a groundswell of social media support, with supporters posting a flurry of memes and videos.
The relationship between Musk and Trump hasn’t always been so warm. In 2022, Musk said he’d like to see Trump “hang up his hat & sail into the sunset,” and Trump hit back, writing on Truth Social that he had Musk over a barrel when Musk visited the White House: “I could have said, ‘drop to your knees and beg,’ and he would have done it.”
A key question hanging over the Trump-Musk alliance has been the future of federal subsidies for electric vehicles, including those made by Tesla. Trump has railed against government measures to boost electrification, while Tesla continues to receive billions of dollars a year in regulatory credits.
Trump pointed out their difference Monday, telling Musk that he has an “incredible” product but “that doesn’t mean everybody should have an electric car.”
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From abortion to drug prices to gun control, here’s how the presidential candidates stack up
by Shannon Firth,
Washington Correspondent, MedPage Today,
August 13, 2024
With this condensed primer, MedPage Today looks at the health policy records of Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.
Abortion-rights groups were quick to endorse Harris after Biden ended his campaign; anti-abortion groups seem alarmed by her unflinching commitment to the issue.
The platform also supports the 14th Amendment, which protects the rights of “any person” to “due process”; some conservatives have interpreted the words “any person” to include the “unborn.”
Why It Matters:
According to polling by the Pew Research Center, 63% of adults in the U.S. support abortion in all or most cases. Furthermore, in at least seven different states where abortion has been on the ballot (including conservative states like Kansas, Montana, and Kentucky), voters have come down on the side of abortion rights.
Soon afterwards, she introduced “KamalaCare,” a more moderate proposal that preserved a role for private health plans and suggested a 10-year glide path to a single-payer system. However, in late July, a Harris spokesperson said that Harris “will not push single payer as president.”
She is expected to extend the enhanced ACA subsidies, which will otherwise sunset at the end of 2025. These subsidies help Americans afford health insurance on the exchanges by capping premiums at a percentage of their income on a sliding scale.
Harris is also expected to work to expand Medicaid coverage in the 10 remaining non-expansion states.
As for Medicare, she previously supported President’s Biden’s plan to increase taxes for Americans who earn more than $400,000 annually to help keep the program solvent.
The 2024 GOP Platform pledges to protect Social Security and Medicare, and to support long-term care, chronic disease management, and homecare for the elderly, but does not provide policy details.
During her first presidential campaign in 2019, Harris proposed granting the HHS secretary the authority to set a fair price for all drugs sold nationally based on prices in other developed countries.
Harris supported “march-in rights,” a provision of the Bayh-Dole Act that allows the government to seize control of patents for high-priced drugs under certain circumstances. She also supported drug importation for high-priced drugs.
For Medicare beneficiaries, the IRA also capped insulin prices at $35 per month and will cap out-of-pocket costs at $2,000 annually for Part D prescription drugs beginning in 2025.
In 2018, then-President Trump blamed “global freeloading” for the high costs of drugs in the U.S., and proposed aligning Medicare Part B drugs with prices paid in other developed countries, using a mechanism known as reference pricing; the policy, however, never took effect.
In July 2020, Trump signed an executive order to allow drug importation by pharmacies and wholesalers from Canada, as well as another executive order meant to prevent pharmacy benefit managers or middlemen from pocketing large discounts.
In late 2020, Congress passed and Trump signed the No Surprises Act, a bill that aimed to protect patients from “surprise” or unexpected out-of-network medical bills, which the Biden administration implemented.
According to conservative policy experts, Trump’s priorities in his prior administration included increasing transparency, choice, and competition in healthcare, all of which are among his stated priorities in a potential second term, according to the 2024 GOP Platform.
Why It Matters:
Drug prices have led many Americans to ration or skip doses of medication, including more than 1 million patients taking insulin, according to a CDC survey.
Maternal Health
Harris’ Stance:
As a senator, Harris was one of the leading co-sponsors of the “Momnibus,” a package of more than a dozen bills that addressed drivers of maternal mortality and morbidity, with a focus on Black women.
In June 2022, the Biden administration released a blueprint for addressing the maternal health crisis, which included plans to expand and diversify the perinatal workforce, increase access to behavioral healthcare, and encourage states to apply for waivers to expand Medicaid coverage from 60 days postpartum to 12 months. As of May, 46 states and the District of Columbia have adopted such policies.
Trump’s Stance:
In 2018, Trump signed the Preventing Maternal Death Act, a bill that provided funding for maternal mortality review committees to better understand drivers of the maternal mortality crisis and identify solutions.
American women are more likely to die during and after childbirth than women in other developed nations. Moreover, Black women in the U.S. are three times more likely to die during and after childbirth compared with white women. Over 80% of maternal deaths are preventable, according to the CDC.
Pandemic Response
Harris’ Stance:
In 2020, then-vice presidential nominee Harris said she would not trust a COVID-19 vaccine that Trump distributed before the election, unless a “credible” source could ensure its safety.
However, during his administration, Trump also repeatedly downplayed the pandemic, and frequently contradicted his own public health experts on issues such as mask-wearing and the effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine.
During Trump’s hospitalization for COVID, medical experts raised concerns over his decision to participate in a drive-by procession, noting that although he was masked, he may have endangered the Secret Service agents inside the car.
In April, Trump said in an interview that, if elected, he “probably would” disband the White House Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy.
Trust in public health experts and physicians waned during the pandemic. There are more than 30 different pathogens that could spark a future pandemic, including mpox, avian flu, and dengue virus, according to the WHO.
Gun Control
Harris’ Stance:
Under the Biden-Harris administration, the Department of Justice issued a final rule in 2022 to curb the spread of “ghost guns” (unserialized privately made firearms), building on previous executive actions.
Congress also passed and Biden signed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which called for enhanced background checks for individuals under 21, support for implementing extreme risk protection orders (also known as “red flag” laws), expanding access to mental health services, and growing community violence intervention programs.
In 2023, President Biden launched, and Harris agreed to oversee, the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention to partner with cities and encourage support for survivors of gun violence, strengthen background checks, and advocate for responsible gun ownership.
As a presidential candidate in 2019, Harris shared that she owns a gun “for personal safety,” but supports an assault weapons ban and universal background checks.
In 2018, Trump signed a memorandum directing the attorney general to effectively ban the use of bump stocks, devices that, when affixed to rifles, allow them to function as automatic weapons.
Shannon Firth has been reporting on health policy as MedPage Today’s Washington correspondent since 2014. She is also a member of the site’s Enterprise & Investigative Reporting team. Follow
