Closing summary
This blog is closed – thanks for following along. Here is a summary of today’s key developments:
Joe Biden called into North America’s Building Trades Unions tradeswomen conference. “My predecessor promised infrastructure week, every day for four years, and he didn’t build a damn thing, literally,” he said after he dialed in.
Tim Walz paid a visit to Ann Arbor to watch a football game between the University of Michigan and the University of Minnesota. He was greeted at the airport by University of Michigan students, who had arrived in a bus with a banner that read “Put Me In, Coach!”
JD Vance made an appearance at a town hall in Monroeville, Pennsylvania. He spoke about the epidemic of opioid addiction, arguing people recovering from addiction need more support and should not be punished harshly for one relapse.
Donald Trump delivered a speech in Prairie Du Chien, Wisconsin, where he mostly made anti-immigrant and racist comments.
JD Vance made his second speech of the day in Newton, Pennsylvania, where he accused Kamala Harris of flip-flopping on major issues.
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JD Vance’s last question from reporters in Newton was how mass deportation would look in south-eastern Pennsylvania.
“We’re going to back the blue and empower them to do their jobs and keep all of us safe,” Vance said. “We’re going to fight for them every single day.”
JD Vance wrapped up his speech, his second of the day.
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JD Vance was also asked how Trump plans to win the suburbs, a key voting bloc that cost Trump the election in 2020.
“Maybe the single problem I worry most about, other than the border, because we got to get the border under control, is young people telling me that they cannot afford to buy a home,” Vance said. “We’ve got to get housing prices back to a reasonable level, give Americans a stake in their own country.”
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JD Vance was asked about the conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine and what a Trump administration would do about it.
“If Donald Trump was president, Hamas would have never attacked Israel,” Vance said. “You’ve got to make the bad guys worry that if they do something screwed up, somebody is going to make him pay for it.”
JD Vance was asked by a reporter about his stance on the Affordable Care Act and whether it would remain in place under a possible second Trump term.
He didn’t indicate whether the Trump administration would dismantle Obamacare, and said: “We do not want people dying in the streets in the greatest country in the world. We want to make sure Americans have the best healthcare, the best healthcare options.”
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During his speech in Pennsylvania, JD Vance attacked Kamala Harris for her stance against policies that restrict how schools can teach students about race and sexuality.
“We don’t support policies that put transgender ideas in our schools,” Vance said. “Thanks to Kamala Harris, a lot of American children can’t add five plus five, but they can tell you there are 87 genders.”
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Vance accuses Harris of flip-flopping on major issues
JD Vance accused Kamala Harris of flip-flopping on a series of major issues, such as fracking, Medicare for undocumented immigrants, private health insurance and defunding the police.
“Kamala, if you support fracking, if you support the police, if you support lower prices, and you want to close down the southern border, you’re welcome to endorse Donald J Trump,” Vance said. “All of us have done it, and you’re welcome to join the team.”
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JD Vance claimed that Harris played a role in worsening the economy by exacerbating inflation.
He linked the country’s economic woes to immigration, blaming Harris for what he describes as an “invasion” amid a lack of border control.
Vance claimed that the presence of immigrants in the US is contributing to rising housing costs.
He went on to make anti-immigrant remarks.
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JD Vance quickly touched a soft spot for the state of Pennsylvania: natural gas.
Kamala Harris says she doesn’t oppose fracking, despite prior assertions stating otherwise, but Republicans are still wielding the vice-president’s previous position to win over voters.
“When Donald Trump is president, we are going to drill, baby, drill and bring back the great American energy economy,” Vance said during his speech. “She is the candidate of not buying oil and gas from Americans and Pennsylvanians. Kamala Harris wants us to buy energy from every tin pot dictator all over the world.”
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JD Vance attacked Kamala Harris, going back to her first solo interview on Wednesday, by saying she dodges questions on the economy by talking about her middle-class background and her former stint at McDonald’s.
“The problem with Kamala Harris is that she’s got no substance,” he said. “The problem with Kamala Harris is that she’s got no plan. And the problem with Kamala Harris is that she has been the vice-president for three-and-a-half years and has failed this country.’”
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JD Vance takes the stage, vowing to 'turn Pennsylvania red'
Senator JD Vance took the stage in Pennsylvania.
“We have got a hell of a crowd here in the state of Pennsylvania,” he said at the start of his speech. “We’re gonna turn Pennsylvania red, send Kamala Harris back in and send Donald Trump back to the White House.”
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Senator JD Vance is expected to deliver a speech in Newton, Pennsylvania, in a few minutes.
The event at the Newtown Sports and Event Center comes as polls show a neck-and-neck race for president in battleground Pennsylvania.
We’ll be covering the Republican vice-presidential pick’s remarks.
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Donald Trump wrapped up his speech in Wisconsin just before 5pm ET.
His remarks mostly revolved around his proposed border policies and an anti-immigrant framing of the country.
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Mother of woman killed last year urges attendees to vote for Trump
The mother of Rachel Morin, a 37-year-old Maryland mother of five who was killed last year, took the stage briefly in Prairie du Chien.
After Rachel’s death, a native of El Salvador was arrested. Trump has used this case to support his remarks against immigrants from Central America living in the US.
“I do want to say vote for Trump, though, because I really believe that he’s going to close our borders,” said Patty Morin, Rachel’s mother.
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In his speech, Donald Trump shifted briefly from immigration to the economy.
“Your towns, your cities, your country, is being destroyed,” Trump said. “This is bigger than inflation, which is killing you all, caused by Biden and Harris with their stupid energy policy.”
He shifted again to making anti-immigrant remarks.
“The only things that don’t get obsolete are the wheel and the wall,” he said about the barrier he started to build on the border during his presidency, which increased migrant deaths and devastating injuries.
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Donald Trump referred to Kamala Harris’s immigrant-focused speech last night in Arizona as “BS”.
Fox News broadcasted her remarks, and Trump said “they shouldn’t be allowed to put it on”.
“Everything she said is a lie,” the former president said.
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'She's never going to do anything for the border': Trump attacks Harris
A video intending to attack Kamala Harris was shown in the middle of Donald Trump’s remarks.
The video was a compilation of Harris’s comments about immigration policy.
“She is a disaster, and she’s not going to ever do anything for the border,” he said after the video. “She’s incompetent and a bad person.”
“She’s a Marxist,” he added.
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Donald Trump struggled to pronounce “Prairie du Chien”, the name of the town where he’s delivering his remarks.
“You could have given me a little easier name than that, but I think we got it right,” Trump said.
He continued to make anti-immigrant and racist comments half an hour into his speech.
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Trump continues anti-immigrant rhetoric in Wisconsin
Donald Trump wrongfully claimed that immigrants in the US are violent criminals, referring to them as “stone-cold killers”.
“There’s no greater act of disloyalty than to extinguish the sovereignty of your own nation right through your border, no matter what lies she tells,” Trump said.
“Kamala Harris can never be forgiven for her erasing our border, and she must never be allowed to become president of the United States and Wisconsin,” he added.
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Donald Trump said Kamala Harris’s border policies should disqualify her from ever becoming president and urged voters in Wisconsin not to support her.
“Kamala is mentally impaired,” Trump said. “Joe Biden became mentally impaired. Kamala was born that way.”
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Donald Trump claims that more than 40,000 people were outside, unable to get into the building because the room was at capacity.
He then turned to criticize Kamala Harris for her role in border policies, claiming that her actions have led to widespread chaos, suffering, and a lack of national security.
“I watched this show that she put on, four years of the most incompetent border anywhere in the world, in history,” Trump said.
Trump takes stage in Prairie Du Chien, Wisconsin
Donald Trump has taken the stage, starting his speech more than an hour after his scheduled start time in Prairie Du Chien, Wisconsin.
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The latest analysis by the Guardian’s Robert Tait shows that Kamala Harris’s national poll lead is increasing. Even by small margins, these increases may turn out to be significant.
Poll-watchers are saying that Harris might not need as big a popular vote lead as Democrats have needed in the past. The reason, roughly summarized, is that while Harris is sustaining narrow leads in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, Donald Trump is polling better than four years ago in states he still has little chance of winning.
An improvement in a non-competitive state is an improvement that will not help him win.
Read the full analysis here:
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Donald Trump is about half an hour late for his scheduled remarks in Prairie Du Chien, Wisconsin.
The stage is holding several banners displaying the faces of immigrants who face criminal charges in the state. Another banner read: “End migrant crime.”
The speech comes a day after Kamala Harris delivered a speech on immigration and border policy in Arizona.
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A Florida university will host an extremist writer after the state’s governor, Ron DeSantis, vowed to transform the school from a university known for liberal values into a conservative institution.
New College of Florida (NCF) will host the extremist writer Steve Sailer, who has been described as a “white supremacist” and a “proponent of scientific racism”, at a college-branded public event next month.
DeSantis installed a new board of trustees including the rightwing culture warrior Christopher Rufo. That board in turn appointed DeSantis’s “close ally” Richard Corcoran as the new college president, in which role he makes a $699,000 salary.
DeSantis’s lieutenants’ actions at New College – like abolishing disciplines, removing bathroom signage and denying professors tenure – have seen the departure of more than a third of the faculty, and given rise to myriad legal actions.
Read more about the university’s move here:
Donald Trump is expected to deliver a speech in Wisconsin in a few minutes.
We’ll be covering his comments at the Prairie du Chien Area Arts Center, where he’s expected to speak on immigration and policies in the southern border.
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Kamala Harris’s campaign is planning to troll her rival Donald Trump during the Georgia-Alabama football game, after he refused to debate her.
The Washington Post reported that the Democratic presidential candidate’s campaign has hired a plane to fly a banner declaring “Trump’s Punting on 2nd Debate” over the Tuscaloosa, Alabama, stadium.
The campaign is also planning to air a national ad during the college game where she calls on Trump to meet her on the debate stage.
More context on his rejection here:
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JD Vance discussed his faith several times during his remarks, positioning it as a core element of his personal and political beliefs.
He later expressed his support for the freedom of churches and religious institutions, as well as the importance of the first amendment and the need to defend the independence of churches from government interference.
“I want to facilitate Christian charity because our local churches know best,” Vance said. “We ought to be empowering them, and I think unfortunately our current federal government is trying to destroy them, and it’s a disgrace. We’re going to stop it.”
Vance wrapped up his speech, and he’s expected to spend the next few days preparing for his debate against the Democratic vice-presidential nominee, Tim Walz.
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JD Vance also touched on the economy during his remarks in Pennsylvania, saying that the current economic policies are failing to address rising costs, which prevent families from affording basic needs.
“Economic policies allow people to put food on the table,” Vance said. “If not, what the hell are we doing in American leadership?”
Vance later linked the economy to energy policies and fracking, an important issue in the current US presidential election, especially in the swing state of Pennsylvania.
“The more that we’re able to distribute Pennsylvania natural gas, the more people that are going to have good jobs, the more wages are going to go up, and the more that we’re going to be able to build a good middle-class economy for all Americans,” Vance said.
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During Pennsylvania’s town hall, JD Vance took questions from the public, first from a mother homeschooling her children.
Vance said he thinks that certain teachings in American schools are not just liberal ideas but “craziness”, especially around topics like gender and race.
“I’m extremely concerned about socialism being pushed so strongly in our education system,” Vance said. “It’s being essentially forced in our higher education system, and then filtering down to our young ones, even in elementary ages.”
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JD Vance said that telehealth, expanded during the Covid-19 pandemic, was a positive development in providing access to addiction treatment.
He stressed the need to continue and re-authorize telehealth services into 2025.
“We got to renew that and reauthorize it to give people access to the treatment that they need, and that’s something that Donald Trump and I are going to fight for every single day,” Vance said.
He later shifted to criticizing the current administration’s border policies for the “fentanyl in our community”.
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JD Vance speaks at town hall in Monroeville, Pennsylvania
JD Vance, the senator and Republican vice-presidential nominee, is making an appearance at a town hall in Monroeville, Pennsylvania.
He spoke about the epidemic of opioid addiction, arguing people recovering from addiction need more support and should not be punished harshly for one relapse.
“We have to rebuild a country where we’re safe enough to actually give people the second chances that they need,” Vance said.
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Tim Walz drops in at Michigan-Minnesota football game
Tim Walz paid a visit to Ann Arbor to watch a football game between the University of Michigan and the University of Minnesota.
The Democratic vice-presidential nominee was greeted at the airport by University of Michigan students, who had arrived in a bus donning a banner that read “Put Me In, Coach!”
Later today, Walz will travel to northern Michigan to prepare for his face-off against JD Vance, the Republican vice-presidential pick, on Tuesday.
Walz tweeted this photo before heading to the game:
A little rain can't keep us from the big Michigan-Minnesota game!
— Tim Walz (@Tim_Walz) September 28, 2024
And it's not gonna stop these students from making sure that everyone on their campus is registered to vote. https://t.co/uyNRZrYcpq pic.twitter.com/SdFkHcbEL2
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James Carville, the centrist Democratic political strategist who guided Bill Clinton to the presidency, said Democrats should embrace “autocracy” ahead of the November election.
Carville said not everyone should have “a seat at the table” during an interview with POLITICO’s Playbook Deep Dive podcast on Friday.
“I would always tell people in campaigns: If you want a democracy after the election, you have to have an autocracy before the election,” Carville said.
“It’s been always, I think, a shortcoming of Democratic politics that everybody has a seat at the table, and everybody can be heard,” said the longtime strategist.
In an op-ed for MSNBC, Democratic New York representative Joe Morelle criticized House Speaker Mike Johnson and the Republican party broadly for spreading misinformation about the legitimacy of US elections.
Morelle expressed concern that recent comments by Johnson – who suggested the 2024 election’s integrity may be questionable – are part of a broader strategy to undermine trust in the electoral system. Morelle wrote:
Speaker Johnson’s recent comments are simply his latest effort in a pattern of misinformation and disinformation, questioning the results of an election that has only just begun.
“The lies being spread by Trump, Speaker Johnson, House Republicans and extreme right-wing conspiracy theorists about noncitizen voting have been repeatedly debunked,” he said. “Yet they have persisted in a clear attempt to generate anxiety in the minds of voters, and to serve, come November, as the foundation for false claims of election fraud.”
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Joe Biden calls in to North America’s Building Trades Unions tradeswomen conference
Joe Biden’s call at the NABTU conference lasted roughly 10 minutes.
Labor union members are a key voting bloc for Kamala Harris, the vice-president and Democratic presidential candidate.
The majority of union leaders over generations have endorsed Democratic candidates.
But in 2016, exit polls indicated that voters in union households supported Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton over Trump by only eight percentage points, a stark drop from 18 percentage points in 2012 when Barack Obama was on the ballot.
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Joe Biden also told union members: “When unions do well, the study shows all Americans, all union and non-union, do better.”
“It’s a big reason why our economy is the strongest in the world,” he added.
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Joe Biden is delivering virtual remarks at the North America’s Building Trades Unions Tradeswomen Build Nations conference.
“My predecessor promised infrastructure week, every day for four years, and he didn’t build a damn thing, literally,” he said after he dialed in.
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The embattled North Carolina lieutenant governor, Mark Robinson, was burned on Friday night during an appearance at the Mayberry truck show in Mount Airy.
Robinson was treated at Northern regional hospital in Mount Airy for second-degree burns, according to his campaign.
Many Republicans have distanced themselves recently from Robinson after a bombshell report from CNN revealed the lieutenant governor allegedly posted strongly worded racial and sexual comments on an online message board.
A dozen staff members on his campaign or in the lieutenant governor’s office have quit in the fallout.
Read more about the injury here:
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After Harris’s speech focused on immigration yesterday, the Democratic senator Chris Murphy said the Democrats’ goal of new pathways to citizenship will take a back seat.
“The priorities have to be getting the border under control,” Murphy told NBC News. “The numbers are very low right now, but you can’t guarantee that that will remain the case.”
“You also can’t be assured that the courts won’t ultimately strike down the executive orders that the administration has taken,” he added.
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The Harris campaign announced the launching of Athletes for Harris, an effort to organize athletes and coaches to campaign for Kamala Harris as the next president.
“Athletes are among the most trusted voices for key voting blocs, especially young men,” reads the campaign’s statement, “making them uniquely qualified campaigners for Vice-President Harris and Governor Walz.”
“Sporting events and games are also key moments that draw in large and politically diverse audiences, audiences that are increasing their reach with gen Z and younger men,”
Harris announced the effort as Tim Walz heads to Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he’s expected to attend the University of Michigan Wolverines v University of Minnesota Golden Gophers football game and speak with students about the importance of voting.
Trump to deliver remarks focused on immigration in a western Wisconsin town just a day after Harris attacks her rival during a speech, while Walz visits Michigan football game
Good morning, US politics blog readers. Donald Trump is slated to speak at an event in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, a town of about 5,000 people, on Saturday. The former president is expected to focus on immigration and crime a day after Kamala Harris accused her rival of “playing political games” on immigration.
Meanwhile, the Democratic vice-presidential candidate, Tim Walz, is heading to Ann Arbor, Michigan, to attend a football game between the University of Michigan and the University of Minnesota. Walz will meet with young voters before the game this afternoon. Walz’s appearance in Michigan comes days before he is scheduled to debate Donald Trump’s running mate, Republican senator JD Vance of Ohio.
Vance will deliver remarks at a rally in Newton, Pennsylvania, at 5.15pm ET, where he’s expected to home in on energy policies, fracking and the economy.
Here’s what else is going on:
North Carolina’s lieutenant governor, Republican Mark Robinson, received burns on Friday night while attending a truck show as he was campaigning for governor, his campaign said.
Kamala Harris has stretched her lead over Donald Trump in the US presidential election race, the latest polling averages from the Guardian show, even while the two candidates appear to be running neck-and-neck in most battleground states.
Pennsylvania steelworkers are wooed by Harris and Trump, but they still remain skeptical of both candidates, Tom Perkins reports.
