Harris campaign releases ads aimed at Asian American voters and highlighting commitment to abortion rights
The Harris campaign released ads today targeting Asian American voters and highlighting its commitment to reproductive freedom.
The ad titled “My Mother,” is aimed at mobilizing Asian American voters and is set to air in the battleground states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. The 60-second ad features Harris’ remarks at the Democratic National Convention last month paying tribute to her late mother, breast cancer researcher Shyamala Gopalan.
Another ad, titled “Monster,” to air on national TV during large viewership moments, features Hadley Duvall, a Kentucky woman who became pregnant after her stepfather raped her at age 12 after years of sexual abuse. In the ad, Duvall says that while she “had options” after she became pregnant, other women have lost the ability to have abortions following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Montana Senate ballot will include Green Party candidate
Montana’s Senate race will include Green Party candidate Robert Barb on the November ballot, the state’s Supreme Court ruled yesterday.
The Montana Democratic Party had sought to remove Barb from the ballot, arguing that the Green Party did not properly nominate him after the winner of its primary ended his campaign.
The court’s decision could be a blow to Democratic Sen. Jon Tester, as Barb has the potential to pull liberal-leaning voters away from the incumbent in a state Trump won by 16 points in 2020.
Tester is facing a hotly contested race against Republican Tim Sheehy that could determine which party controls the Senate. Libertarian candidate Sid Daoud is also expected to appear on the ballot.
FBI Director Christopher Wray makes first public remarks on apparent assassination attempt
At the Aspen Institute’s cybersecurity summit, FBI Director Christopher Wray made his first public remarks on his agency’s investigation into the apparent assassination attempt on Trump on Sunday.
“For the second time in just over two months, we’ve witnessed what appears to be an attempt to attack our democracy and our democratic process, and I’m relieved that former President Trump is safe, and I want the American people to know that the men and women of the FBI are working tirelessly to get to the bottom of what happened,” he said.
Wray said that the work is “very much ongoing” and that the FBI is limited in what it can share with the public, adding, “we’re working around the clock to investigate this” and “have dedicated the full force of the FBI to this investigation.”
Republican former national security officials endorse Harris
A group of more than 100 Republican former national security and policy officials who served in the Reagan, both Bushes and Trump administrations and in Congress announced their endorsement of Harris’ presidential campaign.
The former officials said Harris is the kind of “principled, serious” and “steady leader” the country needs, who has “demonstrated that she can engage in orderly national security decision-making, without the constant drama and Cabinet turnover of the Trump Administration.”
“We believe that she possesses the essential qualities to serve as President and Donald Trump does not,” the coalition of Republicans said in a statement. “We therefore support her election to be President.”
The list of former officials includes William Webster, former CIA and FBI director who served in the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administration; John Negroponte, director of national intelligence under George W. Bush; and Robert Zoellick, who served as deputy secretary of state and U.S. trade representative under George W. Bush and White House deputy chief of staff under George H.W. Bush.
The group adds to the growing number of GOP endorsements that Harris has gained thus far, including former Vice President Dick Cheney and hundreds of former staffers who worked under former Presidents George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, and Sens. John McCain, of Arizona, and Mitt Romney, of Utah.
Competing events to be held on Long Island before Trump rally
Trump supporters and Democrats are scheduled to hold competing events on Long Island ahead of Trump’s rally tonight in Uniondale, New York.
Nassau County Democrats will hold an anti-Trump rally in Uniondale at 12 p.m.
Suffolk police will hold a pre-rally and tailgate in support of Trump in Garden City at 2 p.m.
There will also be a rally in Uniondale to support the Haitian immigrant community and denounce the false claims directed at them, which Trump and Vance have amplified, at 3 p.m.
Springfield college president condemns ‘falsehoods’ pushed by Trump and Vance
The president of Wittenberg University, a liberal arts college in Springfield, Ohio, condemned the false claims pushed by Trump and Vance saying Haitian immigrants in the city have eaten cats and dogs.
“They’re falsehoods, and I don’t know that there’s anything I could say or anybody could say to change their opinion,” Michael Frandsen said during an interview on CNN’s “The Situation Room” yesterday.
Wittenberg University received bomb threats by email seemingly “from the same source” after the baseless claims, Frandsen said, which prompted the school to cancel in-person classes and hold them virtually. He said the school has shared those emails with the city police department and the FBI.
He said some of the threats “actually named students by name. We have had threats of physical violence, of bombing and of shooting, so lots of different sorts of threats.
Frandsen also echoed recent comments by Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, who decried the false claims as “garbage.”
Rep. Andy Harris, a Trump ally, elected new House Freedom Caucus chairman
Members of the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus last night elected Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., as its new chairman after Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., the only other candidate, dropped out of the race, according to two GOP sources familiar with the matter.
The election was called after Rep. Bob Good, R-Va., resigned as the group’s chairman last week in the middle of his term following his primary loss this summer to a Trump-backed challenger, GOP state Sen. John McGuire.
Good had originally endorsed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in the GOP presidential primary, dividing the Freedom Caucus.
Harris is a staunch Trump ally. His term will only run through early January 2025. Freedom Caucus members, who frequently clash with and create headaches for GOP leadership, will select a new chairman for the next Congress, though Harris will have an opportunity to run for a full-two-year term at that time.
Doug Emhoff campaigns in New York
Second gentleman Doug Emhoff will be in upper Manhattan today and then Brooklyn to deliver remarks at a pair of campaign receptions.
Vance to speak at North Carolina rally and D.C. fundraiser
Vance will deliver remarks at a rally in Raleigh, North Carolina, at 3 p.m. ET.
In the evening, he will attend a reception and dinner fundraiser in Washington, D.C.
Trump to rally in Uniondale, New York
Trump will speak at an indoor rally in Uniondale, New York, at 7 p.m.
It will be Trump’s first campaign rally since the apparent attempt on his life Sunday.
NBC New York reported that heightened security measures will be in place.
“This will be the safest place in the country on that day, Wednesday,” Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder told NBC New York.
Harris spoke at a discussion hosted by the National Association of Black Journalists in Philadelphia yesterday, weeks after Trump questioned her racial identity at a separate event with NABJ members. During the interview, Harris rebuked false claims spread by Trump and his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, about Haitian immigrants abusing pets in Springfield, Ohio. NBC News’ Gabe Gutierrez has more.
Harris to speak at Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute event
Harris will deliver remarks at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute’s annual leadership conference in Washington, D.C., at 12:15 p.m. ET.
The vice president will then participate in a virtual campaign event, at 3:45 p.m.
Pennsylvania ballots are almost ready. Here’s why they look different this year.
Voters in the key battleground of Pennsylvania may notice their ballots look different this year, as the state prepares to deploy a new design in the general election for the first time this year that aims to reduce the number of rejected votes.
Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt officially certified the state’s ballot for this fall’s presidential election Monday after the state Supreme Court upheld a ruling that rejected third-party candidate Cornel West’s effort to appear on it, which was the final outstanding legal issue for the ballot.
That cleared the way for counties to start preparing, printing and distributing mail ballots to those who request them. Once they’re available, voters will be able to head to their local election offices and request and cast mail ballots in person.
