Donald Trump delivered a garbled speech to the Economic Club of New York on Thursday in which he was stumped by a simple question about how to make childcare more afforable for American families, delivering a meandering, nonsensical answer that invited derision.
At the same event, the Republican presidential nominee again joked about relocating to Venezuela, praised North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, dismissed the threat posed by climate change, suggested Elon Musk could oversee “drastic” government efficiency cuts and told his audience of financiers: “A couple of nukes and your bank doesn’t mean a thing.”
Meanwhile, Kamala Harris has rebuked his running mate JD Vance for suggesting that mass shootings are simply “a fact of life” in response to the deadly attack on a high school in Winder, Georgia, earlier this week.
“It doesn’t have to be this way,” Harris wrote on social media in response to a clip of the Ohio Senator making the remark on the campaign trail in Arizona. “We can take action to protect our children – and we will.”
Two teenage students and two teachers were shot dead at Apalachee High School on Wednesday.
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Trump hosting Trump Tower press conference on Friday
The Republican nominee will hold another of his meandering press conferences today at Trump Tower, where it all began for him sailing down that cursed escalator in 2015 and where he last spoke in late May in the aftermath of his conviction at the hush money trial.
If it’s anything like his Mar-a-Lago and Bedminister rants of recent weeks, expect plenty of “weave”.
Kick off is at high noon ET (5pm UK time) and we will, of course, bring you all the very latest from the mind of Don (or what’s left of it) right here.
Joe Sommerlad6 September 2024 11:55
Truth Social: Trump whines about upcoming hush money sentencing
Over on social media, the Republican presidential nominee and convicted felon has resumed moaning about his upcoming sentencing in the hush money case against him, citing his usual desperate collection of highly-partisan legal minds – Jonathan Turley, Alan Dershowitz etc – as he frantically protests his innocence and insists he did nothing wrong despite being found guilty by a unanimous jury of his peers on all 34 counts he faced in Manhattan this spring.
Joe Sommerlad6 September 2024 11:35
Trump talks Afghanistan, migrants and Rosie O’Donnell in Fox town hall sequel
We were treated to a second instalment of the Republican nominee’s sitdown with Sean Hannity on Fox News last night in which Trump blamed the Biden administration for the deaths of US soldiers during the withdrawal from Afghanistan – to distract from last week’s disgraceful episode at Arlington National Cemetery – indulged in more Hitlerian rhetoric about migrants “poisoning” the country and claimed to enjoy the support of 80 per cent of American voters (we shall have to wait and see on that one).
He also hit on the issue that really matters this fall: his ongoing dislike of Rosie O’Donnell.
Joe Sommerlad6 September 2024 11:15
Harris doubles Trump’s campaign fundraising haul for August
Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign raised more than double Donald Trump’s haul in August, bringing in over $300m compared to the Republican’s $130m.
Here’s Ariana Baio’s report.
Joe Sommerlad6 September 2024 10:55
Fake Tim Walz dancing video circulates on social media
Sadly, this is very much not the Minnesota Governor grooving to Beyonce.
But the real Walz was back out there on the campaign trail yesterday, once more sticking it to Trump in fine style.
Joe Sommerlad6 September 2024 10:35
Vladimir Putin cites Harris’s ‘infectious laugh’ in mocking endorsement of her candidacy
Russian president Vladimir Putin has claimed that he wants Kamala Harris to win November’s US presidential election because Joe Biden endorsed her – and because she has an “expressive and infectious laugh”.
Speaking during the Eastern Economic Forum on Thursday, Putin claimed that Biden was his “favorite” candidate but that, since he has dropped out, he will now support the new Democratic nominee.
“Our favorite, if you can call it that, was the current president Mr Biden,” Putin said, with a smirk.
Joe Sommerlad6 September 2024 10:15
Trump taps Elon Musk to lead task force for ‘drastic’ spending cuts
At the same event in New York yesterday, Trump again joked about relocating to Venezuela, praised North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, dismissed the threat posed by climate change, suggested Elon Musk could oversee “drastic” government efficiency cuts and told his audience of financiers: “A couple of nukes and your bank doesn’t mean a thing.”
Here’s Alex Woodward’s report on what Trump has planned for Musk, who appears to be his new best friend.
Joe Sommerlad6 September 2024 09:55
Donald Trump gives garbled answer on affordable childcare in latest meandering economic address
The Republican presidential nominee also got into difficulties on Thursday as he delivered a garbled speech to the New York Economic Club in which he was stumped by a question about how to make childcare more afforable for American families, delivering a meandering, nonsensical answer.
Here’s Alex Woodward on the meaningless word salad the great business titan presented in lieu of a coherent policy that might make a palpable difference in the lives of voters.
Joe Sommerlad6 September 2024 09:35
Kamala Harris rebukes JD Vance for dismissing mass shootings as ‘a fact of life’
Kamala Harris has rebuked Donald Trump’s running mate JD Vance for suggesting that mass shootings are simply “a fact of life” in response to the deadly attack on a high school in Winder, Georgia, earlier this week.
“It doesn’t have to be this way,” Harris wrote on social media in response to a clip of the Ohio Senator making the remark on the campaign trail in Arizona. “We can take action to protect our children – and we will.”
Two teenage students and two teachers were shot dead at Apalachee High School on Wednesday.
Here’s Vance saying it and Harris’s response:
And here, incidentally, is a recent picture of Vance that has a certain amount of relevance to the present discussion.
You can follow live coverage on all the latest from Georgia below.
Joe Sommerlad6 September 2024 09:15
Trump says convicted criminals should spend time behind bars. What about him?
Earlier this week, Trump’s national press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, told the New York Times that the former president “believes anyone convicted of a crime should spend time behind bars.”
Leavitt made the comment in response to the re-conviction of Jamie Davidson, whose domestic violence sentence Trump commuted in 2021.
Trump’s own logic would condemn him to jail after he was convicted in May by a Manhattan jury on 34 counts of falsifying business records in the Stormy Daniels hush-money case. He’ll be sentenced on September 18.
NBC News asked Leavitt about the comment and questioned whether Trump would apply it to his own conviction.
Oliver O’Connell6 September 2024 08:45