Monday, December 23, 2024

Trump joins town hall; Harris campaigns in Pennsylvania: Live updates

Must read

Kamala Harris agrees Trump’s vision is about ‘fascism’

Donald Trump will receive a further boost on the campaign trail from tech billionaire Elon Musk, who has announced he will speak at a series of events on behalf of the Republican ticket in the crucial swing state of Pennsylvania.

Musk previously appeared with Trump on his return to Butler in the same state, the site of the first attempt on his life earlier this summer.

Kamala Harris is meanwhile gearing up for an interview with Fox News’s Bret Baier, which will be broadcast on Wednesday evening.

On Tuesday, the Democrat joined Charlamagne Tha God for an hour-long sitdown in Detroit in which she declared she is going to win in November and agreed with the host when he called Trump’s policy platform “fascist”.

Also on Tuesday, Trump took part in a freewheeling Bloomberg Q&A with the Economic Club of Chicago and told a rally in Atlanta, Georgia, that he considers illegal immigration a greater problem than inflation.

This morning Fox News aired a town hall with Donald Trump centered on women voters and hosted by Harris Faulkner that was recorded on Tuesday in front of a friendly crowd of supporters.

1729095003

Trump says he likes Zuckerberg more now

He also told Barstool Sports’s podcast Bussin’ With The Boys that the founder of Facebook had called him after he was shot “and he said ‘that was so brave,’ which was nice.”

Rhian Lubin has the story.

Oliver O’Connell16 October 2024 17:10

1729093861

Watch: Awkward moment where Trump rant is interrupted for commercial break

Oliver O’Connell16 October 2024 16:51

1729093281

Trump sits for edited town hall before friendly audience, while Harris interview will be unedited and ‘live to tape’

The Independent’s Eric Garcia was present at Donald Trump’s women-focused Fox News town hall when it was taped on Tuesday — he confirms that only Republican friends were invited to attend.

Meanwhile, Matt Gertz of Media Matters for America contrasts this, and the fact the event was edited for time and includes commercial breaks with Kamala Harris’s upcoming interview with Bret Baier tonight on the same network, which will air unedited and with no breaks.

Here’s Ariana Baio reporting on how Baier is batting away criticism from MAGA supporters over his interview with Harris.

Oliver O’Connell16 October 2024 16:41

1729092859

Anti-Trump conservative group tears into make-up of Fox News town hall audience

Judging by the ecstatic clapping and whooping from the audience at the Fox News town hall, it doesn’t seem like this is a cross-section of women voters, allowing Donald Trump to repeat his talking points and falsehoods.

Anti-Trump conservative group The Lincoln Project tweeted: “Donald Trump can’t even pack a room of people that aren’t rabid loyalists anymore. The “fair and balanced” audience in his women’s town hall today are all Trump supporters. The only thing these women are undecided about is if he should be dictator for four years or life.”

Oliver O’Connell16 October 2024 16:34

1729092161

Trump reels off usual talking points in town hall focused on women

Regular readers of this blog will find Donald Trump’s responses to questions on issues of concern to women voters at the Fox News town hall recorded yesterday strikingly familiar.

As journalist Aaron Rupar notes: “It’s really notable that he has about three or four talking points he loves and he uses them over and over, regardless of whatever question he’s asked.”

Similarly, Trump doesn’t have any specifics on the affordability crisis.

Oliver O’Connell16 October 2024 16:22

1729091521

Abortion rights group sues after Florida orders TV stations to stop airing ad

A group campaigning for a Florida abortion-right ballot measure sued state officials Wednesday over their order to TV stations to stop airing one ad produced by the group, Floridians Protecting Freedom.

The state’s health department, part of the administration of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, told TV stations earlier this month to stop airing the commercial, asserting that it was false and dangerous and that keeping it running could result in criminal proceedings.

1729091103

Latest poll updates: Can Kamala Harris beat Donald Trump?

Alicja Hagopian takes a look at the latest polling data for The Independent.

Oliver O’Connell16 October 2024 16:05

1729091021

Harris advantage with women more significant than shortfall with men

Oliver O’Connell16 October 2024 16:03

1729090178

Jack Smith responds to Trump’s latest attempt at having Jan 6 case dismissed

That decision “did not invalidate” the section that Trump is charged under “or elevate basic pleading requirements, and the defendant fails to identify any pleading flaw in the superseding indictment warranting its dismissal,” Smith writes.

“Moreover, the defendant’s motion ignores entirely that the case against him includes allegations that he and his co-conspirators sought to create and use false evidence—fraudulent electoral certificates—as a means of obstructing the certification proceeding,” which the Supreme Court’s ruling “expressly” says are protected under the section of law Trump is charged.

“Finally, the defendant’s half-hearted arguments” against conspiracy charges “likewise lack merit.”

Here’s some background on the Supreme Court ruling on which Trump is trying to leverage his case for dismissal:

Alex Woodward16 October 2024 15:49

1729089101

Trump thinks comments about sending military after ‘enemy from within’ on election day were ‘nice’

At a town hall event with Fox News anchor Harris Faulkner in Georgia recorded on Tuesday, Trump was asked about the remarks he had made in a sit-down interview with the network’s Maria Bartiromo on Sunday.

Read on to see what he had to say when confronted with his remarks, widely understood as fascist. The full town hall will be played on Fox News at 11am ET — we’ll bring you the highlights.

Here’s Rhian Lubin’s report.

Oliver O’Connell16 October 2024 15:31

Latest article