Trump rambles about Harris in speech supposedly about economy: Latest updates

More than 1,000 US military veterans and family members of veterans have signed on to an open letter condemning what they describe as “politically motivated attacks” on Democratic vice presidential pick Tim Walz’s military service by former President Donald Trump and his running-mate, Ohio Senator JD Vance.

The thousand-strong group of “veterans, veteran families, military families, caregivers, and survivors” said they are all “appalled” at the attacks on Walz, who retired from the Minnesota Army National Guard after a 24-year career that saw him ascend to the rank of command sergeant major, the highest rank for any enlisted person in the Army.

Andrew Feinberg has the details.

The Minnesota governor and the Ohio senator have been embroiled in a feud over their time served in the naval and armed forces.

While neither actively fought in combat roles, Republicans have accused Walz of “stolen valor” for allegedly overstating his military record and have claimed, without merit, that he purposely avoided deployment to Iraq.

On Tuesday night, Walz fiercely defended his 24 years in the Army National Guard – the US Army’s combat reserve – while speaking on stage at the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) union convention in Los Angeles.

A new poll of 500 likely voters in Florida was carried out up to August 11 by USA Today/Suffolk University/WSVN-TV.

Alicja Hagopian looks at the numbers.

The judge overseeing Donald Trump’s criminal hush money trial won’t be stepping away after the former president failed to kick him off the case for a third time.

In a late filing on Tuesday, Judge Merchan shot down a third recusal motion from Trump, who has alleged that there is a conflict of interest because Merchan’s daughter works as a Democratic political consultant.

Alex Woodward has the latest.

The former South Carolina governor – who served as US ambassador to the United Nations during the Trump administration before incurring the former president’s wrath by running against him for the Republican presidential nomination this year– appealed to Trump to focus on substantive policy issues rather than crude identity politics.

Hailey Guerra had never bothered to attend a presidential campaign rally before now — but Kamala Harris’s visit to the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale seemed different.

“Everyone’s just like, at least it’s not another old white man,” Guerra told The Independent, referring to president Joe Biden, who announced last month that he would not seek re-election and instead endorsed Harris.

“I was definitely gonna vote for [Biden] still, because it seemed like the lesser of two evils, but I’m actually way more, like, motivated to go out and vote,” Guerra said.

Weeks of Democratic infighting leading up to President Joe Biden’s decision to drop out of the 2024 presidential race have left some emotional scars between the president and some party leaders, according to a new report.

Biden allegedly is also displeased about the role that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer played in trying to pressure him to drop out.

But the president is reportedly mostly frustrated with former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.

Conservative commentator Dan Bongino has accused former Trump White House aide Kellyanne Conway and others of sabotaging Donald Trump and his campaign to return to the White House.

Speaking on his show on Wednesday, Bongino said that media stories suggesting that Trump regrets his choice of running mate in JD Vance as “Absolute bulls***”, Mediaite reports.

“There’s a lot of internal sabotage going on right now that I honestly did not want to highlight because I like to stay focused on the Democrats and I was hoping it would go away. It’s not,” Bongino said.

He said he had been told that Vance’s position on Ukraine was a reason some Republicans were unhappy.

“I suspect strongly this was a leak from people who wanted another candidate for vice president,” Bongino said, pointing thes finger at the “Kellyanne Conway camp.”

“Some of the other candidates were very interested in a more muscular posture in Ukraine where there was a lot of money to be made for a lot of people. JD Vance is interested in a more cautious approach to Ukraine,” Bongino argued.

Bongino called Trump and Vance a “great ticket,” but blasted those he believes are “sabotaging” it.

“Instead of just shutting up and trying to win now with this great ticket, there are people out there sabotaging the ticket right now,” he said.

“I’m going to say to Kellyanne and others: it’s time to pipe down. You’ve been warned. I’ve had about enough,” he said.

Indefinite, round-the-clock road closures around Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago compound are frustrating Palm Beach officials and residents to the point that the Florida club and residence could be forced to shut down.

On Tuesday, Palm Beach Council directed town staff to study what could be done about the month-long shutdown, which has closed off surrounding roads in the wake of the attempted assassination of the Republican presidential nominee.

Alex Woodward has the details.