Fact-checking Trump’s speech accepting the GOP nomination
Former President Donald Trump pitched a familiar worldview Thursday night: an administration that would stop wars, curb inflation and end illegal immigration.
But his third Republican National Convention speech — the longest nomination acceptance address in modern history, at 93 minutes — included a series of false claims on topics from taxes to crime to foreign policy.
Here’s what Trump said in Milwaukee and the facts behind his claims.
Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to testify before House Oversight on Monday
Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle will testify before the House Oversight Committee on Monday, the agency's chief of communications, Anthony Guglielmi, said in a statement.
"The Secret Service is fully accountable for the safety of its protectees. We are committed to better understanding what happened before, during, and after the assassination attempt of former President Trump to ensure it never happens again," Guglielmi said.
"That includes complete cooperation with Congress, the FBI, and other relevant investigations," he added.
The House Oversight panel subpoenaed Cheatle earlier this week to appear before the committee.
House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries affirms Biden is the party's nominee
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., told reporters in Brooklyn this morning that Biden remains the Democratic presidential nominee.
He refused to divulge details about the meeting he recently had with Biden, saying that it was "a private conversation with President Biden that shall remain private."
Asked if he thinks Biden is the best person to defeat Trump, Jeffries said, "President Biden, as I’ve said repeatedly, is our nominee. He has a tremendous track record of success. He’s one of the most accomplished American presidents in our history, and he has the vision, I believe, the ability, the capacity and the track record to make a case to the American people that will result in us being successful in November."
NBC News reported yesterday that Biden feels personally hurt and betrayed by the way so many Democrats, including party leaders, have wavered on his candidacy.
Four House Democrats call on Biden to step aside in joint statement
Reps. Jared Huffman of California, Marc Veasey of Texas, Chuy Garcia of Illinois and Mark Pocan of Wisconsin on Friday called on Biden to drop his re-election bid in a joint statement, saying that concerns about his "age and fitness are jeopardizing what should be a winning campaign."
"Mr. President, with great admiration for you personally, sincere respect for your decades of public service and patriotic leadership, and deep appreciation for everything we have accomplished together during your presidency, it is now time for you to pass the torch to a new generation of Democratic leaders," the House members said. "We must defeat Donald Trump to save our democracy, protect our alliances and the rules-based international order, and continue building on the strong foundation you have established over the past few years."
They added, "Mr. President, you have always been our country and our values first. We call on you to do it once again, so that we can come together and save the country we love."
Past Biden campaigner says he should hand over the reins
Michael Beer of Delaware, who says he campaigned door to door for Biden’s 1972 Senate race, told NBC outside the Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington, where a group was protesting this morning, that it’s time for the president to pass the torch.
“We love you, your legacy is now firmly established. Pass the torch, now,” Beer said. “We’ve got young people who can really handle this.”
“He’s going to have to listen,” Beer said when it was noted that Biden says he’s already made a decision. “Ultimately, we make the decision, not him, as members of the Democratic Party.”
But what will Beer do in November if Joe Biden remains on the ticket? “We’ll vote for Joe Biden,” Beer said. “We’ll vote for a corpse over Trump.”
A group called Climate Defiance was behind the DNC protest this morning. Members were calling for Biden to step aside, saying they were upset with the DNC for trying to rush through a virtual roll call to nomination him as the Democratic nominee.
A DNC committee is meeting virtually this morning to discuss the convention.
“Today the Rules Committee is meeting virtually in order to discuss the rules for the convention and the virtual roll call to ensure Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will be on the ballot in all 50 states," a DNC spokesperson said in a statement, adding, "we can promise that this process will be transparent and it will not be rushed. We will discuss all of our business in full view of the public to ensure a clear and transparent process.”
Congressional Hispanic Caucus campaign arm endorses Biden's re-election bid
BOLD PAC, the political arm of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, endorsed Biden-Harris's re-election campaign on Friday.
"From historic investments in our infrastructure system to expanding access to affordable health care, they have championed policies that lifted up our families and communities,” Linda Sánchez, the BOLD PAC chairwoman, said in a statement. "This administration has led with working families in mind and shown an unwavering commitment to Latinos. There is so much work left to do and the stakes couldn’t be higher."
In the statement, Sánchez added that a second Trump presidency would be "disastrous to the Latino community across the country," and BOLD PAC is focused on "doing what it takes to ensure that he remains a one-term president."
Julie Chavez Rodriguez, the Biden-Harris campaign manager, said they are "honored to earn the support of BOLD PAC."
"BOLD PAC and the Latino community are a political force with deep roots in organizing, and the stakes of this election require Latinos across the country to unify and mobilize like our lives depend on it," Rodriguez said in a statement. "This November, we will harness the power of our community to defeat Donald Trump and his Project 2025 agenda, and reelect President Biden.”
Travelers are stranded at Milwaukee airport following RNC
Lines are long at Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport this morning after the Republican convention amid widespread flight delays because of a global IT outage.
Democrats urge Biden to 'pass the torch' in new TV ad
Biden’s Democratic detractors are trying to reach him directly through a TV ad on one of his favorite shows, marking an escalation in the pressure campaign to urge the president to step aside.
The ad, created by the new group Pass the Torch, will start running Monday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” which Biden known to watch regularly, and other daytime MSNBC programming. It will run in Washington, D.C., and the media market that includes Rehoboth, Delaware, where Biden has a beach home in which he is currently isolating after testing positive for Covid-19.
"We want to get this message — that we’re so grateful for all you’ve done, and now it’s seriously time to pass the torch — directly to President Biden,” said Aaron Regunberg, a member of Pass the Torch’s steering committee. “We’ll be going up on his favorite programs, and we plan to stay up until we hear the announcement that he’s going to do the right thing and step aside. Hopefully we’ll be able to take it off the air in the very near future.”
The ad features Democratic voters from Pennsylvania, a key swing state with which Biden has deep connections, speaking directly to the camera and urging him to step aside.
“President Biden, you saved democracy in 2020,” says one.
“Now you have a chance to do it again,” says another.
Multiple voters of various ages and races go on to say that “it’s time to pass the torch and let us choose a new nominee” who “can bring new energy, new hope.”
“Our country’s future is in your hands,” says one.
“So please, be the leader we know you are. Pass the torch,” adds another.
The tactic of using mass media advertising to circumvent gatekeepers and reach a single powerful individual was pioneered during the previous administration, when advocates of various stripes bought airtime in Washington and Palm Beach, Florida on some of Donald Trump’s favorite TV shows to try to get a message directly to him.
Rep. Sean Casten is the latest Democratic lawmaker to call on Biden to step aside
Rep. Sean Casten of Illinois today became the 23rd congressional Democrat to call on Biden to drop out.
In an opinion piece in the Chicago Tribune, he reflected on Biden's accomplishments during his time in office and expressed his fears about the upcoming election, saying his constituents "wonder whether our nation — and indeed, our world — can survive another Trump administration."
"As long as this election is instead litigated over which candidate is more likely to be held accountable for public gaffes and 'senior moments,'" Casten added. "I believe that Biden is not only going to lose but is also uniquely incapable of shifting that conversation."
Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., called on Biden to withdraw yesterday.
Biden campaign insists he will stay in the race
The Biden campaign is insisting Biden will remain at the top of the ticket in November, arguing in a new memo that voters are still backing him despite concerns over his age and that the party has “no plan for an alternative nominee.”
In a new memo obtained by NBC News, the campaign’s battleground states director, Dan Kanninen, says that despite intense media coverage on Democratic divisions, organizers talking to voters consistently found that issues such as women’s rights and the potential GOP agenda of Project 2025 are paramount.
“While voters consistently mention President Biden’s age when contacted, our target voters — both re-engagement and true swing voters — are still planning to vote for him, making it clear the debate has not hurt support among the voters who will decide this election,” he writes in the memo.
Kanninen says he won’t “sugar coat the state of the race: we have our work cut out for us to win this November.” But he underscored what Biden has said repeatedly since his poor debate performance — that he is “in it to win it.”
“He’s the presumptive nominee, there is no plan for an alternative nominee. In a few short weeks, Joe Biden will be the official nominee,” he writes. “It is high past time we stop fighting one another. The only person who wins when we fight is Donald Trump.”
Biden advisers have privately warned Democrats in recent weeks that the messy mechanics of potentially replacing Biden at the top of the ticket could only further divide the party. Vice President Kamala Harris would most neatly inherit the existing campaign infrastructure, campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez told donors shortly after the debate, but the process around choosing a new nominee could be messy and complicated.
Biden remains in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, convalescing after his Covid diagnosis. He has no public events on his schedule.