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What's happening on the campaign trail today
- Former President Donald Trump returned to the battleground state of Pennsylvania, participating in a policy roundtable in Smithton this afternoon before rallying in Indiana County.
- Trump's running mate, Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, is also on the East Coast with two events in Charlotte, North Carolina, a state Trump won twice but Democrats think could be in play for Vice President Kamala Harris.
- President Joe Biden met with the president of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, at the White House this afternoon before he headed to New York, where he will speak at the United Nations General Assembly tomorrow morning.
Idaho man charged with threatening to kill Trump in phone calls to Mar-a-Lago
An Idaho man has been charged with threatening to kill Trump in phone calls made to the former president’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, according to court documents.
Warren Jones Crazybull, 64, of Sandpoint, made at least nine threatening phone calls to Trump’s home on July 31, according to a criminal complaint and affidavit that was first reported Monday by Forbes.
Mar-a-Lago security received a phone call from a phone number with the caller ID “Warren Jones,” and Crazybull made several statements, including “Find Trump…I am coming down to Bedminster tomorrow. I am going to down him personally and kill him,” the court filings said.
Spectators at Trump rally chant 'Send them back!' when he refers to immigrants in Pennsylvania and Ohio
Spectators at Trump's campaign rally in Indiana, Pennsylvania, tonight chanted "Send them back!" when he said Springfield, Ohio, and Pennsylvania communities will "never be the same" after having been "inundated" with immigrants.
“They will never be — do you think Springfield will never be the same?” Trump asked as a few spectators began to shout, "Send them back!"
“The fact is, and I’ll say it now, you have to get them the hell out. You have to get them out. I’m sorry. Get them out,” Trump said.
The crowd then chanted: “Send them back!”
In response to a request for comment, Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung said: "President Trump is rightfully highlighting the failed immigration system that Kamala Harris has overseen, bringing thousands of illegal immigrants pouring into communities like Springfield and many others across the country."
Local Republicans have defended Haitian immigrants against the attacks, noting that many residing in places like Charleroi, Pennsylvania, are there legally.
Trump supporters have chanted a similar phrase at previous rallies, with some chanting "Send her back" in regard to Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., who came to the U.S. in the 1990s after having fled Somalia.
Springfield has faced bomb threats and the closings and evacuations of schools and city buildings after Trump amplified lies about Haitian immigrants' eating the pets of fellow residents.
Janet Jackson ‘apology’ for Kamala Harris remarks weren't authorized, came from man claiming to be manager
An apology thought to be from singer Janet Jackson after a comment repeating misinformation about Harris’ racial identity wasn’t actually made by her or authorized by her team.
Representatives confirmed to NBC News today that the statement, made to BuzzFeed over the weekend by a man named Mo Elmasri, was not authorized. Elmasri claimed to be Jackson’s manager, but representatives for Jackson said her brother Randy Jackson is her only manager.
The controversy began Saturday when Jackson’s interview with The Guardian was published, in which Jackson made an erroneous claim about Harris. Jackson told the interviewer that she “heard” Harris was Indian not Black.
Democrats ramp up efforts to turn out Puerto Rican voters in Pennsylvania
Noted Puerto Rican actors rallied in Bethlehem and hundreds of Latino canvassers knocked on doors in Lancaster over the weekend as Democrats aimed to mobilize voters in predominantly Hispanic cities in Pennsylvania who have previously skipped elections.
Latino voters in the battleground state, especially those who are of Puerto Rican descent, are less likely to pledge their unconditional loyalty to specific presidential candidates compared with the general voting population in Pennsylvania — making them “one of the few voting groups where there’s a chance of either mobilizing them or changing their minds,” Michael Jones-Correa, a political science professor at the University of Pennsylvania, told NBC News.
More than half of the nearly 580,000 eligible Latino voters in Pennsylvania are of Puerto Rican descent. Considering that the last presidential election in the state was decided by less than 81,000 votes, Puerto Rican voters “could be decisive” this year if they turn out, according to the Latino Policy & Politics Institute at UCLA.
NBC News’ Shaquille Brewster spoke to voters in the swing county of Door County, Wisconsin, about how their views of Harris have favorably changed since she became the Democratic presidential nominee.
Trump accuses DOJ of ‘mishandling and downplaying’ second apparent assassination plot
Trump accused the Justice Department of “downplaying” an alleged apparent assassination plot against him this month and suggested state officials in Florida should take over the investigation and prosecution.
“The Kamala Harris/Joe Biden Department of Justice and FBI are mishandling and downplaying the second assassination attempt on my life since July. The charges brought against the maniac assassin are a slap on the wrist,” Trump said in a statement today, alleging they have a conflict of interest “since they have been obsessed with ‘Getting Trump’ for so long.”
Federal prosecutors charged Ryan Routh with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number after he was allegedly seen with a long gun lying in wait on Sept. 15 outside Trump International Golf Club, where Trump was golfing. The Justice Department hasn’t ruled out filing additional charges, and it has hinted that it intends to file more. It is common for the Justice Department to file initial charges and later additional charges after it ensured the necessary evidence and information have been gathered.
Trump reiterates pledge to restore tax deduction that he capped
Trump said tonight that he would restore the state and local tax deduction known as SALT.
He said the deduction would save taxpayers "thousands of dollars."
The move would reverse part of a 2017 law that capped a federal deduction for state and local taxes at $10,000 per filer that Trump signed into law in his first year in office.
Trump urges supporters to vote early while calling process 'stupid'
At a campaign rally in Indiana, Pennsylvania, Trump urged his supporters to vote early while simultaneously bashing early voting as "stupid stuff."
"We got to get out and vote. You can start right away. You know that right now, we have this stupid stuff where you can vote 45 days early," Trump said.
He mused about "what the hell happens" during the period between the start of early voting and Election Day, claiming election fraudsters "move" votes from one candidate to another.
“It’s terrible. What happened the last time was disgraceful, including right here. But we’re not going to let it happen again, too, you know, too big to rig, right?” Trump said referring to his 2020 election defeat to Biden. "That’s one way you do it."
An abortion rights political action committee in Florida raised about $8 million to support a high-profile ballot initiative that would loosen restrictions on abortion access in the state. NBC News’ Marissa Parra details the fight and explains what state government says about fraud on the ballot.
Trump campaign uses image from 'Orange Is the New Black' in ad
The Trump campaign used a still image from the Netflix series “Orange Is the New Black” in a new 30-second ad that claims Harris supports transgender surgery for "prisoners and illegal aliens."
"Kamala supports taxpayer funded sex changes for prisoners and illegal aliens. Every transgender inmate would have access," the narrator says alongside a shot of characters in the series dressed in orange jumpsuits.
A campaign spokesperson did not immediately provide a comment on why an image from a fictional program was used in an ad that otherwise consists of politicians and government employees.
CNN reported this month that in an American Civil Liberties Union questionnaire in 2019, Harris indicated "Yes" to a question that asked, "As President will you use your executive authority to ensure that transgender and non-binary people who rely on the state for medical care — including those in prison and immigration detention — will have access to comprehensive treatment associated with gender transition, including all necessary surgical care?"
Elaborating on her answer, Harris wrote in part, “It is important that transgender individuals who rely on the state for care receive the treatment they need, which includes access to treatment associated with gender transition."
Michael Tyler, a Harris campaign spokesperson, said in a Fox News interview this month that the questionnaire "is not what she is proposing or running on."