Trump to rally at Madison Square Garden
Trump will host a rally at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan on Oct. 27 per a campaign official. This will kick off an “arena tour” for the former president. The campaign intends to host “major arena rallies” in battleground states in the final push, per the official.
The campaign has long floated the idea of a Madison Square Garden rally. Trump is set to campaign in two other nonswing states this week: Coachella, California and Aurora, Colorado.
Trump team appoints Harmeet Dhillon to run Arizona 'election integrity team'
The Trump-Vance campaign announced last night a new “election integrity team” in Arizona led by former California GOP Chair and RNC Committeewoman Harmeet Dhillon.
This announcement comes on the heels of Kari Lake adviser Caroline Wren complaining that the RNC had recruited 5,000 attorneys across the country but none had been stationed in Arizona.
Dhillon ran unsuccessfully for RNC chair in 2022 and was a vocal critic of the then-chair Ronna McDaniel.
Here's what Harris, Biden and Walz are doing today
Harris and Biden will receive a briefing on preparations for Hurricane Milton and updates on recovery efforts from the impacts of Hurricane Helene across the southeastern part of the country at noon.
Walz participates in a veterans and military families event with Arizona Rep. Ruben Gallego and Jim McCain, son of late Republican Sen. John McCain, in Chandler, Arizona, at 2 p.m. ET. Gallego is the Democratic nominee in the Arizona Senate race this year.
The Minnesota governor and Democratic vice presidential nominee will also participate in an event with Gila River Indian Community Gov. Stephen Roe Lewis and other tribal leaders in the Greater Phoenix area, Arizona at 3:30 p.m. ET and deliver remarks at a campaign rally in the Tucson area at 6:30 p.m. ET.
First to NBC News: Gun safety group Everytown pours $9 million into state legislative races
The political arm of Everytown for Gun Safety plans to spend $9 million to boost Democratic candidates in state legislative contests in five states, the group’s first investment in such races this election cycle.
The investment, first reported by NBC News, will be directed primarily toward digital and TV ads in state House and Senate races in Arizona, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania. Partisan control of at least one legislative chamber in each of those states is up for grabs in November, with the fate of a litany of hot-button issues — including gun safety — on the line along with it.
The announcement is part of Everytown’s broader $45 million spending plans up and down the ballot.
Harris’ mission critical in final push: Wipe out Trump’s advantage on the economy
Harris is zeroing in on a monumental task that could make or break her prospects in the final month before Election Day: wiping out Trump’s persisting advantage among voters on whom they trust to handle the economy.
While Harris has gained ground on stewardship of the economy, Trump still leads in most surveys about the issue, which frequently ranks as the top concern for voters. The Harris campaign and Democratic allies believe she must erode that advantage and at least fight it to a draw.
“With four weeks to go, we’re going to be laser-focused on this and be talking about this,” a Harris aide said.
The aide, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss strategy, said Harris and her team will spend the final stretch of the campaign presenting her as the candidate fighting for the middle class, citing her upbringing and agenda, while portraying Trump as caring more about cutting taxes for wealthy Americans like himself and hitting his plan for aggressive tariffs as a de facto middle-class tax hike.
Analysis: Why control of the House will shape the next presidency
One of the more remarkable aspects about the current political era is how closely contested control of all parts of the federal government is these days.
It’s not just the presidency that’s on a knife’s edge — so is the House, and even the Senate is highly competitive, though a GOP takeover this cycle is looking closer and closer to inevitable.
We could see all three change party control in the same election cycle, without their all ending up in the hands of the same party — an outcome that would be quite astonishing and unprecedented. And yet, as unusual as that would be, in another way, it would be sort of par for the course, considering how polarized and closely divided we are as a country.
Kremlin confirms Trump sent Putin Covid test machines, denies Putin phone calls since he left office
Trump did send coronavirus testing devices to Russian President Vladimir Putin at the height of the pandemic, the Kremlin confirmed yesterday.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Bloomberg News in a written statement that “we also sent equipment at the beginning of the pandemic.”
The story was initially reported in “War,” a new book by veteran Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward, which reports on Trump and Biden’s relationships with foreign leaders.
The book claims that Trump secretly sent Abbott Covid testing devices to Putin when the machines were in short supply. NBC News has not been able to independently verify this.
Peskov also denied Woodward’s claim that Trump and Putin have spoken on the telephone several times since Trump left office. “No, that’s not true,” he told Russian outlet RBC.
Trump also denied the reporting in an interview with ABC News’ Jonathan Karl. “He’s a storyteller. A bad one. And he’s lost his marbles,” Trump said of Woodward.
Mark Cuban says Trump 'is not right for the United States of America'
In an interview on "The Chuck Toddcast" released this morning, billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban, who formerly supported Trump in 2016, criticized the former president as unfit for the job.
“He can be a realtor, he could be a TV guy, he could be whatever he wants and I don’t care," Cuban said. "But obviously, this is a different job, and I don’t think he’s qualified for it."
Trump's campaign did not immediately respond to NBC News' request for comment.
Cuban emphasized that he tries to be "as apolitical as possible" on the issues, and is not a Democrat or a Republican, despite endorsing Harris. He said when he first got involved in the 2016 presidential race, he initially supported Trump, but "as I got to know him, realized he was not who I thought he would be." Cuban later endorsed Clinton.
Cuban said his reason for endorsing Harris centered on his children's futures, citing the need to grapple with climate change as one concern. Later in the interview, he circled back on Trump.
"I’m a believer character is destiny, and what I look at is how he’s done business with people," Cuban said. "As an entrepreneur, I see what he’s done," he said, adding, "the number of contractors he’s stiffed."
Cuban cited in particular former longtime Trump fixer Michael Cohen's testimony in the New York hush money trial, in which he said the former president would short pay vendors.
"Because to me, that’s the worst thing you can say about an entrepreneur or business person — I didn’t pay my vendors — because no one’s going to want to do business with you"
"That’s who Donald Trump is," he said. "That’s what you need to know about Donald Trump. He’s going to put his pocketbook above and beyond all other things."
Democratic super PAC launches new ad on abortion in key Pennsylvania Senate race
The main Democratic super PAC involved in Senate races is out with a new ad airing in the Philadelphia market criticizing Pennsylvania Republican Dave McCormick for his past statements on abortion.
The ad, part of Senate Majority PAC’s $42 million fall ad buy, begins with the narrator saying, "In 2022, this was Dave McCormick’s website, where he called himself 'staunchly pro-life' and said 'life begins at conception.'"
It then cuts to McCormick saying, “I’m someone who is pro-life.”
The rest of the ad accuses McCormick of trying to hide his position and erase his website to hide his views.
The ad ends calling him, “Dishonest Dave: you just can’t trust him.”
McCormick has spoken at length about his views on abortion.
Less than a week ago, during the first Senate debate, McCormick said his stance is that abortion should be a states' rights issue.
"I believe states should decide. Pennsylvania has a law. It’s been supported by Democrats and Republicans alike, it was signed into law by the senator’s father," McCormick said. "I support the three exceptions. I would not favor an abortion ban of any kind, legislation to support the national abortion ban."
Hannah Menchoff, a spokesperson for Senate Majority PAC, told NBC News: “Dave McCormick can delete as many words from his website as he wants to try and run from his extreme abortion agenda — but it’s not going to work. Pennsylvanians have a right to know that Dave McCormick supported abortion bans with no exceptions for rape and incest and can’t be trusted.”