What's happening on the campaign trail today
- Vice President Kamala Harris delivered a closing argument speech tonight at the Ellipse, the location of former President Donald Trump's Jan. 6, 2021, rally that preceded the Capitol riot.
- Trump spoke at Mar-a-Lago this morning before heading to Pennsylvania, where he held a rally in Allentown after participating in a roundtable discussion in Drexel Hill outside Philadelphia.
- Trump's running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, held multiple events in Michigan. Harris' running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, campaigned in Georgia.
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Why it would be difficult for Trump to reverse the 2024 election results
Trump has ramped up his baseless accusations that Democrats are plotting to “cheat” or “steal” the election, raising fears that he is setting the stage for an attempt to overturn the result if Harris wins.
But any effort to derail the electoral process would run up against an array of new guardrails this time around, legal experts say, making it unlikely that any such attempt would succeed. The new protections include: an electoral law Congress passed in the wake of the Jan. 6 insurrection, recent court rulings, more vigilance from state election officials and more aggressive law enforcement by agencies determined to avoid a repeat of violent scenes from the U.S. Capitol four years ago.
“It’s very hard this time,” said law professor Richard Hasen, an election expert at UCLA.
Biden sets off a firestorm with his response to Trump rally comedian’s Puerto Rico comments
Biden ignited Republican fury tonight when he weighed in on racist jokes at Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally Sunday.
At that event, comedian Tony Hinchcliffe called Puerto Rico “a floating island of garbage.” He also made crude, offensive and racist comments about Latinos and Black people.
On a video call for Latino voter outreach today, Biden defended the Puerto Rican community and appeared to criticize either Trump supporters or Hinchcliffe.
Trump says he doesn't know comedian who made racist jokes
Trump said in a Fox News interview that aired tonight that he doesn't know Tony Hinchcliffe, the comedian who delivered racist jokes at his rally Sunday, and that "probably he shouldn't have been there."
Trump made the comment when he was asked to weigh in on Hinchcliffe.
"I have no idea who he is. Somebody said there was a comedian that joked about Puerto Rico or something, and I have no idea who is," Trump said. "Never saw him, never heard of him, and I don’t want to hear of him."
Asked whether he wished Hinchcliffe hadn't been there, Trump responded: "Yeah. I mean, I don't know if it's a big deal or not, but I don't want anybody making nasty jokes or stupid jokes. Probably he shouldn't have been there."
Trump also suggested that Hinchcliffe was being wrongly associated with the Republican Party or his campaign, saying he "has nothing to do with the party, has nothing to do with us," before adding, "I can’t imagine it’s a big deal."
Trump rallies in majority-Latino Pennsylvania city after supporters’ crude and racist remarks
Former President Donald Trump worked Tuesday to tamp down anger over a comedian’s insulting jokes about Latinos and Puerto Rico at his rally in Madison Square Garden, campaigning in a majority-Latino city as the uproar threatens to erode gains he has made with Latino voters.
Trump made no mention of the comedian’s remarks in his 75-minute address, citing polls that show him performing well among Latino voters and voicing solidarity with Puerto Rico.“I will deliver the best future for Puerto Ricans and for Hispanic Americans,” Trump said.
Late in his appearance, Trump called to the lectern Puerto Rico’s Republican shadow senator, who praised him and vouched for his commitment to the U.S. territory days after comedian Tony Hinchcliffe likened Puerto Rico to a “floating island of garbage” as part of a string of jokes at Trump’s recent event in New York City.
“The people of Puerto Rico trust you and we have high hopes,” said Zoraida Buxo. “We need this man back in the White House. We we need this man to be our commander-in-chief. He will make us feel safe. And he will protect us.”
Trump rallies in majority-Latino Pennsylvania city after supporters’ crude and racist remarks
Trump worked today to tamp down anger over a comedian’s insulting jokes about Latinos and Puerto Rico at his rally in Madison Square Garden, campaigning in a majority-Latino city as the uproar threatens to erode gains he has made with Latino voters.
Trump made no mention of the comedian’s remarks in his 75-minute address, citing polls that show him performing well among Latino voters and voicing solidarity with Puerto Rico.
“I will deliver the best future for Puerto Ricans and for Hispanic Americans,” Trump said.
Kamala Harris pairs anti-Trump attack with economic pitch at packed D.C. rally
Harris called on Americans to “turn the page” on the Trump era today, rallying thousands of voters at the site where Trump addressed the mob that attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
On a chilly fall evening one week before Election Day, Harris criticized Trump as “unstable, obsessed with revenge, consumed with grievance and out for unchecked power.” She vowed to govern as a pragmatist by listening to everyone, including “people who disagree with me.”
“He says one of his highest priorities is to set free the violent extremists who assaulted those law enforcement officers on Jan. 6,” Harris said. “Donald Trump intends to use the United States military against American citizens who simply disagree with him — people he calls ‘the enemy from within.’ This is not a candidate for president who is thinking about how to make your life better.”
Voters will decide on nearly 150 ballot measures next week. Here are the ones to watch.
Voters across the country are set to decide on nearly 150 ballot measures next week that will shape the future of a wide variety of policy issues in their states.
Constitutional amendments related to abortion rights have drawn the most national attention in an election year that has otherwise been dominated by the presidential race.
But ballot measures in dozens of other states will also put decisions about how to handle marijuana regulations, voting procedures, economic issues and immigration laws directly in the hands of voters.
Nikki Haley pans Trump world for ‘bromance and masculinity stuff’
Former presidential candidate and onetime U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley criticized Trump world today for being “overly masculine with this bromance thing” after Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden on Sunday.
The event in New York City drew a massive crowd and featured speakers who were divisive, dark and, at times, offensive.
On Fox News today, Haley addressed a comedian’s racist jokes about Puerto Rico and Latinos, a moment that has roiled the Trump campaign and was condemned by multiple Republicans, including members of Congress.
Harris campaign officials says 75,000 people at Ellipse speech
The Harris campaign estimates more than 75,000 people are at tonight’s Harris speech.
NBC News has not independently verified the figure, and the National Park Service no longer provides crowd estimates.
Harris says she's 'not president' yet when asked why she hasn't accomplished her proposals
Harris said today that she's "not president" when she was asked why she hasn't accomplished proposals for her would-be administration.
"Well, I'm not president," Harris said in an interview with WISN-TV of Milwaukee.
"I'm going to tell you what I'm doing as president, when I have the ability, then, to do what I know, based on my experience — is a new approach," Harris said. "It is about building on the good work that has happened. But there's more to do. There's more to do."
Harris has faced criticism from Trump and his Republican allies in particular, who have argued that her leadership would resemble Biden's and that she has contributed to what they have cast as the administration's failures.
Harris told NBC News in a recent interview that her administration would diverge from Biden's.
"Let me be very clear. Mine will not be a continuation of the Biden administration. I bring my own experiences, my own ideas to it, and it’s informed a number of my areas of focus," she said, naming lowering costs as among them.