Election 2024: Trump says no more debates; Harris targets N.C. voters

Around 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, tens of millions of television viewers watched as Trump spread an unsubstantiated and racially charged rumor running wild online.

“In Springfield they’re eating dogs,” he said, referring to an Ohio city dealing with an influx of Haitian immigrants. “They’re eating the cats. They’re eating … the pets of the people that live there. And this is what’s happening in our country, and it’s a shame.”

The extraordinary moment — the airing of a claim worthy of a chain email while participating in a prime-time presidential debate — probably puzzled most of the 67.1 million people tuned in for Trump’s clash with Harris. But the rumor, which has been criticized as perpetuating racist tropes, was already thriving in right-wing corners of the internet and being amplified by those close to Trump, including Vance.

Read the full story here.

Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, slammed Republican opponent Bernie Moreno over his support this year for a national abortion ban after Ohio voters approved a 2023 measure to enshrine reproductive rights in the state constitution.

Speaking on MSNBC tonight, Brown said "there's an arrogance" to opposing the position of a majority of Ohio voters.

"I’m on the side that women should be making these decisions, not a bunch of politicians like Moreno," Brown told MSNBC's Lawrence O’Donnell.

Trump was denied his request for a federal appeals court to pause proceedings in his hush money case in New York.

Circuit judges today cited the state court’s delay of his sentencing in the case until Nov. 26 in rejecting Trump’s motion for an administrative stay.

The decision will allow Judge Juan Merchan to hand down his decision on the presidential immunity ruling in November, as he had said he would.

Merchan last week rescheduled Trump's Sept. 18 sentencing on 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection with hush money paid to adult film star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 presidential election.

Vance gave his most detailed remarks yet on how he thinks Trump would negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine during a conversation with YouTuber Shawn Ryan.

In an interview that was recorded yesterday, Vance said that the "current line of demarcation" between the two countries would become a demilitarized zone and that Ukraine would be barred from entering the NATO alliance.

"It’s heavily fortified so the Russians don’t invade again. Ukraine remains its independent sovereignty," he said. "Russia gets the guarantee of neutrality from Ukraine. It doesn’t join NATO, it doesn’t join some of these sort of allied institutions."

The "love story" between Taylor Swift and the Harris campaign continued, as Walz thanked the pop icon for her endorsement, referring to her as "my fellow cat owner" during his remarks in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

"Vice President Harris and I couldn’t be more excited to have her support. Really grateful," Walz said. "So, and look, look, it’s not as if I didn’t warn these guys a few months ago. You mess with cat people and you will find out. You will find out."

Walz cracked jokes at Trump during his speech in Grand Rapids, Michigan, calling out Trump for saying he would not debate Harris again.

"Give him a little break. That one left a mark. That one left a mark," Walz said. "So he’s with it. So look, who he was was on full display the other night. His true colors were out there, not just his makeup."

Walz also praised Harris' debate performance, saying that she "commanded the room" and that "all of us are incredibly proud" of her.

A Delaware judge today agreed to send another 2020 election defamation case to trial, ruling that the Newsmax Media published false claims saying Smartmatic voting machines rigged the 2020 election.

A jury will soon decide whether the network defamed the voting machine company — that is, whether it published the claims with actual malice or reckless disregard for truth and damaged the company — and whether damages are due.

“The jury must determine if Newsmax was doing what media organizations typically do — inform the public of newsworthy events — or did Newsmax purposely avoid the truth and defame Smartmatic,” Judge Eric Davis wrote in a 57-page ruling.

Read the full story here.

Riding high on momentum two days after the presidential debate, Harris was greeted by a deafening crowd here today, eager to see her push to the next phase of her campaign.

Harris told supporters it was time to turn the page from Trump while again challenging him to a second debate, which she did earlier in the day at her rally in Charlotte.

“We owe it to the voters. Because here’s the thing: In this election, what’s at stake could not be more important,” she said.

Read the full story here.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre today slammed Trump’s association with right-wing conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer, who has become an increasing presence alongside him as he seeks a second term.

“No leader should ever associate with someone who spreads this kind of ugliness, this kind of racist poison,” Jean-Pierre said at a briefing.

Trump attended a Sept. 11 remembrance event yesterday with Loomer, who has pushed the false conspiracy theory about the terrorist attack's being an “inside job.” A day earlier, Loomer also traveled with Trump on his plane and attended the presidential debate.

Read the full story here.

As Harris pivots to the center in the final weeks of the election, the agenda she’s using to convey a pragmatic streak includes various unanswered questions as she cautiously jettisons some past progressive positions.

Two days before her debate with Trump, Harris released a policy page on her campaign website, marking the most comprehensive agenda of her presidential bid. It highlighted her recent cost-focused plans to lower the prices of groceries and housing and to boost the child tax credit, which are the most detailed she has offered.

Read the full story here.

The Trump campaign is up with a 15-second paid digital ad on YouTube about Trump's proposal to cover all costs associated with in vitro fertilization treatment.

The spot, the campaign's first digital ad on the issue, uses video from a recent Trump event in Potterville, Michigan, where he announced his proposal. It ends with text that says, “We want more babies.”

Green Party presidential nominee Jill Stein was unable to accurately state how many lawmakers are in the House of Representatives when she was asked in an interview on "The Breakfast Club" show that was posted today.

"How many total are there? What is it, 600 some?" Stein said.

There are 435 members of the House, with a handful of seats sometimes unfilled because of deaths or resignations.

Speaking tonight to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Violence Against Women Act, Biden lauded Harris for her record prosecuting domestic abuse in California.

“Let me just say, the first and best decision I made when I was a nominee in 2020 was selecting Kamala Harris as vice president,” Biden said.

He referred to Harris' roles as a former district attorney, a state attorney general and a senator, saying she has "prosecuted and stood up to sexual violence offenders her entire career."

"You can't say that about my predecessor," Biden added.

Trump said at a campaign rally today that he would eliminate taxes on overtime pay if he wins.

“I’m also announcing that as part of our additional tax cuts, we will end all taxes on overtime,” he said in Tucson, Arizona.

“That gives people more of an incentive to work. It gives the companies a lot — it’s a lot easier to get the people,” he added.

Read the full story here.

In the three weeks since Texas’ attorney general executed raids at the homes of several Latino election activists, the state’s oldest civil rights organization has been marshaling members to step up voter registration for what they say is a stand against voter suppression.

Local chapters of the League of United Latin American Citizens, LULAC, have been calling on volunteers to get certified so they can register Texas Latinos and other voters. Next week, LULAC’s national office plans to launch a get-out-the-vote drive, leveraging its 535 local councils in 33 states.

“Our members have gone from shock to anger to resolve and are doubling their commitment to register voters and get them to polls,” LULAC CEO Juan Proaño told NBC News.

Read the full story here.

At the crack of dawn on a steaming September morning, political candidates, campaign surrogates and staffers boarded parade floats to court Arizona’s key Indigenous vote at the Navajo Nation Fair.

But despite a heavy Republican and Democratic presence at the 76th annual parade, Indigenous Arizonans gathered there said they felt disenfranchised and detached from the political system.

Read the full story here.

Trump said today that he will not participate in any future debates against Harris.

“There will be no debate,” he wrote in all caps on Truth Social, before he criticized Harris’ debate performance. Asked by NBC News for clarification on Trump’s remarks, Karoline Leavitt said in a statement, “You heard the man.” 

Read the full story here.

The Harris team raked in $47 million in the 24 hours after Tuesday's debate in Philadelphia, its biggest haul since Harris announced her candidacy in late July, according to a senior campaign official.

Nearly 600,000 people made a donation in that time frame — from Tuesday night to last evening — but the Harris team is cautioning against any financial “victory laps,” stressing that it still believes the fundraising race could be quite tight.

“While our fundraising program continues to show historic strength, this momentum cannot be taken for granted. We cannot underestimate the strength of Team Trump and their strong fundraising and organizing efforts intentionally designed to divide and sow doubt among Americans,” campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon said.

NBC News is not able to independently verify the fundraising figures, which should be included in the next Federal Election Commission report on campaign donations. The report for September fundraising will be available Oct. 20.

At a campaign rally in Charlotte, North Carolina, this afternoon, Harris said Trump should agree to another duel with her.

“Two nights ago, Donald Trump and I had our first debate, and I believe we owe it to the voters to have another debate, because this election and what is at stake could not be more important," Harris said.

Before Harris’ remarks, Trump wrote on Truth Social in all caps, "There will be no third debate!"

At a news briefing this afternoon, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre responded to comments made by Laura Loomer, a far-right activist and Trump ally, who baselessly accused Haitian immigrants of eating "humans" in a post on X, calling the remarks "un-American" and "racist poison."

"It is un-American to say these types of things," Jean-Pierre said, adding that Loomer's comments are "exactly the kind of hateful and divisive rhetoric, rhetoric that we should denounce."

"It doesn’t matter what your political views are," she added. "No leader should ever associate with someone who spreads this kind of ugliness, this kind of racist poison."

Loomer earlier today had re-shared a video on X that was captioned “Cannibalism in Haiti.”

The judge in the election interference case against Trump and several co-defendants in Georgia has thrown out three counts in the indictment — including two against Trump.

The original 41-count indictment accused Trump and several of his allies of a broad scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 election in the state. Trump was listed on 13 of the counts.

Judge Scott McAfee wrote in a decision released today that the counts could no longer be allowed to stand because they involved accusations of perjury or false statements under federal jurisdiction.

He did not, however, grant a request to dismiss the entire indictment.

Read the full story here.

Vance suggested that it could be in Republicans’ best interest to threaten a government shutdown ahead of an impending funding deadline, asking, “Why have a government if it’s not a functioning government?”

Vance made the remarks in an interview yesterday on the "Shawn Ryan Show." In the podcast interview, he said the GOP should pick the fight to seek changes, criticizing current spending on foreign wars and foreign aid and what he described as inadequate border security.

He argued that Congress has a “rubber-stamp mentality” in which programs from 20 years ago continue in perpetuity “instead of running a functional government where you ask yourself what makes sense and what doesn’t make sense this year.”

“Why shouldn’t we be trying to force this government shutdown fight to get something out of it that’s good for the American people?” he said. “Like, why have a government if it’s not a functioning government?”

Read the full story here.

House members expressed their support for heightened security at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2025, which the Department of Homeland Security today named a National Special Security Event.

There needs to more security if there are threats, Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., told NBC News, citing his own experience.

“I’m not in the security business. ... I was the last person, last House member, to leave the House floor on Jan. 6, and I stayed to fight,” Burchett said. “So if they think there’s going to be trouble, yeah, I think we need to have security. Maybe this time they’ll call out the National Guard.”

Fresh off a debate they thought went well for her, Harris’ aides are slowly opening up more engagement for her with the media, amid growing concern among allies that she needs to be more accessible, but they have no plans to fundamentally alter their strategy. 

The campaign said Harris plans to do more interviews with local media in battleground states and speak more with her traveling media corps in the coming days. She will also take questions from members of the National Association of Black Journalists, with whom Trump sat for a contentious interview this summer. 

So far, Harris has done only one national television interview since she took President Joe Biden’s place at the top of the Democratic ticket — a joint appearance on CNN with Walz. She has also recently done two national radio interviews — with Univision and syndicated morning show host Rickey Smiley — and she has done some “gaggles” with traveling reporters. 

Her campaign’s media strategy has largely been a continuation of Biden’s, which is to minimize interactions with the media. It’s a risk-averse approach that maximizes control but limits public access and opens her to criticism that she has something to hide or can’t handle unscripted questions.

Read the full story here.

Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., today criticized Trump’s debate remarks and performance saying he "took the bait" from Harris. Lawler said he "should have been clear" on whether he wants Ukraine to win.

Lawler blasted Trump for his unfounded claims about Haitian immigrants eating pets, telling NBC News, “I represent one of the largest Haitian Diaspora in the country, and I have a very good relationship with the Haitian community."

"I think everyone would be well advised and do well not to just jump on on rumors and make sure that there’s concrete information that would support any such claim that is made," he said. "On the issue of the Haitian people, the Haitian people are good people."

Crimson Smith, a Trump supporter attending the former president's rally in Tucson, Arizona, today expressed concerns over his debate performance Tuesday night.

A self-described "big dog supporter," Smith said she searched Trump's unsubstantiated claim during the debate about Haitian migrants in Ohio eating cats and dogs and "couldn't find anything factual."

Smith argued that "most people who watch the debate know who they're going to vote for," but that undecided voters are "looking for guidance, and that was just kind of a far-out-there statement without some factual background to go with it, or supporting evidence to go with it. It kind of led them to think this guy's off his rocker."

Many anxious and befuddled pets appear to be reacting to former President Donald Trump's baseless claim from Tuesday's debate that Haitian immigrants are "eating the dogs, the people that came in, they’re eating the cats, they’re eating, they’re eating the pets of the people that live there."

That audio clip has quickly become a staple among pet owners on TikTok. One audio clip of the moment, posted by The Independent, has been used to make more than 77,000 videos.

At the Capitol this afternoon, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., further weighed in on her X post from last night condemning conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer for a racist post on Harris.

While criticizing Loomer, Greene also knocked GOP vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance’s comments on childless women.

“I think that we need to be focused on our policies, the inflation, the economy and the border, and not attacking people for their race, not attacking them because they may not have children and they love their pets, and I don’t want to have anything to do with that,” said Greene, who herself has been criticized for spreading fringe conspiracy theories.

When asked if Trump should keep his distance from Loomer, Greene referred to Loomer’s losing campaign record.

Former President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are expected to hold separate fundraisers for Vice President Kamala Harris in Los Angeles next Friday, according to three people familiar with their plans.

Clinton’s will be a lunch event, while the Obama event will be at night.

Read the full story here.

Trump will hold a town hall in Flint, Michigan, next Tuesday that will be moderated by Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, a former White House press secretary to Trump, his campaign announced today.

Trump's campaign signaled in the news release that he will talk about his plan to protect the auto industry in the state and bashed Harris' campaign proposal and the Biden administration's efforts to increase electric vehicle production.

The New York Court of Appeals today rejected Trump’s efforts to overturn the gag order in the hush money case against him.

Among its decisions posted this morning, the state’s highest court dismissed Trump’s appeal “upon the ground that no substantial constitutional question is directly involved.”

The gag order was imposed by New York State Judge Juan Merchan, who presided over Trump’s hush money trial. It barred Trump from making statements outside of court about witnesses, court and Manhattan DA staffers, jurors, prosecutors and their relatives. Merchan later expanded the order to extend to his own family and that of Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg after the former president attacked his daughter in social media posts.

In June, Merchan then lifted some of the gag order’s restrictions on Trump ahead of the former president’s debate against President Joe Biden. Trump remains prohibited from making statements about prosecutors, court staff, the DA's staff or the family members of those people, Merchan and Bragg if his intent is to "materially interfere" with work on the case.

Attorney General Merrick Garland today denounced “dangerous” and “outrageous” attacks on Justice Department prosecutors and personnel and sought to reassure them that he has their backs.

The speech to DOJ employees, at times emotional and forceful, appeared to allude to the kinds of accusations and threats made by former President Donald Trump, his allies and supporters, though Garland didn’t explicitly name Trump in his remarks. 

Garland thanked DOJ workers for their dedication in the face of “an escalation of attacks on the Justice Department’s career lawyers, agents and other personnel” over the last three-and-a-half years.

“These attacks have come in the form of conspiracy theories, dangerous falsehoods, efforts to bully and intimidate career public servants by repeatedly and publicly singling them out, and threats of actual violence,” Garland said. “It is dangerous and outrageous that you have to endure them.”

Read the full story here.

Amid the continued fallout from Trump’s false debate stage claim that immigrants are killing and eating pets, here is the legislative equivalent of there being a Trump tweet for everything: Trump signed a bill banning the practice of killing cats and dogs for human consumption when he was president.

The bill was part of an effort to stop the trafficking of these animals and did not refer to or connect immigrants in its text.

The Dog and Cat Meat Prohibition Act of 2018 was among the pieces included in that year’s Farm Bill, which Trump signed in December 2018.

The bill passed in 2018 is a similar version to a 2017 bill co-sponsored by a familiar name: then-Minnesota Rep. Tim Walz. Walz did not co-sponsor the 2018 version, though, and did not vote on the bill that ultimately passed.

In two new TV ads out Thursday and shared first with NBC News, the New Hampshire Democratic Party is attacking former GOP Sen. Kelly Ayotte for her views on abortion and her work on corporate boards.

The first of the ads, which are up just two days after Ayotte won the GOP primary for governor, go after Ayotte for “looking out for herself” while serving on the boards of corporations, which the ad says laid off workers and “pocketed profits.” 

The second ad opens with a clip of Ayotte identifying herself as “pro-life” earlier this year and continues with her saying, “I certainly think that Roe should be overturned.”

Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who served in the George W. Bush administration, endorsed Harris on Thursday, writing in a Politico piece, "I can’t sit quietly as Donald Trump — perhaps the most serious threat to the rule of law in a generation — eyes a return to the White House."

"For that reason, though I’m a Republican, I’ve decided to support Kamala Harris for president," Gonzales added.

Sen. JD Vance, Trump’s running mate, dodged when asked whether he thinks there will be a second debate between the former president and Harris during an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” this morning.

“Is there going to be a second debate? I think it’s an interesting question,” he said. “It’s telling to me that while some pundits walked away from the debate and said Kamala Harris did great, the actual undecided voters appear to think that Donald Trump did better.”

A progressive political group that backs candidates with backgrounds in science, technology, engineering and math is targeting five House seats that Democrats hope to flip this fall.

The STEM-focused group, 314 Action Fund, will invest more than $5 million across the five races, according to details shared first with NBC News. A gain of four seats this November would give Democrats control of the chamber.

The morning after their debate, Harris and Trump shook hands at ground zero as they honored the lives lost on 9/11. The candidates are now back on the campaign trail traveling around critical battleground states. NBC’s Peter Alexander reports for "TODAY."

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Riding a fresh wave of momentum after her debate performance, Harris is ramping up her campaign today by holding two rallies in North Carolina as she tries to wrestle back the key battleground state and close off one of Trump’s main paths to victory.

Both campaigns see the state as playing a key role in November. Trump narrowly won it in 2020, and no Democrat has prevailed in the presidential race here since Barack Obama in 2008. There’s also a hard-fought battle for governor, in which Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein faces Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson.

“Voters across North Carolina are building a powerful coalition to elect Vice President Harris and to defeat Donald Trump and his allies like Mark Robinson, who are pushing an extreme Project 2025 agenda to rip away our freedoms, raise costs on our families and undo the Medicaid expansion we fought so hard to deliver,” said Dory MacMillan, the Harris campaign’s North Carolina communications director. “This is going to be a close race — but we have built a campaign ready to win close races and to reach voters across the political spectrum in our cities and in rural areas.”

President Joe Biden today will commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Violence Against Women Act by announcing new efforts to curb gender-based violence, senior administration officials said.

Biden will address survivors, advocates and allies on the South Lawn at an event commemorating the law, senior administration officials said on a call with reporters.

Jennifer Klein, a Biden aide and director of the White House’s Gender Policy Council, which Biden established in 2021 to advance gender equality, said the Justice Department will announce a series of efforts to support survivors of gender-based violence, including $690 million in grant funding for this year, and plans for a new national resource center to tackle cyber crimes.

The resource center will be aimed at helping law enforcement agencies, prosecutors and victim services groups tackle cybercrimes against people, including cyber stalking and the sharing of intimate images without consent, Klein said.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The nation’s largest swing state is — for now, at least — turning into one of its most unseen.

Florida has historically been held up as a massively important state for any White House aspirant, and as a result has been on the receiving end of large candidate rallies, surrogate events and huge sums of national money fueling wall-to-wall campaign ads across the state’s 10 expensive media markets.

But for the first time in recent political memory, the 2024 presidential race has left Florida as a comparative afterthought. Democrats here have tried to maintain momentum and voter intensity, but nearly every measurable factor indicates that Florida is not realistically in play for them in this year’s presidential contest.

Read the full story here.

Trump will travel to Arizona today, where he will speak at an evening event in Tucson.

Biden won the state in 2020 with about 49.4% of the vote, narrowly beating out Trump, who got 49.1% of the vote. Polling indicates the race remains tight in the state this year.

Harris will travel today to North Carolina, where she will speak at campaign events in Charlotte and Greensboro.

Trump narrowly won the state in 2020, and Democrats hope to flip it blue in November.

Walz will head to Michigan, where he will speak at a rally in Grand Rapids. Biden flipped Michigan blue in 2020.

Democratic Sen. Bob Casey's campaign is launching a mobile billboard in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, highlighting comments Trump has made during Republican Senate nominee Dave McCormick’s 2022 campaign calling him a “candidate of special interests and globalists” who “managed money for communist China.”

The billboard will arrive in Lancaster at 1:30 p.m. and circle the area through the evening.

McCormick campaign press secretary Nate Sizemore said the mobile billboard is “another sign Bob Casey is weak and desperate."

"Pennsylvanians are sick of the games and ready for a strong leader who will fight every day to build an economy that works, secure the border, and protect our communities," he said.