Election updates: Trump announces rally in Butler honoring shooting victims; Obamas endorse Harris

Trump said tonight that Harris "doesn't like Jewish people" in remarks criticizing her for missing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's address to Congress on Wednesday.

"She doesn't like Jewish people. She doesn't like Israel. That's the way it is. That's the way it's always going to be. She's not going to change," Trump said of Harris, whose husband is the first spouse of a president or vice president to be Jewish.

Harris' campaign posted a clip of Trump's remarks and noted that her husband is Jewish.

Trump's running mate, Sen. JD Vance, also missed Netanyahu's address to Congress. Harris met with Netanyahu at the White House yesterday.

Trump said tonight that he "couldn't care less" if he incorrectly pronounces Harris' first name, Kamala.

"And by the way, there are numerous ways of saying her name," Trump said at a Turning Point Action event in West Palm Beach, Florida.

"It doesn’t matter what I say. I couldn’t care less if I mispronounce it," he added.

In a post on X, Harris shared a photo of herself signing forms to officially declare her candidacy for president of the United States.

"I will work hard to earn every vote. And in November, our people-powered campaign will win," she wrote in the post.

The first round of staff-level calls to Harris' potential running mate candidates began Tuesday, four campaign sources confirmed to NBC News.

Two sources said that roughly a dozen names are under consideration and that a decision will occur by Aug. 7.

The expectation is that the announcement will be “very close to that time," the sources said, noting that while things can change, they are expecting to use much of the time available.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is the subject of some notable new advertising — from a group with Republican ties and on a subject that is one of the Democratic Party’s key campaign issues.

The new group, called “SAG PAC,” was established in June, according to a Federal Election Commission filing. It has not yet filed reports detailing any of its donors, but it is already running ads online, spending more than $137,000 so far on Google platforms, according to the platform’s ad disclosure portal.

The YouTube ads feature pictures of Kennedy alongside banners reading “pro-choice” and “progressive Democrat.” Meanwhile, a narrator says, “Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wants to restore abortion rights nationally,” adding that he has “a long record fighting for abortion rights. That’s the real RFK.”

Read the full story here.

Trump spoke at a Turning Point Action event this evening without a bandage on his ear.

"As I think you can see, I’ve recovered well, and in fact just took off the last bandage off of my ear," the former president said to the crowd in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Netanyahu extended his American visit to meet with Trump at Mar-a-Lago after meeting with both Biden and Harris in Washington, D.C., yesterday. NBC News chief Washington correspondent Andrea Mitchell explains the context around the Israeli leader’s visit.

Trump tonight endorsed the re-election bid of Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., who earlier this week called Harris a “DEI vice president.”

In a post on Truth Social, Trump described Burchett as a "tireless advocate" for his district and "a conservative warrior," adding that he has "my Complete and Total Endorsement!"

Burchett was first elected to Congress in 2018. He is running unopposed in Tennessee's GOP primary elections, which are schedule for Aug. 1. He will face Democratic candidate Jane George in November.

Trump also endorsed Rep. Glenn Grothman, R-Wis., calling him a "phenomenal" representative in a post on Truth Social this evening.

Grothman recently told a CBS affiliate in Milwaukee that "a lot of Democrats feel they have to stick with her because of her ethnic background."

Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., joined "Meet the Press NOW," where he called on Democrats to come together quickly behind Harris and urged her to select a running mate with whom she feels comfortable.

Sen. JD Vance has not had much of a honeymoon.

In his first week on the campaign trail as Trump’s running mate, the Ohio Republican had to compete for attention with a shake-up atop the Democratic ticket: Biden’s exit and Harris’ elevation as the de facto nominee.

Much of the buzz surrounding Vance has ranged from distracting to unflattering. Progressives pounced on his nearly 3-year-old comments about “childless cat ladies” — a critique he extended to Harris, a stepmother of two. Pundits dwelled on polling data that suggested many voters are not yet sold on Vance. Others engaged in largely baseless speculation about whether Trump was already regretting his choice for vice president.

Read the full story here.

Loretta Lynch, who was attorney general during the Obama administration, and dozens of other former Justice Department officials endorsed Harris today, calling her "the best choice to defeat Donald Trump and lead the nation."

A letter signed by more than 40 top officials and former U.S. attorneys said that Trump poses "a grave risk to our country" and "regularly ignored the rule of law" while he was president.

Among the letter's signatories is Sally Yates, the acting attorney general whom Trump fired in 2017 after she directed Justice Department lawyers not to defend his executive order sharpening restrictions on immigration from seven majority-Muslim countries. She said at the time that she was concerned the order was "not lawful." The order was later revised.

Harris' TikTok account amassed more than 2 million followers within its first 22 hours.

Harris has posted three videos so far: an announcement of her starting a TikTok account, a behind-the-scenes clip from her appearance on RuPaul's Drag Race and a video of Harris on the phone with former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama endorsing her.

The Kamala HQ account, formerly Biden HQ, has also grown to 2 million followers, nearly double what the account had on Monday.

Trump started his own TikTok account on June 1. He has 9.2 million followers and has posted five videos.

Trump said this afternoon that he'll return to Butler, Pennsylvania, where he was the target of an assassination attempt during a rally earlier this month.

"I will be going back to Butler, Pennsylvania, for a big and beautiful rally, honoring the soul of our beloved firefighting hero, Corey, and those brave patriots injured two weeks ago," Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social, referring to Corey Comperatore, a former chief of the Buffalo Township Volunteer Fire Company who was fatally shot during the July 13 rally.

Trump did not specify the date of the upcoming rally nor the venue. NBC News previously reported that the former president was not planning to hold large outdoor rallies for the foreseeable future and that he would instead focus on indoor rallies.

Harris today called the family of Sonya Massey, a 36-year-old Black woman who was fatally shot by a sheriff’s deputy in her Illinois home, according to Massey’s family members who spoke to NBC News.

Massey was killed July 6 after she called the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office because she was afraid there might be a prowler outside, according to an attorney for her family and Illinois State Police.

“It’s made me feel a lot better today,” said James Wilburn, Massey’s father.

Read the full story here.

North Carolina Rep. Don Davis, one of the six Democrats who broke party lines yesterday to vote for a House resolution condemning Harris for her policies on the border, endorsed the vice president's campaign today.

"Today, I announce my endorsement and support of Vice President Kamala Harris for president," he wrote in a statement posted to X.

"At the same time, the administration and Congress must address the concerns of the southern border. These issues cannot be overlooked."

The symbolic resolution passed in a 220-196 vote. It does not advance to the Senate.

The former president appeared publicly without a bandage on his ear for the first time since the July 13 attempt on his life.

Trump did not appear to have anything on his right ear during his Mar-a-Lago meeting with Netanyahu. One picture tweeted by New York Times photographer Doug Mills showed Trump appearing to display his injury to the Israeli prime minister. The injury to his ear was not readily visible in pictures from today's event, as the top of his ear was covered by his hair.

Rep. Ronny Jackson, the Texas Republican and former White House doctor who's been examining Trump, said in a letter made public by Trump's campaign that he's "rapidly recovering," and continued to push back on the suggestion this week by FBI Director Chris Wray that the injury could have been caused by shrapnel as opposed to a bullet. Jackson said Trump's medical records from the hospital on the night of the assassination attempt classified his injury as a gunshot wound to the right ear. "I completely concur," Jackson said. The medical records have not been made public.

After meeting with Netanyahu at Mar-a-Lago, Trump said that he thought Harris' remarks on Israel yesterday were "disrespectful."

"They weren’t very nice, pertaining to Israel. I actually don’t know how a person who is Jewish can vote for her, but that’s up to them. But she was certainly disrespectful to Israel in my opinion," he said.

Harris said after meeting with the Israeli prime minister at the White House that Israel has a right to defend itself, while adding that she "will not be silent" when it comes to the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

Vance is doubling down on remarks he made in 2021 about “childless cat ladies” running the country that sparked backlash this week.

He told “The Megyn Kelly Show” in an interview that aired today, “Obviously, it was a sarcastic comment. I’ve got nothing against cats” and then blamed the media for “focusing so much on the sarcasm and not on the substance of what I actually said.”

Read the full story here.

In a news release by Harris for President, spokesperson Sarafina Chitika said, "JD Vance is a creep."

They said that Vance's efforts to ban abortion and restrict IVF access "isn't just bad policy — it's creepy."

"Women have had enough of the Trump-Vance Project 2025 ticket threatening to block access to critical health care, and they’re going to shut it down by sending Vice President Harris to the White House,” they added.

At an event where the Philadelphia Building Trades Council announced its endorsement of Harris, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who is a contender for her choice as vice president, told reporters that she was "spot on" in her statement on Israel and Gaza yesterday.

"She spoke about Israel’s right to defend itself, the need for the hostages to be returned home, that that is necessary in order to achieve peace in the Middle East," he said. "She was right to shine a light on the suffering of innocents in Gaza and I thought she was right to lay it out the way she did. That has always been my view, stretching back long before Oct. 7, that we need a two-state solution, Palestinians and Israel living side by side in peace."

He added, "I think we also have to speak truth about the fact that Benjamin Netanyahu, I believe, has been a dangerous and destructive force, and someone who has blocked peace in the Middle East."

Trump welcomed Netanyahu and his wife, Sarah Netanyahu, to Mar-a-Lago, according to a video posted by a Trump aide on X.

Robert Kennedy Jr., who is running as a third-party candidate for president, refused to say this morning if he was prepared to drop out of the race so that he could accept a job in a potential Trump administration.

When asked on "CBS Mornings" if he was prepared to end his campaign, endorse Trump and accept a role in his admin, Kennedy said, "No."

Asked “Was that ever any part of the discussion," Kennedy said he wouldn’t talk about exactly what they discussed because it would “be a violation of trust.”

Kennedy said he told Trump that he takes more votes away from his campaign and Trump said we have to do something about that. 

He later posted on X this morning, "I’m in it to win it. I lead in popularity and independents are now the largest voting bloc. Momentum is shifting in my favor as I close in on ballot access in all 50 states. I look forward to challenging President Trump and the DNC nominee at the next debate. #AmericaStrong."

The annual Bitcoin Conference has a new look this year: After three years spent on the beach in Miami, organizers have opted for the honky tonk of Nashville, a newfound bastion of conservative energy.

Alongside the conference's new digs is a new focus on politics, with Trump and independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. scheduled to speak. Conference organizers said Harris had declined an invitation.

While some of the biggest names in crypto and tech more broadly, including Elon Musk — himself potentially rumored as a conference speaker — have begun aligning behind Trump and the GOP, other conferencegoers expressed less of a focus on any one candidate than a general optimism that whoever wins the White House would loosen the strict regulation of crypto under the Biden administration.

As Harris’ campaign looks to re-engage Democratic donors who held back support from Biden, it is finding renewed interest from a sector that has increasingly favored Trump: Silicon Valley.

Democrats say the suggestion that tech sector donors were moving toward Republicans was overstated. But they agree that Harris — who started in politics in the Bay Area in California — has helped unlock support that was on the sidelines.

Read the full story here.

Trump posted his first campaign ad specifically targeting Harris to Instagram last evening.

The nearly two-minute ad features Harris being asked about visiting the border and seemingly evading the question. The ad ends with the following words on screen: “Kamala Harris. Weak. Failed. Dangerously Liberal.”

Trump posted another video attacking Harris to Instagram and his social media site Truth Social last evening without the “official campaign” tag at the end of the clip. NBC News has reached out to the campaign about this ad.

The Harris campaign is confirming the vetting process has begun "in earnest."

Kevin Munoz, a Harris campaign spokesperson, said in a statement: “Vice President Harris has directed her team to begin the process of vetting potential running mates."

A Harris campaign aide says that Harris is “choosing her running mate based on similar qualities to those that President Biden believed were important when he chose her four years ago, a choice the president calls ‘the best decision he has ever made.’”

She is looking for someone with “shared values of fighting for the middle class, protecting democracy and freedoms, treating people with respect and dignity, and creating an America where everybody gets a fair shot.” The person also said Harris is looking for a “governing partner who has the experience to step into the job and be effective on day one.”

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, a potential vice presidential pick for Harris, criticized Trump for saying he won't agree to another presidential debate until the Democratic Party formally has a nominee.

“Tough talk is this guy’s calling card. And now there’s this extraordinary show of weakness," Buttigieg said in an interview on MSNBC's "Morning Joe."

"You know, he said, 'anytime, anyplace,' but more than that, he agreed to this specific debate, on this specific network, on this specific date, and now he’s pulling out," Buttigieg continued, referring to the Sept. 10 ABC debate the Biden and Trump campaigns had agreed to. "And of course it shows that he’s afraid. It shows that he knows that if the two of them are on a stage together, it’s not going to end well for him."

The $3 million spent Monday by the Harris campaign on Meta political ads is the most money spent on a single profile page over the past five years.

Harris’ ad spending Tuesday came in as the fourth highest all time, as well.

Trump is going on offense by painting new presidential campaign rival Harris as the face of a chaotic U.S. border, seizing on an assignment Biden gave her in 2021 to work with Central American countries to tackle the “root causes” of migration.

Trump labeled the vice president the “border czar” no fewer than six times in a fiery rally speech yesterday in North Carolina, centering his criticism of her on the overwhelmed asylum system. “Under border czar Harris, illegal aliens are pouring in by the millions and millions and millions,” Trump said, drawing jeers from the crowd as he called Harris “crazy.”

The term, which Republicans have used widely to criticize Harris, traces back to March 2021, when Harris was charged with addressing the surge of Central American migrants, who came mostly from the Northern Triangle countries of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, where violence and organized crime have driven millions to flee the region. The terms “czar” and “border czar” did not appear in White House materials, but they caught on among critics.

A fundraising call last night targeting white women to mobilize for the Harris campaign raised more than $2 million, according to organizers.

Shannon Watts, the founder of Moms Demand Action, said more than 100,000 people joined the Zoom call. Watts said so many people logged onto the Zoom that organizers moved late arrivals to YouTube after the Zoom conference call crashed twice.

Rep. Emilia Sykes, a vulnerable Democrat from Ohio and former competitive gymnast, has re-released an ad featuring her beam routine to coincide with the start of the Paris Olympics.

“In elections, you know the routine: The other side will make up lies about me, and they’ll put them on air,” Sykes says in the 30-second spot, which first aired in 2022 and is being backed this time by a five-figure digital advertising buy. “They’re hoping you’ll forget that I worked with both parties to raise pay, keep us safe and cut taxes. And they definitely don’t want you to know that I have a plan to lower costs and keep more money in your pocket.”

“They’ll twist everything to scare you. But the only thing that’ll stick,” Sykes adds, as the camera shows her completing a perfect spin off the beam, “is my landing.”

Obama endorsed Harris for president today, just days after she launched her campaign after Biden withdrew from the race.

“Michelle and I couldn’t be prouder to endorse you and to do everything we can to get you through this election and into the Oval Office,” Obama says in a video that shows Harris getting a call from the Obamas.

Michelle Obama says in the approximately minutelong video: “I can’t have this phone call without saying to my girl Kamala: I am proud of you. This is going to be historic.”

Read the full story here.