Election 2024: Harris blasts Trump’s claim that she 'became Black'

In the weeks after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack in Israel, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s message to young Americans protesting the Israeli counteroffensive in Gaza was straightforward: study up on the conflict.

“I don’t blame them for wanting to engage and speak out,” he told NBC News in an interview in November, pointing to “disturbing” imagery coming out of Gaza. “I think that’s really healthy. I think it’s incumbent upon them to know some history and not just enter the conversation in recent weeks but go back and understand what happened in the past.”

Read the full story here.

Harris co-sponsored Sen. Bernie Sanders’ Medicare for All Act in 2019, a bill that would put all Americans in Medicare and effectively eliminate private insurance.

But her presidential campaign says that’s not part of her health care agenda if she wins this fall.

“The VP will not push single payer as president,” a Harris spokesperson told NBC News.

At an event in Houston tonight for the historically Black sorority Sigma Gamma Rho, Harris said Trump's comments at an appearance at an annual convention of Black journalists today were divisive and disrespectful.

"It was the same old show — the divisiveness and the disrespect," Harris said. "And let me just say the American people deserve better. The American people deserve better."

Vance told reporters tonight on the tarmac at the Phoenix airport that Harris is a “chameleon,” saying she has “flip-flopped on every issue.”

“I think he pointed out the fundamental chameleon-like nature of Kamala Harris,” Vance continued. “I mean, you guys saw yesterday she was in Georgia, and she put on a Southern accent for a Georgia audience.”

Asked whether he questions whether Harris is Black, Vance responded, “What I question is why she presents a different posture, regardless, depending on which audience that she’s in front of. She’ll say one thing to one audience to say another thing to another audience to say something totally different to another audience.”

A fundraiser in Houston that Harris is attending tonight raised $2.5 million, exceeding its $1 million goal, according to a campaign official.

NBC News has not been able to verify the figures reported by the campaign, which have not yet been made public in Federal Election Commission filings.

“We are the underdogs in this race,” Harris said at the fundraiser. "We have a fight in front of us. And we have work to do.”

The fundraiser, which was organized in four days, was also attended by Texas Democrats, including Reps. Al Green and Lizzie Fletcher and Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo.

At his Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, rally, Trump has referred to Senate candidate Dave McCormick twice as the "future governor." McCormick is running for the Senate, not governor.

In one instance, he pointed to McCormick and called him "Mr. Future Governor."

Later in the rally, Trump correctly referred to McCormick as a Senate candidate and invited him to speak to his supporters.

Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., who is considered a potential running mate for Harris, described Trump's remarks falsely casting doubt on Harris' Black identity at a Black journalists' convention in Chicago today as "the comments of a desperate, scared old man."

Kelly told NBC News that in the past week, Trump "has been having his butt kicked by an experienced prosecutor,” referring to Harris, adding that he believed Trump is "worried."

“These comments are not unexpected from him,” he added.

Former Maricopa County prosecutor Abe Hamadeh won a crowded and bitter GOP House primary in Arizona’s 8th District, NBC News projects, defeating a fellow Trump acolyte in financier Blake Masters.

Hamadeh was ahead of Masters 29.8% to 25.3%, with 86.6% of the expected vote in. State House Speaker Ben Toma, state Sen. Anthony Kern and former Rep. Trent Franks were also among the candidates for the Republican nomination for the seat being vacated by Rep. Debbie Lesko.

Hamadeh and Masters ran unsuccessfully for the Senate and attorney general, respectively, in 2022 with Trump’s endorsement, promoting his false claims of widespread fraud in the 2020 election. After he lost by just 280 votes, Hamadeh also made unfounded claims that his election had been stolen.

Trump responded to Harris' saying she would put her record against his, saying, "Well, Kamala, let's go."

"Challenge accepted. Are you ready? Let's compare our record point by point," Trump said at his rally tonight.

The Trump and Biden campaigns originally agreed to a Sept. 10 ABC debate, but that plan has been in flux since Biden withdraw from the race. Harris has pressed Trump to debate her on that date, but Trump has not committed to debating her. He did acknowledge this week that he'll "probably" debate her but repeated his previous criticism of ABC.

Trump worked to paint Harris as further to the left than Biden — and walked back some of his previous attacks on Biden in the process.

"She is actually worse than he is because she’s a real radical left. He’s a phony radical left. He didn’t believe this stuff," Trump said. "He didn’t believe in open borders. And she does. She wants to open your borders."

Trump has tried to paint both Biden and Harris as soft on immigration, pointing to Biden’s tapping Harris to tackle the daunting issue of immigration in 2021. In accepting the task, Harris made her role more specific, describing largely diplomatic responsibilities.

At a roundtable event in Phoenix organized by the Harris campaign, Kris Mayes, Arizona's Democratic attorney general, criticized Vance for his Senate vote against in vitro fertilization protections ahead of his rally in the state this evening.

"JD Vance is on record in the United States Senate in saying that he wants to, that he does not support IVF for women,” said Mayes, referring to his vote in June, which helped block The Right to IVF Act.

“How extreme and weird these guys have gotten,” Mayes added, dropping Democrats’ new favorite attack line on Vance.

The United Auto Workers union has endorsed Harris over Trump.

The union’s endorsement shouldn’t be surprising. UAW President Shawn Fain has been outspoken against Trump. The Detroit union also has historically supported Democrats, including Biden.

Read the full story here.

Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., who chairs the Congressional Black Caucus PAC, called Trump's comments questioning Harris' Black identity before a crowd of Black journalists at a convention in Chicago today "extremely offensive" and part of a "pattern of blatant lies."

“Donald Trump using the largest convening of Black journalists to publicly question Vice President Harris’ identity as a Black woman and insult her intelligence is extremely offensive to Black voters across our country," Meeks said in a statement.

“This is yet another example of the bigotry that has been apparent throughout much of his public life. Given a platform to make his case to Black voters, Donald Trump chose to offend Black journalists, our communities, and continue his pattern of blatant lies,” he added. 

Trump continued leaning into his attacks on Harris for her racial identity. Harris is both Black and Indian American, and Trump has falsely asserted that she has changed how she identifies.

He posted a video of Harris and comedian Mindy Kaling talking about their Indian heritage.

Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican Senate candidate, criticized Trump's rhetoric about Harris' racial identity after Trump's NABJ interview.

"It’s unacceptable and abhorrent to attack Vice President Harris or anyone’s racial identity," Hogan said on X. "The American people deserve better."

After Trump received major backlash online for his remarks questioning whether Harris is really Black, Steven Cheung, a spokesperson for Trump's campaign, doubled down, asking NBC News, "Backlash from the truth?"

"These people must be deranged," Cheung added.

Harris' campaign accused Trump of using divisive tactics and called for the Republican presidential nominee to "show up" to a previously scheduled debate in September, shortly after Trump attacked Harris' race at a convention in Chicago for Black journalists.

“Donald Trump has already proven he cannot unite America, so he attempts to divide us," Michael Tyler, a campaign spokesperson said in a statement. “Today’s tirade is simply a taste of the chaos and division that has been a hallmark of Trump’s MAGA rallies this entire campaign."

The statement also hammered Trump on committing to a debate with Trump, urging him to "stop playing games and actually show up" to a previously scheduled debate in September.

Trump said in an interview that aired this week that he would “probably” debate Harris. The former president's campaign has said it won’t commit to a debate until Harris formally becomes the party’s nominee.

Trump and his campaign continued to attack the Black journalists who questioned him at the NABJ convention this afternoon, writing on Truth Social, “The questions were Rude and Nasty, often in the form of a statement, but we CRUSHED IT!”

His campaign also posted on X criticizing those in the audience during the Q&A.

“This goes to show that fake news journalists don’t care about inflation. They don’t care about border security," the Trump War Room wrote. "They don’t care about improving our schools. They don’t care about the American people or the things that matter to them. They just care about 'getting' Trump.'”

In a reaction to Trump's Q&A panel at the NABJ convention, one source familiar with the campaign's thinking told NBC News that Trump is “completely unhinged,” adding “this is also Trump. He cannot help himself.”

The source said Trump's comment that Harris didn't claim she was Black until recently was "completely insulting and repulsive. Exactly what KJP said from the podium."

A second source close to Harris said the vice president has "always known who she is. And Donald Trump has always lived out who he is and continues to do so today.”

The panel where three Black reporters asked Trump questions ended abruptly, stopping after roughly 35 minutes though the event had been slated for an hour.

One of the moderators was cut off while she was asking Trump a question about Project 2025. There were scattered claps and boos as Trump left the stage.

Asked why it ended early, Trump campaign aide Steven Cheung said, "NABJ couldn’t solve the audio issues and we have a rally in Harrisburg to go to. We waited over 40 minutes backstage."

Trump once again asserted that if elected president, he would pardon Jan. 6 rioters, including ones who attacked police officers.

"If they're innocent, I would pardon them," he said. "They were convicted by a very, very tough system."

Trump was asked directly if he would be willing to take a cognitive test and told attendees that he suggested he and Biden would take one, adding, "now, I'd do it with [Kamala Harris] too."

The former president added, "You know what, she failed her law exam ... so maybe she wouldn't pass the cognitive test." The comment drew boos from the audience.

In the room at NABJ, a few people tried to shout during the conversation and were shushed. It's unclear what the people were shouting.

Trump said on the panel that he would "absolutely" consider stepping down if elected president again and his health was declining.

Trump said he would know himself if his health was declining. He then attacked ABC News' Rachel Scott again, saying she treated him "so rudely." There are a few gasps in the audience every time he attacks her.

"I want anybody running for president to take an aptitude test to take a cognitive test," Trump said. "I think it's a great idea. And I took two of them and I aced them."

Trump defended Vance in response to a question about whether he knew in advance about Vance's views about people who don't have children. Vance has over recent years made a number of negative statements about people without children.

"No, I know this. He is very family-oriented and he thinks family is a great thing. That doesn't mean he thinks that if you don't have a family, it's not — I know people with families. I know people with great families. I know people with very troubled families. And I also know people with no families that didn't meet the right person. Things happen," Trump said.

He continued, "You go through life, you don't meet the right person. I'm just talking about families here and people that don't have children...He strongly believes in family, but I know people with great families, I know people with not great families, that don't have a family. And the people without the family are far better. They're superior in many cases, okay. He's not saying they're not. What he's saying is that he thinks the family experience is a very important thing."

Later, when asked if Vance would be ready to step in should Trump need to step aside, Trump said, “Historically, the vice president, in terms of the election, does not have any impact. I mean, virtually no impact."

The United Auto Workers has endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris over Republican presidential nominee and former President Donald Trump.

The union’s endorsement shouldn’t be surprising. UAW President Shawn Fain has been outspoken against Trump. The Detroit union also has historically supported Democrats, including President Joe Biden.

It comes after Biden withdrew his re-election bid and endorsed Harris to become the Democratic nominee against Trump.

Fain and Trump have been at odds — publicly trading remarks — since the union leader was elected early last year. Trump called for Fain to be fired during a speech earlier this month at the Republican National Convention.

The union responded with a post calling Trump a “scab and a billionaire,” continuing “that’s who he represents. We know which side we’re on. Not his.”

Read the full story here.

More boos and gasps as Trump aggressively goes back and forth with Rachel Scott who attempted to move the conversation forward. “You’re the one that held me up for 35 minutes," he said. He had blamed audio issues for why the panel started late.

Near the beginning of the panel discussion, Trump referenced people "that happen to be taking Black jobs," a phrase that drew laughs, which he first used during the June presidential debate against Biden.

The former president was subsequently asked what a "Black job" is, to which he answered, "A Black job is anybody that has a job. That’s what it is," before pivoting back to speaking about illegal immigration and the Southern border.

The first question came from ABC News journalist Rachel Scott, who asked Trump why Black voters should trust him after he has made countless derogatory comments about minorities.

"You have pushed false claims about some of your rivals, from Nikki Haley to former President Barack Obama saying that they were not born in the United States, which is not true," Scott said.

"You have used words like 'animal' and 'rabbit' to describe Black district attorneys. You've attacked Black journalists calling them a 'loser' saying the questions that they asked are, 'Stupid and racist,'" she continued. "You've had dinner with a white supremacist at your Mar-a-Lago resort. So my question sir, now that you are asking black supporters to vote for you, why should Black voters trust you after you have used language like that?"

Trump responded, "First of all, I don't think I've ever been asked a question, in such a horrible manner," Trump said, t. "You don't even say hello, how are you? Are you with ABC? Because I think they're a fake news network."

Before Trump walked on stage for his Q&A, the audience was told: “We ask that the professionalism we all bring to our newsrooms everyday is the same professionalism we bring with us today.”

There was virtually no applause as Trump walked on stage.

In line to get into the NABJ conference, the mood has been very chatty and filled with people curious about how Trump will do in a room full of journalists who are mostly also Black people.

There are a few supporters in the room though, including one woman with a sparkly red “Trump” cowboy hat.

The National Association of Black Journalists, facing backlash for inviting Trump to the convention, said it is in conversations with the Harris campaign to have a Q&A session with her, either in person or virtually, in September.

A source familiar with Harris' plans yesterday said she couldn't attend the convention in person this week due to scheduling conflicts. "The NABJ team unfortunately denied a request for the VP to take part in a fireside chat virtually, or to host an in person fireside chat with the VP at a later date," the source said.

In a statement this morning, NABJ president Ken Lemon said, "It has always been our policy to ensure that candidates know that an invitation is not an endorsement. We also agreed that while this race is much different — and contentious — so are the consequences."

A 45-year-old man was arrested and charged after trying to take or damage license plates on the Secret Service vehicles belonging to the detail protecting Ella Emhoff, the vice president's step-daughter.

The man, identified as Harry Heymann, allegedly approached the vehicles parked in Tribeca and caused damage. The U.S. Secret Service said he damaged license plates on both vehicles, but the NYPD said he caused damage to the rear of one vehicle.

A senior law enforcement official said he damaged the license plate bracket on one car. The official said Heymann likely had no idea he was dealing with the Secret Service.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., will try to unanimously pass a bill today that would ban the use of AI to generate deceptive content related to a federal election, an attempt that is expected to be blocked.

Back in May, the Senate Rules Committee voted 9-2 to send the Protect Elections from Deceptive AI Act to the full Senate, a bipartisan bill to ban the use of artificial intelligence to generate content falsely depicting federal candidates in political ads.

The bill is bipartisan, with Sens. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., Chris Coons, D.-Del., Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Michael Bennet, D-Colo., are all co-sponsors of the bill.

Renewed focus on the bill comes after Elon Musk, the owner of X, reposted a parody Kamala Harris campaign ad last Friday without labeling it as misleading. The altered content reposted by Musk uses a voiceover that sounded like Harris, making it seem like she referred to herself as an incompetent presidential candidate.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to the White House last week presented an opportunity for newly minted presidential candidate Kamala Harris. 

It was only days after Biden announced he would not seek re-election when the White House decided that after the vice president met with Netanyahu, she would give the administration’s public response to his visit. The result was a moment designed to give Harris the foreign policy spotlight and a chance to reset with Democrats who had turned on Biden over the war in Gaza.

“We cannot allow ourselves to become numb to the suffering” of Palestinians, Harris said after meeting with Netanyahu, “and I will not be silent.”

Her words were nearly identical to remarks Biden has delivered in the past, including the assertion that “Israel has a right to defend itself, and how it does so matters.” They also reflect the overarching posture Harris has struck as vice president — aligning closely with Biden’s agenda, differing more on tone than on substance.

It's seen as gauche to openly campaign for the vice presidency. Yet several of Harris' leading potential running mates just happen to be releasing campaign-style videos introducing themselves to voters and praising Harris.

Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly on Tuesday night tweeted a slickly produced video from his 2020 Senate campaign that shows him wearing aviator sunglasses while driving an open-topped Jeep through the desert, as he narrates his life story as a combat pilot and astronaut.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, meanwhile, posted a video on Instagram that cut together lofty excerpts from a recent speech and black-and-white photographs over an upbeat percussive soundtrack.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz released a short, seemingly professionally produced clip of a candid interaction with Minnesota Vikings fans, as well as a straight-to-camera video of him speaking about the excitement for Harris.

And Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear posted his own video of recent remarks intercut with handheld video of him shaking hands, posing for selfies and breaking ground on a project.

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., said today that he doesn't think Republicans should be discussing women who do not want to have children the way that Sen. JD Vance did in his comments about "childless cat ladies."

"Here we go," Hawley said when asked if he's worried about comments like that by Republicans. "As Republicans, we started by talking about the child tax credit. As Republicans, we should be in favor of helping people who want to have families, have families."

"One of the reasons it’s hard to have a family in America today is it’s really expensive," he said. "I mean, parents have to work two jobs to have the kind of purchasing power that, 50 years ago, you could get on one income. That is not a positive thing, that is not a recommendation of our economy."

With Harris set to clinch the Democratic nomination, how she would lead the country as commander-in-chief remains an open question.

Interviews with nearly three dozen current and former U.S. officials who have worked with Harris and her team on foreign policy issues, as well as a review of her voting record in the Senate and her public comments, offer limited clues to how she would respond to some high-stakes national security challenges facing the U.S.

Read the full story here.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a potential vice presidential pick for Harris, says that he trusts that the vice president will further lay out her economic proposals and message in the weeks ahead on her campaign. 

"Look, obviously the Biden-Harris administration has been incredibly helpful to the commonwealth and I think overall really helpful to the broader economy," Shapiro told NBC10 in Philadelphia Tuesday when asked if a vote for Harris is a vote for Biden's economic policies. "She’ll be continuing to lay out her positions and I trust she’ll continue to lay out even more on the economy and other important issues going forward."

Asked if he knows what Harris' policy proposals are on the economy, he said he has a "general sense" but said he doesn't want to get ahead of her.

"She’ll lay out her policies when she’s ready on the terms that she thinks are important to the American people," he said.

Trump will head back to Pennsylvania for the first time since the assassination attempt against him and thousands are expected to attend the Harrisburg event. NBC News’ Dasha Burns reports what to expect from Trump’s rally and explains what security measures will be in place.

Brian Nelson, who is currently the Treasury Department’s undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, is preparing to leave the Biden administration and join Harris’ campaign, according to a source familiar with the plans.

An additional source familiar with the campaign said that his joining the campaign signals the vice president's desire to ensure that her senior campaign leadership includes trusted advisers who have known and worked for her since her California years. 

As reflected in Harris' memoir, "The Truths We Hold," Nelson served as special assistant attorney general, where he worked alongside Harris on the $20 billion settlement with multiple mortgage lenders, including JPMorgan Chase, seen by many as her most significant achievement in that role, and later general counsel of the attorney general’s office.

Trump said in an interview with Fox News’ Laura Ingraham that Harris would be "like a play toy" to world leaders if she's elected president.

Asked how world leaders would view a Harris presidency, Trump — who has a long history of making derogatory comments about his female opponents — said, “She’ll be so easy for them. She’ll be like a play toy.” He added, “They look at her and they say, ‘We can’t believe we got so lucky.’ They’re gonna walk all over her.”

Looking directly to the camera, Trump said, “I don’t want to say as to why, but a lot of people understand it.”

Arizona state Rep. Justin Heap defeated incumbent Stephen Richer in the GOP primary for Maricopa County recorder, an outcome that could have a major impact on how elections are administered in the nation’s most populous battleground county.  

Heap had 42.4% support from Republican primary voters to 35.9% for Richer when The Associated Press called the race this morning. Don Hiatt, a candidate who worked in information management technology, took 21.8%. 

Richer is an outspoken defender of the swing state’s election process who forcefully pushed back against the unfounded voter fraud claims that festered after the 2020 and 2022 races. 

Read the full story here.

The president of the National Association of Black Journalists, Ken Lemon, says in a new statement that the group had been in talks with the Democratic and Republican parties since January about speaking slots during their convention.

Lemon said the group had been discussing an in-person panel for Harris before Biden dropped out of the race. But Lemon said the Harris campaign said it couldn't accommodate the request and said she couldn't speak virtually or in person during the convention.

"We are in talks about virtual options in the future and are still working to reach an agreement," Lemon said. "I consulted with a group of our Founders and past NABJ Presidents Tuesday on-site in Chicago, and as a group, we affirmed that the invitation to former President Trump was in line with NABJ’s usual practices since 1976."

Former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is losing his race for mayor of Fountain Hills, Arizona, according to unofficial early results. 

The 92-year-old Republican has only received 14% of the vote compared to Ginny Dickey, who received 47%, and Gerry Freidel, who got 39%. 

Arizona Democratic Senate candidate Ruben Gallego launched his first official ad of the general election campaign today, hitting Republican rival Kari Lake on abortion in what is one of the most competitive Senate races of the election.

The ad accuses Lake of lying about Gallego’s position on undocumented immigrants’ voting “to distract you from her record on abortion” and plays a series of clips of her discussing the issue in which she says, “I don’t think abortion pills should be legal” and “Arizona will not be a state where abortions are happening.”

Republicans now see abortion as a political liability, and Lake has since sought to backtrack, saying she doesn’t support a federal ban and wants states to decide whether it should be legal.

Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., yesterday went after Trump over his role in sinking a bipartisan Senate bill as the former president seeks to cast Vice President Kamala Harris as a “border czar” who failed to secure the border amid record increases of migrant crossings.

“This was not meeting the Republicans on the 50-yard line, this was meeting them on the 10-yard line,” Kelly said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” referring to the bipartisan border bill that would have imposed tough overhauls on the border, but was killed after Trump pressured GOP lawmakers to vote against it.

“On their side of the field, we realized, we’ve got to get operational control over the border. I realized this, Kamala Harris realizes this, and this legislation was going to do that,” he added. “And our goal here was to get this legislation passed and then start working on comprehensive immigration reform. But this was stopped dead in its tracks by Donald Trump because he wanted to have this as an election issue. Like a lot of other Republicans, they don’t actually want to solve this problem.”

Read the full story here

Harris held her first rally at Georgia State University’s convocation center in Atlanta. She asked Trump to reconsider the option of a debate, saying, “If you have something to say, say it to my face.”

PHOENIX — Kari Lake won the Republican Senate primary in Arizona, NBC News projects, officially setting up a critical matchup against Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego. 

Lake, a staunch ally of Trump, was running ahead of Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb, 54% to 40%, with roughly 82% of the expected vote in. Former news anchor Elizabeth Reye placed a distant third. 

Lake advances to the general election for the seat being vacated by independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema against Gallego, a Phoenix-area House member and Marine veteran who ran unopposed in the Democratic primary. The race in battleground Arizona will be among a handful that determine partisan control of the Senate this fall. 

“This is not a battle between Democrats and Republicans. This is a battle between good and evil,” Lake said at her election night event. “This is a battle between the people who want to destroy this country and the people who want to save America.”

Read the full story here.

Vance knows he has had a rocky rollout as Trump’s running mate, but he doesn’t believe he has disappointed the former president.

“No,” Vance said in an interview aboard his campaign plane en route to a rally here yesterday. “I mean, I knew that when I came out of the gate there was going to be a couple of days of positive media coverage and then immediately they would go and attack me over everything that I had ever said in my life.”

Vance has faced relentless criticism from allies of Harris, the de facto Democratic presidential nominee, for his 2021 comments questioning the societal value of women who don’t have children and referring to them as “childless cat ladies.” Harris’ campaign over the last week has tried to brand Vance and his political point of view as “weird.” Trump has stood by Vance.

Read the full story here.

Harris, facing a new barrage of GOP attack ads seeking to define her early in her campaign, attacked back on immigration and border security before a fired-up crowd of thousands in an overcapacity arena in Atlanta last night.

Through chants of “Kamala” aimed at her and “lock him up” aimed at Trump, Harris began her line of attack by citing her experience as attorney general of America’s largest border state, California.

“In that job, I walked underground tunnels between the United States and Mexico on that border with law enforcement officers,” Harris said. “I went after transnational gangs, drug cartels and human traffickers that came into our country illegally. I prosecuted them in case after case, and I won.”

Read the full story here.