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Harris says she's ready to debate Trump and accuses him of 'backpedaling' from Sept. 10 faceoff
Vice President Kamala Harris told reporters on Thursday that she’s “ready to debate Donald Trump.”
She accused him of “backpedaling” away from a previous agreement for a debate hosted by ABC News on Sept. 10.
“I think the voters deserve to see the split screen that exists in this race on the debate stage,” she said after landing at Joint Base Andrews following a trip to Indiana and Texas.
The Sept. 10 debate was one of two debates that President Joe Biden and Trump had agreed on. The first one was hosted by CNN on June 27, but Biden has since dropped out of the race and endorsed Harris as his successor.
Trump has said he would prefer to shift the debate to Fox News, but he would be willing to face off with Harris more than once.
Harris did not respond to a question about having Fox News host a debate.
Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung said in a statement late Thursday that debate arrangements “cannot be finalized until Democrats formally decide on their nominee.”
"Democrats very well could still change their minds,” Cheung said.
Alex Conant, a Republican consultant, said the debate could be “decisive.” “It’s the only time voters really tune in," he said.
This year's campaign has already shown the potential power of a debate. Biden's disastrous performance on June 27 revived concerns that he was too old for a second term. His support within the Democratic Party crumbled, and he ended his reelection bid on Sunday.
Harris tells Netanyahu 'it is time' to end the war in Gaza and bring the hostages home
Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday said she urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reach a cease-fire deal soon with Hamas so that dozens of hostages held by the militants in Gaza since Oct. 7 can return home.
Harris said she had a “frank and constructive” conversation with Netanyahu in which she affirmed Israel’s right to defend itself but also expressed deep concern about the high death toll in Gaza over nine months of war and the “dire” humanitarian situation there.
With all eyes on the likely Democratic presidential nominee, Harris largely reiterated President Joe Biden's longstanding message that it's time to find an endgame to the brutal war in Gaza, where more than 39,000 Palestinians have died. Yet she offered a more forceful tone about the urgency of the moment just one day after Netanyahu gave a fiery speech to Congress in which he defended the war, vowed “total victory” against Hamas and made relatively scant mention of cease-fire negotiations.
“There has been hopeful movement in the talks to secure an agreement on this deal,” Harris told reporters shortly after meeting with Netanyahu. “And as I just told Prime Minister Netanyahu, it is time to get this deal done.”
Netanyahu met separately earlier in the day with Biden, who has also been calling on Israel and Hamas to come to an agreement on a U.S.-backed, three-phase deal to bring home remaining hostages and establish an extended cease-fire.
The White House said in a statement that Biden discussed with Netanyahu “the need to close the remaining gaps, finalize the deal as soon as possible, bring the hostages home, and reach a durable end to the war in Gaza.” Biden and Netanyahu also discussed improving the flow of aid into Gaza as well as the ongoing threat posed by Iranian-backed militant groups, including Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis.
Harris said after her meeting with Netanyahu that Israel’s war in Gaza is more complicated than simply being supportive of one side or the other.
“Too often, the conversation is binary when the reality is anything but,” Harris said.
Harris also condemned Hamas' brutality. White House national security spokesperson John Kirby reiterated the administration position that the militant group that killed some 1,200 on Oct. 7 and kidnapped 250 people from Israel ultimately holds responsibility for the suffering in Gaza and must come to terms with Israel.
Kirby added that gaps between the two sides can be closed “but there are issues that need to be resolved that will require some leadership, some compromise."
With Harris' forceful comments, the administration also appeared to be stepping up pressure on the Israelis to not let the moment pass to get a deal done.
“What has happened in Gaza over the past nine months is devastating. The images of dead children and desperate, hungry people fleeing for safety, sometimes displaced for the second, third or fourth time,” Harris said. “We cannot look away in the face of these tragedies. We cannot allow ourselves to become numb to the suffering. And I will not be silent.”
Thousands protested Netanyahu’s visit in Washington, and Harris condemned those who were violent or used rhetoric that praised Hamas.
Netanyahu, last at the White House when former President Donald Trump was in office, is headed to Florida on Friday to meet with the Republican presidential nominee.
Ahead of the Harris-Netanyahu meeting Thursday, Trump said at a rally in North Carolina the vice president was “totally against the Jewish people."
Harris has long spoken of her strong support for Israel. The first overseas trip of her Senate career in early 2017 was to Israel, and one of her first acts in office was to introduce a resolution opposing a U.N. Security Council resolution condemning Israel.
She’s also spoken of her personal ties to Israel, including memories of raising money as a child to plant trees in Israel and installing a mezuzah near the front door of the vice president’s residence in Washington — her husband is Jewish. She also has connections to pro-Israel groups including the conservative American Israel Public Affairs Committee and the liberal J Street.
For Harris, the meeting with Netanyahu was an opportunity to demonstrate that she has the mettle to serve as commander in chief. She’s being scrutinized by those on the political left who say Biden hasn’t done enough to force Netanyahu to end the war and by Republicans looking to brand her as insufficient in her support for Israel.
Harris’ last one-on-one engagement with Netanyahu was in March 2021, but she’s taken part in more than 20 calls between Biden and Netanyahu.
The conservative Likud Party leader Netanyahu and centrist Democrat Biden have had ups-and-downs over the years. Netanyahu, in what will likely be his last White House meeting with Biden, reflected on the roughly 40 years they've known each other and thanked the president for his service.
“From a proud Jewish Zionist to a proud Irish American Zionist, I want to thank you for 50 years of public service and 50 years of support for the state of Israel,” Netanyahu told Biden.
A U.S.-backed proposal to release remaining hostages in Gaza over three phases is something that would be a legacy-affirming achievement for Biden, who abandoned his reelection bid and endorsed Harris. It could also be a boon for Harris in her bid to succeed him.
Following their talks, Biden and Netanyahu met with the families of American hostages.
Jonathan Dekel-Chen, the father of hostage Sagui Dekel-Chen, said the families received an “ironclad commitment” from Biden and Netanyahu to get the hostages home. He said he was more hopeful than at anytime since Hamas released more than 100 hostages during a temporary cease-fire in November.
“There is more reason today than in any time since the last round of hostage releases that something can happen,” he said.
Netanyahu is trying to navigate his own delicate political moment. He faces pressure from the families of hostages demanding a cease-fire agreement to bring their loved ones home and from far-right members of his governing coalition who demand he resist any deal that could keep Israeli forces from eliminating Hamas.
In his speech to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday, Netanyahu offered a robust defense of Israel's conduct during the war and lashed out against accusations by the International Criminal Court of Israeli war crimes. He made the case that Israel, in its fight against Iran-backed Hamas, was effectively keeping “Americans boots off the ground while protecting our shared interests in the Middle East.”
“Remember this: Our enemies are your enemies,” Netanyahu said. “Our fight, it’s your fight. And our victory will be your victory. ”
Netanyahu also derided protesters who massed near the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, calling them Iran’s “useful idiots.”
Harris on Thursday said she was outraged that some protesters tagged areas near the U.S. Capitol with pro-Hamas graffiti, expressed support for the militants and burned a U.S. flag at Union Station.
“Pro-Hamas graffiti and rhetoric is abhorrent and we must not tolerate it in our nation,” Harris said in a statement. “I condemn the burning of the American flag. That flag is a symbol of our highest ideals as a nation and represents the promise of America. It should never be desecrated in that way.”
Protesters massed near the White House on Thursday chanted, “Arrest Netanyahu,” and brought an effigy of the prime minister with blood on its hands and wearing an orange jumpsuit. A small number of counterprotesters wore Israeli flags around their shoulders.
Biden’s speech: Warnings about Trump without naming him, a hefty to-do list, and a power handoff
President Joe Biden delivered a solemn Oval Office address Wednesday that laid out in the clearest terms yet why he abandoned his reelection campaign.
He wanted to send an unmistakable warning about Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump while anointing Vice President Kamala Harris as his natural successor, without invoking an overtly political tone that would have been out of step in the official setting of the White House. He was determined to show that he would not act like a lame-duck president, outlining an ambitious agenda that underscored his resolve to continue building on his legacy.
Here are key takeaways from Biden’s address:
He warned about Trump — without naming him
Biden did not mention Trump, his former Republican opponent, in his 10-minute Oval Office address — but he didn’t have to. The remarks were imbued with a deep sense of urgency about what the outgoing president saw as the stakes of the election.
The early part of his address sketched the choices that faces voters in November — a contrast Biden himself had hoped to make during a reelection campaign that he ultimately decided he could not continue.
“Americans are going to have to choose between moving forward or backward, between hope and hate, between unity and division,” Biden said. “We have to decide — do we still believe in honesty, decency, respect, freedom, justice and democracy.”
That last item — democracy — and defending it is “more important than any title,” Biden said.
Biden outlined a hefty to-do list for his final months
The president says he’s going to keep working over his final six months in office. He’s seeking to make the case for his legacy of sweeping domestic legislation and the renewal of alliances abroad.
His to-do list was full of weighty issues. He said he’d work to end the war in Gaza, bring home the hostages and try “to bring peace and security to the Middle East and end this war.” Biden meets Thursday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
He’s going to continue to work to lower costs for families and defend personal freedoms, keep calling out “hate and extremism” and push to end gun violence.
He also said he would continue to work on his initiative to end cancer as we know it and push for Supreme Court reforms.
“I’m going to keep working,” he said.
He is willingly handing off power to a new generation
Biden finally understood what Democrats had been telling him — that it was time to hand off power to a younger generation — and he embraced it, calling for “fresh voices, yes, younger voices” in politics.
“I’ve decided the best way forward is to pass the torch to a new generation. It’s the best way to unite our nation,” he said, even as he believed his presidency was deserving of a second term.
For months, Biden insisted that only he could go up against Trump and win. But that changed following his debate with Trump on June 27, when he spoke haltingly, lost his train of thought and failed to fact-check the former president’s falsehoods. The performance raised a chorus of questions about his age and ability to do the job another four years and pushed Democrats to increasingly call for him to step aside. The standoff dragged for 24 days before Biden yielded, saying he needed to unify his party.
The tone and setting were solemn
Biden is not a stranger to the sober address, delivering remarks on weighty matters such as the fate of democracy and voting rights at historically significant landmarks across the country and around the globe.
But Biden has used the formal trappings of an Oval Office address — a tool used by presidents in times of national crisis or to capture a key moment in history — sparsely, with Wednesday’s speech marking just the fourth time that he has sat behind the Resolute Desk to speak directly to the nation.
His tone was solemn, the delivery careful and deliberate. He was surrounded by family and close aides as he gave an address willingly relinquishing power — one that no politician wants to make.
“The great thing about America is here, kings and dictators do not rule — that people do,” Biden said as he closed his address. “History is in your hands. The power is in your hands. The idea of America lies in your hands.”
Biden made a subtle push for his vice presidentIn the official setting of the Oval Office, Biden steered clear of overt political talk. But he still praised Vice President Kamala Harris as “tough” and “capable,” and gave a not-so-subtle push to voters.
“She’s been an incredible partner for her leadership, for our country,” he said. “Now the choice is up to you, the American people. ”
First lady Jill Biden posted a hand-written note after the president’s speech thanking “those who never wavered, who refused to doubt.” She thanked supporters for putting their trust in the president. “Now it’s time to put that trust in Kamala.”
Biden, aides say, knows that if Harris loses, he’ll be criticized for staying in the race too long and not giving her or another Democrat time to effectively mount a campaign against Trump. If she wins, she’ll ensure his policy victories are secured and expanded, and he’ll be remembered for a decision to step aside for the next generation of leadership.
Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries endorse Kamala Harris’ 2024 candidacy
Vice President Kamala Harris flew to her first battleground state Wisconsin after locking up enough support from Democratic delegates to earn the party’s nomination. Democratic leaders Charles Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries endorsed Harris on Tuesday, capping off their party’s swift embrace of her 2024 candidacy.
Meanwhile, Kimberly Cheatle, the director of the Secret Service stepped down from her job following the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump.
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Pennsylvania governor: Cheatle’s resignation was ‘right thing to do’
Asked about Cheatle’s resignation Tuesday at an unrelated news conference in Pennsylvania, Gov. Josh Shapiro said it was the “right thing to do.”
“What happened in Butler was an absolute failure and there needs to be answers as to what went wrong. And I think her resignation is an important step in that process,” Shapiro said.
Trump says Netanyahu will visit him in Florida
Trump says Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will visit him at his Florida estate on Thursday.
Trump made the announcement in a post on his social media network in which he said, “my PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH Agenda will demonstrate to the World that these horrible, deadly Wars, and violent Conflicts must end. Millions are dying, and Kamala Harris is in no way capable of stopping it.”
Trump has spoken to other foreign leaders recently, including two visits at his home from Hungary’s prime minister Viktor Orbán over the past few months.
Trump also had a phone call last week with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Biden tests negative for COVID-19
President Joe Biden is now free of COVID-19.
The White House released a letter from his personal physician, Kevin O’Connor, on Tuesday noting that Biden was testing negative for the virus and that his symptoms have resolved.
Biden, who has been convalescing at his home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, is returning to Washington later Tuesday.
Democratic leadership endorse Harris for presidential nomination
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries have endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for the Democratic presidential nomination.
Schumer said in a news conference with Jeffries on Tuesday that President Joe Biden’s “selfless decision” not to run “has given the Democratic Party the opportunity to unite behind a new nominee.”
He said the leaders waited to endorse her until she had secured the support of enough Democratic delegates to become her party’s nominee against Republican Donald Trump.
Biden said Sunday that he would not run.
Schumer said he spoke to Harris on Sunday and she wanted to win the nomination “on her own.” Jeffries added that Harris is “ready, willing and able to lead us into the future.”
Senators to introduce legislation requiring Senate confirmation of future Secret Service directors
U.S. Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., are introducing legislation on Tuesday to require Senate confirmation of future Secret Service directors.
The legislation comes 10 days after the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally.
Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle said Tuesday she is resigning.
Secret Service directors are currently appointed by the president. The senators said that making it a Senate-confirmed position would ensure that the individual is qualified to serve and force more oversight and transparency of the embattled agency. The senators called for immediate passage of the bill.
“President Trump’s brush with death was a Secret Service failure of epic proportions, and this mission failure must never be repeated,” Grassley said.
Secret Service’s deputy director appointed as acting director, Homeland Security secretary says
Secret Service Deputy Director Ronald Rowe has been appointed acting director of the agency, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said.
Rowe is a 24-year veteran of the Secret Service and has served as deputy director since April 2023.
“I appreciate his willingness to lead the Secret Service at this incredibly challenging moment, as the agency works to get to the bottom of exactly what happened on July 13 and cooperate with ongoing investigations and Congressional oversight,” Mayorkas said in a statement Tuesday.
Mayorkas said he has the “utmost confidence in Deputy Director Rowe and the men and women of the Secret Service, who put their lives on the line every day and deserve our full support.”
The second gentleman’s visit to an abortion clinic
At a northern Virginia abortion clinic, second gentleman Doug Emhoff, the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, made his first appearance since his wife became heir apparent for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination.
Emhoff toured the facility, talked with doctors, and then sat down with Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra to share his thoughts with a gaggle of news reporters.
It was also Emhoff’s first visit to an abortion clinic.
He called the doctor’s challenges to open her clinic “really disturbing,” and shook his head at stories of patients, who have struggled to get abortions since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to one.
“It was important for me to be here today,” Emhoff said, calling the landscape since the Supreme Court ruling “horrific.”
North Carolina governor: Harris’ running mate should have a ‘vision for America’
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper told reporters in Winston-Salem that he wants Vice President Kamala Harris to have “the very best person” as her running mate and will “respect her process” in choosing someone for that position. He declined further comment on his own prospects of becoming her running mate, including whether he has submitted vetting materials to the campaign.
“I appreciate people thinking of me that way, but like I say, this is the time for us to be supporting Kamala Harris, putting her in the spotlight,” Cooper said Tuesday.
Whoever becomes Harris’ running mate should have a “vision for America,” he said.
“I think there are a long list of Democrats who could do an amazing job in that position with her,” Cooper said. “The thing is, she has extraordinary people to pick from and I trust that she’s going to make the right decision — not only for her but for the Democratic Party and the country.”
White House press secretary says calls for Biden to leave the presidency are ‘ridiculous’
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre is dismissing Republican suggestions that President Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the presidential race suggests that he’s no longer capable of finishing his term in the White House.
“I think that’s ridiculous. Seriously,” Jean-Pierre said Tuesday on ABC’s “The View.” “The president decided to not run for reelection. That’s it. That’s all he decided on. He wants to continue to do the work.”
She said the administration will “run through the finish line” and the end of Biden’s presidency in January.
Jean-Pierre argued that Biden’s leaving the race was him putting the country ahead of himself, saying, “This president was a public servant for 54 years.”
She quickly added, “We’re not done yet. He stepped down from being the nominee, but he’s still the president.”
New volunteers give Democrats a boost of optimism
After weeks of being downcast about the November election, Democrats in Congress have come back with a renewed sense of optimism as Vice President Kamala Harris has entered the presidential race.
They are especially encouraged by the boost in new volunteers.
Democrats hope that having Harris at the top of the ticket will give them a better chance of retaking a majority in the House and even potentially holding on to the Senate.
U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and one of the first Democrats to endorse Harris, said the turnout of tens of thousands of new volunteers would help turn the dynamics of the race.
“That is the juice behind the campaign,” Jayapal said. “That is the organizing. That is the door-knocking. That’s going to get people to care about the election and be able to see themselves in it.”
Biden will address the nation Wednesday on his decision to drop 2024 reelection bid
President Joe Biden will address the nation from the Oval Office on Wednesday evening on his decision to drop his 2024 Democratic reelection bid.
Biden posted on the social platform X that he would speak “on what lies ahead” and how he will “finish the job for the American people.” He will speak at 8 p.m. ET.
The president is scheduled to return to the White House on Tuesday after isolating at his Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, home after being diagnosed last week with COVID-19.
Biden to appoint a new Secret Service director following Cheatle's resignation
President Joe Biden says he’s grateful for Secret Service Director Kim Cheatle’s decades of public service and says he will soon appoint a new leader for the agency.
In a statement shortly after Cheatle announced her resignation over the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, Biden said Cheatle “selflessly dedicated and risked her life to protect our nation” and said he wishes her “all the best.”
“The independent review to get to the bottom of what happened on July 13 continues, and I look forward to assessing its conclusions,” Biden said. “We all know what happened that day can never happen again.”
House Speaker calls Cheatle’s resignation ‘overdue’
House Speaker Mike Johnson says the resignation of Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle was “overdue” and that it should have happened at least a week ago.
News of Cheatle’s resignation happened just as Johnson and Republican leaders were wrapping up their weekly press conference Tuesday morning.
“I’m happy to see that,” Johnson said. “I’m happy to see she has heeded the call of both Republicans and Democrats. Now we have to pick up the pieces. We have to rebuild the American people’s faith and trust in the Secret Service as an agency.”
Earlier Tuesday, Johnson and Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries announced the formation of a bipartisan task force to investigate the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump and the security failures that led up to it.
Trump: ‘I was forced to take a bullet for Democracy’ after the administration ‘did not properly protect me’
Minutes after news of Cheatle’s resignation broke, Trump posted a statement on his social media network saying: “The Biden/Harris Administration did not properly protect me, and I was forced to take a bullet for Democracy. IT WAS MY GREAT HONOR TO DO SO!”
Trump’s campaign did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment on Cheatle’s resignation. It was not clear if Trump’s post in reaction to the news about the Secret Service director’s resignation.
Secret Service director resigns
The director of the Secret Service is stepping down from her job following the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump that unleashed intensifying outcry about how the agency tasked with protecting current and former presidents could fail in its core mission.
Kimberly Cheatle had served as Secret Service director since August 2022.
Cheatle announced her departure in an email she sent to staff. Cheatle had been facing growing calls to resign and several investigations into how the shooter was able to get so close to the Republican presidential nominee at an outdoor campaign rally in Pennsylvania.
House Republicans pivot to Harris and her work on immigration
House Republicans are quickly pivoting their focus from President Joe Biden to his possible successor, Vice President Kamala Harris, and her work on the issue of immigration.
Rules Committee Chair Michael Burgess, R-Texas, said his panel will take up an emergency resolution Tuesday that focuses on the “failures of the position of the border czar and how that has negatively affected our fellow citizens around the country.”
The panel’s action would tee up the condemnation resolution for a full House vote later this week.
Harris was tasked early in the Biden administration with tackling the migration challenges at the U.S. southern border and working with Central American nations to address root causes of the problem.
“She’s responsible for the biggest failure of this administration,” said House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La.
The Biden administration has been touting progress at the border. Arrests for illegally crossing the border from Mexico plunged 29% in June, the lowest month of Joe Biden’s presidency.
Wisconsin Republicans brand Harris as an ‘extreme liberal’ ahead of her visit
MILWAUKEE — Wisconsin Republican leaders are branding Vice President Kamala Harris as an “extreme liberal” who is out of step with most voters in the swing state just hours before she was to make a campaign stop there Tuesday.
“Kamala Harris’ favorables are as bad as Joe Biden’s,” said Wisconsin Republican Party Chairman Brian Schimming at a news conference ahead of the Harris event at a high school outside of Milwaukee. “So they are exchanging one bad candidate for another bad candidate in the hope that the people of this state and this country don’t notice where she actually stands on the issues.”
Schimming and other Wisconsin Republicans argue Harris was appointed as a “border czar” and blamed her for unauthorized crossings, citing Biden’s tasking her with working on migration issues early in his term. Schimming also cited Harris’ co-sponsorship of Sen. Bernie Sanders’ “Medicare for All” national health insurance proposal.
“She was one of the most extreme liberals when she served in the U.S. Senate,” Schimming said. “A lot needs to be discovered about where she stands on critical issues that face this country. ... There’s issue after issue where Kamala Harris is not in sync with the people of Wisconsin and the people of America.”
Johnson and Jeffries say they support bipartisan task force to investigate assassination attempt
House Speaker Mike Johnson and Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries have issued a joint statement in support of a bipartisan task force to investigate the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.
The House could vote as soon as Wednesday to establish the task force, which will be comprised of seven Republicans and six Democrats. Outrage over security failures that occurred to prevent the shooting has come from both sides of the political aisle.
“The task force will be empowered with subpoena authority and will move quickly to find the facts, ensure accountability, and make certain such failures never happen again,” Johnson and Jeffries said.
Despite Musk’s Trump endorsement, X remains a go-to platform for Democrats
A week after Elon Musk endorsed Donald Trump for president, President Joe Biden’s team used Musk’s social platform X — in addition to more neutral spaces such as Facebook and Instagram — to announce he is ending his reelection campaign.
It’s a testament to how ingrained the platform has become among the power players of the political and media world, as well as users looking for news and live updates of major events.
While Meta’s Facebook and Instagram, along with TikTok, boast far more users, X users say keeping up with the news is not the reason they use those platforms, according to a recent survey by the Pew Research Center.
X is the exception: most of the site’s users say following the news is a reason they use it and about half say they regularly get their news from there.
“X is where history happens,” posted X CEO Linda Yaccarino on Sunday with a screenshot of Biden’s announcement. While a comment pointed out that the same message was posted on other social media platforms as well, the narrative remains an important one for X and its long-touted efforts to become a “digital town square.”
President Joe Biden tests positive for COVID-19 while campaigning in Las Vegas, has 'mild symptoms'
President Joe Biden tested positive for COVID-19 while traveling Wednesday in Las Vegas and is experiencing “mild symptoms” including “general malaise” from the infection, the White House said.
Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden will fly to his home in Delaware, where he will “self-isolate and will continue to carry out all of his duties fully during that time." The news had first been shared by UnidosUS President and CEO Janet Murguía, who told guests at the group's convention in Las Vegas that president had sent his regrets and could not appear because he tested positive for the virus.
Donald Trump enters Republican convention hall with a bandaged ear and gets a hero’s welcome
Dr. Kevin O'Connor, the president's physician, said in a note that Biden, 81, “presented this afternoon with upper respiratory symptoms, to include rhinorhea (runny nose) and non-productive cough, with general malaise.” After the positive COVID-19 test, Biden was prescribed the antiviral drug Paxlovid and has taken his first dose, O'Connor said.
Biden was slated to speak at the UnidosUS event in Las Vegas Wednesday afternoon as part of an effort to rally Hispanic voters ahead of the November election. Instead, he departed for the airport to fly to Delaware, where he had already been planning to spend a long weekend at his home in Rehoboth Beach.
Trump calls for unity after apparent assassination attempt
The president's diagnosis comes amid intense scrutiny of his health and stamina after a disastrous debate with former President Donald Trump that sparked a flurry of concern among Democrats that Biden is not up to the rigors of winning another presidential term.
Biden gingerly boarded Air Force One and told reporters traveling with him, “I feel good.” The president was not wearing a mask as he walked onto Air Force One.
The president had previously been at the Original Lindo Michoacan restaurant in Las Vegas, where he was greeting diners and sat for an interview with Univision.
Biden has been vaccinated and is current on his recommended annual booster dose for COVID-19. The vaccines have proven highly effective at limiting serious illness and death from the virus, which killed more than 1 million people in the U.S. since the pandemic began in 2020. Paxlovid has been proven to curtail the chances of serious illness and death from COVID-19 when prescribed in the early days of an infection, but has also been associated with rebound infections, where the virus comes back a few days after clearing up.
President Joe Biden says it was a 'mistake' to say he wanted to put a 'bull's-eye' on Donald Trump
Biden last tested positive for COVID-19 twice in the summer of 2022, when he had a primary case and a rebound case of the virus.
Health officials have reported recent upticks in emergency room visits and hospitalizations from COVID-19. There has also been a pronounced increase in positive test results in much of the country — particularly the southwestern U.S.
Three days after attempted assassination, Trump shooter remains an elusive enigma
After three days, an enigmatic portrait emerged of the 20-year-old man who came close to killing former President Donald Trump with a high-velocity bullet: He was an intelligent loner with few friends, an apparently thin social media footprint and no hints of strong political beliefs that would suggest a motive for an attempted assassination.
Even after the FBI cracked into Thomas Matthew Crooks' cellphone, scoured his computer, home and car, and interviewed more than 100 people, the mystery of why he opened fire on Trump's rally Saturday, a bullet grazing the GOP nominee's ear, remained as elusive as the moment it happened.
“He sat by himself, didn’t talk to anyone, didn’t even try to make conversation,” said 17-year-old Liam Campbell, echoing the comments of classmates who remembered the shooter in this quiet community outside of Pittsburgh. “He was an odd kid,” but nothing about him seemed dangerous, he added. “Just a normal person who seemed like he didn’t like talking to people.”
So far, there has been no public disclosure the shooter left any writings, suicide note, social media screed or any other indicator explaining his reasons for targeting Trump. A law enforcement official briefed on the ongoing investigation told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity that Crooks’ phone had not immediately yielded any meaningful clues related to motive, or whether he acted alone or with others.
Crooks’ political leanings were also hazy. Crooks was registered as a Republican in Pennsylvania, but federal campaign finance reports also show he gave $15 to a progressive political action committee on Jan. 20, 2021, the day Democratic President Joe Biden was sworn into office.
The absence of a satisfactory explanation has led Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to recount the lengthy federal investigation into the 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas, the deadliest such attack in the nation’s history. That probe closed after 17 months without finding any motive for what drove the 64-year-old gunman to spray more than 1,000 rounds into a crowd of concertgoers other than to “attain a certain degree of infamy.”
Crooks, with a slight build, wire-rimmed glasses and thin hair parted in the middle, went by “Tom.” He was described by classmates at Bethel Park High School as smart but standoffish, often seen wearing headphones and preferring to sit alone at lunch looking at his phone. Some said he was often mocked by other students for the clothes he wore, which included hunting outfits, and for continuing to wear a mask after the COVID pandemic was over.
“He was bullied almost every day,” said classmate Jason Kohler. “He was just an outcast.”
After graduating from high school in 2022, Crooks went on to the Community College of Allegheny County, earning an associate’s degree with honors in engineering science in May. He also worked at a nursing home as a dietary aide.
A 1997 Secret Service study into those who had attempted assassinations since 1949 found there was no single indicator that a person might seek to take the life of a public figure. However, two-thirds of all attackers were described as “social isolates.”
Like Crooks, few had any history of violent crime or criminal records. Most attackers also had histories of handling weapons, but no formal weapons or military training, according to the study.
As a freshman, Crooks had tried out for his high school rifle team but was rejected for poor marksmanship, the AP previously reported. Through his family, he was a member of the Clairton Sportsmen’s Club, a shooting range about 11 miles (17 kilometers) east of Bethel Park.
“We know very little about him,” club president Bill Sellitto told the AP. “That was a terrible, terrible thing that happened Saturday — that’s not what we’re about by any means.”
The club has an outdoor range for high-powered rifles with targets set at distances of up to 170 meters (187 yards).
Crooks was well within that range when he opened fire on Trump Saturday from about 135 meters (147 yards) from where Trump was speaking, unleashing two quick volleys of rounds at the former president with an AR-15 style rifle.
His father, Matthew Crooks, bought the gun in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, in 2013 from Gander Mountain, a retail outdoors chain.
The day before the shooting, Thomas Crooks went to the sportsman's club and practiced on the rifle range, according to a federal intelligence briefing obtained by the AP. On the day of the attack, he purchased 50 rounds of 5.56mm ammo for his rifle from a local gun shop and drove alone to Butler, Pennsylvania, the site of the Trump rally.
He parked at a gas station lot about a third of a mile from the event. He wore a gray T-shirt with the logo of a popular YouTube channel dedicated to firearms, camo shorts and a black belt.
Witnesses and law enforcement officials say Crooks walked around for at least a half-hour before climbing onto the roof of a building adjacent to the Butler Farm Show grounds, where Trump was speaking. As spectators screamed for police to respond, Crooks opened fire, letting loose two quick bursts. A Secret Service counter sniper fired back within about 15 seconds, killing Crooks with a shot to the head.
Trump said this week that one bullet clipped his right ear, and that only a last-second turn of his head kept him from potentially being mortally wounded. One of the bullets aimed toward Trump killed 50-year-old firefighter Corey Comperatore, a spectator who was in the bleachers. Two others were seriously wounded.
Without clear insight into what drove Crooks, many on both sides of the American political divide tried to fill the void with their own partisan assumptions, evidence-free speculations and conspiracy theories in the days since the shooting.
Some Republicans have pointed at Democrats for labeling Trump a threat to democracy. Democrats, in turn, pointed to Crooks’ GOP registration and to Trump’s own long history of provocative rhetoric, including his continued praise of the Jan. 6 rioters.
Access to the Crooks home remained blocked by yellow police tape, with officers keeping watch and preventing reporters from approaching.
Melanie Maxwell, who lives in the neighborhood, was dropping off “Trump 2024” lawn signs at another neighbor's home.
Like the others, she didn’t know the Crooks family well. She said she was appalled by the assault and said any security lapses should be fully investigated.
“The hand of God protected President Trump,” she said.
Biesecker reported from Washington, Bellisle from Seattle and Mustian from New York. Associated Press writers Eric Tucker and Colleen Long in Washington, Marc Levy in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Julie Smyth, Lindsey Bahr, Mark Scolforo, and Joshua Bickel in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, Michael R. Sisak in Butler, Pennsylvania, Randy Herschaft in New York, Michael Balsamo in Chicago and Michael Kunzelman in Silver Spring, Maryland, contributed to this report.
Iran threat prompted more security at Trump rally as officials warn of potential for copycat attacks
A threat on Donald Trump’s life from Iran prompted additional security in the days before Saturday’s campaign rally, but it was unrelated to the assassination attempt on the Republican presidential nominee, two U.S. officials said Tuesday, as law enforcement warned of the potential for more violence inspired by the shooting.
National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said officials have been tracking Iranian threats against Trump administration officials for years, dating back to the last administration. Trump ordered the 2020 killing of Qassem Soleimani, who led the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force.
“These threats arise from Iran’s desire to seek revenge for the killing of Qassem Soleimani. We consider this a national and homeland security matter of the highest priority,” Watson said.
The U.S. Secret Service and the Trump campaign were made aware of the latest threat, prompting a surge in resources and assets, according to the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence matters.
The additional resources did not prevent Saturday attack at a rally in Pennsylvania, where a 20-year-old with an AR-style rifle opened fire from a nearby rooftop, leaving the former president with an ear injury, killing one rallygoer and severely injuring two others.
Watson said there have been no ties identified between the gunman at the rally “and any accomplice or co-conspirator, foreign or domestic.”
“The Secret Service and other agencies are constantly receiving new potential threat information and taking action to adjust resources, as needed,” said Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi who said he couldn't comment on any specific threats.
Online rhetoric is particularly concerning
Since the rally shooting, rhetoric online has become particularly concerning “given that individuals in some online communities have threatened, encouraged, or referenced acts of violence in response to the attempted assassination,” according to a joint intelligence bulletin by Homeland Security and the FBI and obtained by The Associated Press.
Presidents — and presidential candidates — are always the subject of threats, but the FBI and Homeland Security officials are “concerned about the potential for follow-on or retaliatory acts of violence following this attack,” according to the bulletin released Monday evening. Law enforcement warned that lone actors and small groups will “continue to see rallies and campaign events as attractive targets.”
Donald Trump enters Republican convention hall with a bandaged ear and gets a hero’s welcome
A visibly stronger security detail now surrounds Trump and President Joe Biden. And independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. received Secret Service protection in the wake of the shooting.
There were more agents surrounding Biden as he boarded Air Force One to Las Vegas on Monday night. As Trump made his first post-shooting appearance on the floor of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee that same night, there was a much larger presence than he has previously had, with agents keeping a protective barrier between Trump and the crowd, preventing him from greeting supporters as easily as he usually does.
Show of force, but also an effort to reassure
The visibly stepped-up presence is meant to add a show of force and additional protection, but is also an effort to reassure Americans concerned about the potential for additional violence after the already-tense and vitriolic 2024 election season turned deadly.
Both Trump and Biden have called for unity following the shooting; Biden has said repeatedly that political violence must be rejected.
The FBI has no clear motive for the shooting and the investigation is ongoing. Biden ordered an independent review of the federal response after questions swirled about how the gunman could have gotten so close to the stage, and how the enhanced security presence did not prevent the attack.
“This attack reinforces our assessment that election-related targets are under a heightened threat of attack or other types of disruptive incidents,” according to the bulletin.
Security will also be enhanced at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in a few weeks.
The U.S. Secret Service, which is tasked with protecting the president, former presidents, their spouses, some other lawmakers and major security events, has protocols in place that allow for leeway to adjust security needs in the moment. That includes adding additional agents around the candidates, or beefing up behind-the-scenes operations and additional advance teams who travel ahead to scope out sites and test for vulnerabilities.
They're constantly monitoring possible threats. Authorities this week arrested a Florida man they say made comments about wanting to kill Biden. The man’s comments, both online and in person at a mental health facility, were made before Saturday’s assassination attempt of Trump, according to court papers.
Federal law provides Secret Service protection to former presidents and their spouses for life. The security posture around ex-presidents varies depending on threat levels and exposure, generally being toughest in the immediate aftermath of their leaving office and getting lower-profile — but never going away — as the years go on.
Trump is the first modern ex-president to seek another term, and because of his high visibility, his protective detail has always been larger than some of his peers. That protective bubble had only grown tighter in recent months as he became the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. All major party nominees are granted enhanced security details with counterassault and countersniper teams similar to the president.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Monday said Biden had also ordered protection for Kennedy, whose campaign had been urging the president to provide him with Secret Service protection for months, and has sent multiple requests after various incidents.
Kennedy’s uncle, President John F. Kennedy, and his father, Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, were both assassinated.
How stepped up security impacts candidates
For Trump, a stricter security protocol could hamper his interactions. He often signs autographs, shakes hands and poses for selfies on airplane tarmacs and at events.
In many cities he visits, the campaign assembles supporters in public spaces like restaurants and fast food joints. The images and video of his reception and interactions -- circulated online by his campaign staffers and conservative media -- have been fundamental to his 2024 campaign.
But those events can get rowdy. While he was in New York during his criminal hush money trial, Trump aides arranged a series of visits to a local bodega, a local firehouse and a construction site.
Before his arrival at the bodega in Harlem, thousands of supporters and onlookers gathered behind metal barricades for blocks to watch his motorcade arrive and cheer. But some were frustrated by the visit, including people being dropped off at a bus stop just in front of the store, and others trying to enter their apartments after work.
At one point, an individual who lived in the building started shouting from a window that was just above the entrance where Trump would eventually stand and give remarks to the cameras and answer reporters' questions.
Biden, too, will often linger long after his events have ended, talking to people. At a campaign rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, last week, he spent nearly an hour in the sun shaking hands, taking selfies and talking to people up close. Earlier in Philadelphia, he was surrounded by churchgoers as they crowded into the pews hoping to speak with him as his agents monitored the crowds and pushed people further back in some cases.
Authorities hunt for clues, but motive of man who tried to assassinate Donald Trump remains elusive
Biden often talks about how hard it is to interact with the public given security concerns.
“I love the Secret Service,” Biden said at a campaign office in Philadelphia last week. “But I’m not able to do what I used to do.” He said he’d often be riding in a vehicle and get out to talk to people but “realistically, I can’t do that anymore. It’s just too dangerous what’s going on out there.”
The Iran threats
Details of the Iran threat were first reported by CNN.
Iran’s mission to the United Nations called the accusations “unsubstantiated and malicious.”
In a statement obtained by The Associated Press late Tuesday, the mission said that while it sees Trump as a “criminal” who should be punished in court for ordering Soleimani’s assassination, “Iran has chosen the legal path to bring him to justice.”
Other former high-level Trump administration officials also receive protection following Soleimani's assassination. Since taking office, the Biden administration has repeatedly extended 24/7 protection to former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his top Iran aide, Brian Hook, due to credible threats on their lives from Iran.
The last time the protection was extended by the State Department was on June 21, according to congressional notifications seen by the AP. As of March 2022, the State Department was paying more than $2 million per month to provide 24-hour security to Pompeo and Hook, though the agency has stopped reporting the cost figures to Congress.
Defense officials who continue to receive protection include then-Defense Secretary Mark Esper, retired Army Gen. Mark Milley, who was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and retired Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie, who headed U.S. Central Command at the time and was in charge of the operation.
Donald Trump enters Republican convention hall with a bandaged ear and gets a hero’s welcome
Two days after surviving an attempted assassination, former President Donald Trump appeared triumphantly at the Republican National Convention’s opening night with a bandage over his right ear, the latest compelling scene in a presidential campaign already defined by dramatic turns.
GOP delegates cheered wildly when Trump appeared onscreen backstage and then emerged in the arena, visibly emotional, as musician Lee Greenwood sang “God Bless the USA.” That was hours after the convention had formally nominated the former president to head the Republican ticket in November against President Joe Biden.
Trump, accompanied by a wall of Secret Service agents, did not address the hall — with his acceptance speech scheduled for Thursday — but smiled silently and occasionally waved as Greenwood sang. He eventually joined his newly announced running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, to listen to the night’s remaining speeches, often with a subdued expression and muted reactions uncharacteristic for the unabashed showman.
The raucous welcome underscored the depth of the crowd’s affection for the man who won the 2016 nomination as an outsider, at odds with the party establishment, but has vanquished all Republican rivals, silenced most conservative critics and now commands loyalty up and down the party ranks.
“We must unite as a party, and we must unite as a nation,” said Republican Party Chairman Michael Whatley, Trump’s handpicked party leader, as he opened Monday’s prime-time national convention session. “We must show the same strength and resilience as President Trump and lead this nation to a greater future.”
But Whatley and other Republican leaders made clear that their calls for harmony did not extend to Biden and Democrats, who find themselves still riven by worries that the 81-year-old question is not up to the job of defeating Trump.
“Their policies are a clear and present danger to America, to our institutions, our values and our people,” said Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson, welcoming the party to his battleground state, which Trump won in 2016 but lost to Biden four years ago.
Saturday’s shooting at a Pennsylvania rally, where Trump was injured and one man died, were clearly in mind, but the proceedings were celebratory — a stark contrast to the anger and anxiety that had marked the previous few days. Some delegates chanted “fight, fight, fight” — the same words that Trump was seen shouting to the crowd Saturday as the Secret Service ushered him off the stage, his fist raised and face bloodied.
“We should all be thankful right now that we are able to cast our votes for President Donald J. Trump after what took place on Saturday,” said New Jersey state Sen. Michael Testa as he announced all of his state’s 12 delegates for Trump.
When Trump cleared the necessary number of delegates, video screens in the arena read “OVER THE TOP” while the song “Celebration” played and delegates danced and waved Trump signs. Throughout the voting, delegates flanked by “Make America Great Again” signs applauded as state after state voted their support for a second Trump term.
Multiple speakers invoked religious imagery to discuss Trump and the assassination attempt.
“The devil came to Pennsylvania holding a rifle,” said Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina. “But an American lion got back up on his feet!”
Wyoming delegate Sheryl Foland was among those who adopted the “fight” chant after seeing Trump survive Saturday in what she called “monumental photos and video.”
“We knew then we were going to adopt that as our chant,” added Foland, a child trauma mental health counselor. “Not just because we wanted him to fight, and that God was fighting for him. We thought, isn’t it our job to accept that challenge and fight for our country?”
“It’s bigger than Trump,” Foland said. “It’s a mantra for our country.”
Another well-timed development boosted the mood on the convention floor Monday: The federal judge presiding over Trump’s classified documents case dismissed the prosecution because of concerns over the appointment of the prosecutor who brought the case, handing the former president a major court victory.
Trump’s campaign chiefs designed the convention to feature a softer and more optimistic message, focusing on themes that would help a divisive leader expand his appeal among moderate voters and people of color.
On a night devoted to the economy, delegates and a national TV audience heard from speakers the Trump campaign pitched as “everyday Americans” — a single mother talking about inflation, a union member who identified himself as a lifelong Democrat now backing Trump, a small business owner, among others.
Featured speakers also included Black Republicans who have been at the forefront of the Trump campaign’s effort to win more votes from a core Democratic constituency.
U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt of Texas said rising grocery and energy prices were hurting Americans’ wallets and quoted Ronald Reagan in calling inflation “the cruelest tax on the poor.” Hunt argued Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris didn’t seem to understand the problem.
“We can fix this disaster,” Hunt said, by electing Trump and sending “him right back to where he belongs, the White House.”
Scott, perhaps the party’s most well-known Black lawmaker, declared, “America is not a racist country.”
Republicans hailed Vance’s selection as a key step toward a winning coalition in November.
Trump announced his choice of his running mate as delegates were voting on the former president’s nomination Monday. The young Ohio senator first rose to national attention with his bestselling memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy,” which told of his Appalachian upbringing and was hailed as a window into the parts of working-class America that helped propel Trump.
North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, who had been considered a potential vice presidential pick, said in a post on X that Vance’s “small town roots and service to country make him a powerful voice for the America First Agenda.”
Yet despite calls for harmony, two of the opening speakers at Monday’s evening session — Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and North Carolina gubernatorial nominee Mark Robinson — are known as some of the party’s most incendiary figures.
Robinson, speaking recently during a church service in North Carolina, discussed “evil” people who he said threatened American Christianity. “Some folks need killing,” he said then, though he steered clear of such rhetoric on the convention stage.
Opening night also did not pass without references to the 2020 election and Trump’s repeated lies that it was stolen from him.
The campaign continuesTrump’s nomination came on the same day that Biden sat for another national TV interview as the president sought to demonstrate his capacity to serve another four years despite continued worries within his own party.
Biden told ABC News that he made a mistake recently when he told Democratic donors the party must stop questioning his fitness for office and instead put Trump in a “bull’s-eye.” Republicans have circulated the comment aggressively since Saturday’s assassination attempt, with some openly blaming Biden for inciting the attack on Trump’s life.
The president’s admission was in line with his call Sunday from the Oval Office for all Americans to ratchet down political rhetoric. But Biden maintained Monday that drawing contrasts with Trump, who employs harsh and accusatory language, is a legitimate part of a presidential contest.
Inside the arena in Milwaukee, Republicans did not dial back their attacks on Biden, at one point playing a video that mocked the president’s physical stamina and mental acuity.
They alluded often to the “Biden-Harris administration” and took regular digs at Vice President Kamala Harris — a not-so-subtle allusion to the notion that Biden could step aside in favor of his second-in-command.
President Joe Biden says it was a 'mistake' to say he wanted to put a 'bull's-eye' on Donald Trump
President Joe Biden told NBC News in an interview Monday that it was a “mistake” to say he wanted to put a “bull's-eye” on Republican nominee Donald Trump, but argued that the rhetoric from his opponent was more incendiary while warning that Trump remained a threat to democratic institutions.
The remark in question came during a private call with donors last week as Biden had been scrambling to shore up his imperiled candidacy with key party constituencies. During that conversation, Biden declared he was “done” talking about his poor debate performance and said it was “time to put Trump in the bull's-eye,” saying Trump has gotten far too little scrutiny on his stances, rhetoric and lack of campaigning.
The NBC interview — during which, at times, Biden grew defensive under questions about his fitness for office — came as the president and his reelection team prepared to resume full-throttle campaigning after a brief pause following the weekend assassination attempt on Trump. The Biden campaign let loose a flurry of criticism after the GOP nominee announced freshman Sen. JD Vance of Ohio as his running mate.
“He’s a clone of Trump on the issues,” Biden told reporters as he headed to Nevada for a series of speeches and campaign events. “I don’t see any difference.”
He expanded on that during the NBC interview, telling Lester Holt that Vance has the same policies as Trump when it comes to abortion, taxes and climate change, adding, “He signed onto the Trump agenda, which he should, if he's running with Trump.”
Once Vance was tapped as Trump’s vice-presidential pick, the Biden campaign hit send on a fundraising solicitation signed by the president, and his team issued a blistering statement saying he picked the freshman senator because he would “bend over backwards to enable Trump and his extreme MAGA agenda.” For her part, Vice President Kamala Harris phoned Vance to congratulate him and left him a voicemail message, according to a person familiar with the matter.
And to NBC's Holt, Biden made it clear that he would keep up his focus on Trump. While he acknowledged his “mistake,” Biden nonetheless said he is “not the guy who said I wanted to be a dictator on day one." It's Trump, not Biden, who engages in that kind of rhetoric, Biden said, referring to Trump’s past comments about a “bloodbath” if the Republican loses in November.
“Look, how do you talk about the threat to democracy, which is real, when a president says things like he says?" Biden said. "Do you just not say anything because it may incite somebody?”
Trump's vice presidential choice takes on an additional significance in shooting's aftermath
The NBC interview, scheduled before the attempt on Trump’s life at a rally in Pennsylvania, had been part of Biden’s broader strategy to prove his ability to serve after disastrous June 27 debate performance.
Asked by Holt if he has weathered the worst of it from his own party, Biden responded that 14 million Democratic voters selected him through the primaries and added, “I listen to them.” His mental acuity is “pretty damn good,” Biden added, but he said the question of his age was “legitimate” to ask.
Yet Biden grew visibly testy when asked whether he was eager to “get back on the horse” by participating in another debate against Trump, even before their next scheduled one in September.
“I'm on the horse. Where have you been?” a defensive Biden said. He rattled off his recent travels across the country and a lengthy press conference last week in Washington where he parried questions from nearly a dozen reporters. He said he is “demonstrating to the American people that I have command of all my faculties, that I don't need notes, I don't need teleprompters” — although Biden has used notes and teleprompters in recent appearances, which is not unusual.
As for a potential repeat of his rocky debate, Biden said, “I don’t plan on having another performance on that level.”
The Biden campaign recalibrated some of its political plans in the immediate aftermath of the assassination attempt on Saturday, pulling advertising off the air and hitting pause on messaging. The White House also scrapped Biden’s planned Monday visit to the Lyndon B. Johnson library, where he had been slated to deliver remarks on civil rights.
Biden also spoke privately to Trump after the assassination attempt, a call that the president described in the NBC interview as “very cordial.”
Biden asks Americans to reject political violence and 'cool it down'
It’s still not finalized when Biden’s campaign ads will resume airing. But Biden is pressing on with the Nevada portion of his previously scheduled western swing, which will include remarks to the NAACP and UnidosUS, a Latino civil rights and advocacy group. He’ll also headline what’s been billed as a “campaign community event” on Wednesday in Las Vegas.
Biden has acknowledged that his candidacy and agenda will be under attack at the Republican National Convention this week, and aides had felt no need to halt their campaign completely, particularly while Biden comes under scrutiny in Milwaukee.
Asked whether the president would adjust his messaging this week in light of the assassination attempt, Biden campaign chairwoman Jen O'Malley Dillon pointed to his Oval Office address as a “roadmap for the whole country,” which she said was no different than Biden's strategy from the start.
Biden’s renewed campaigning this week comes as Democrats have been at an impasse over whether the incumbent president should continue in the race even as he was defiant that he would stay in. Biden has made it clear in no uncertain terms that he remains in the race, and aides have been operating as such.
It was unclear if the attempt on Trump’s life would blunt Democratic efforts to urge Biden to step aside, but it appears to have stalled some of the momentum, for now. No Democrats have called for him to exit the race since the shooting Saturday night.
But in the hours before the assassination attempt, Biden was still facing skepticism from Democratic lawmakers. Rep. Jared Huffman of California said he asked the president during his meeting with the Congressional Progressive Caucus about objectively assessing the trajectory of the race. Huffman said on a social media post that Biden “disagreed with the notion that we are on a losing trajectory.”
But now, several Democrats who requested anonymity were skeptical that there would be enough drive among lawmakers to successfully pressure Biden not to run, especially because they are scattered and away from Washington until next week and because Biden has said he won’t step aside and seized the opportunity to quickly respond to the shooting over the weekend. The people requested anonymity to characterize private conversations.
Many in the Democratic Party had been looking to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to voice concerns directly to Biden. Jeffries met with him at the White House on Thursday night, while Schumer went to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, on Saturday to visit with Biden.
There were still deep concerns that Biden is not up to the job and a sense that pressure to push him out could ramp up again when lawmakers return to Washington. Congressional Democrats were watching the Republican National Convention and Biden’s appearances this week with awareness that the dynamics could change — again.
Trump's vice presidential choice takes on an additional significance in shooting's aftermath
A defiant Donald Trump, having just survived an attempted assassination, enters the Republican National Convention having not yet announced his vice presidential pick — but he said he'd make that choice Monday.
It remains unclear whether the shooting Saturday at his Pennsylvania rally has changed the former president's thinking about his potential second-in-command. He told Fox News Channel host Bret Baier in a call that he planned to make his pick Monday.
After the shooting, Trump's choice carries considerably more gravity. If a bullet had struck just a little bit to the right, Trump likely would have been killed or seriously injured.
The close call puts in stark relief the significance of a position that is a heartbeat away from the presidency. Trump has repeatedly claimed that choosing someone who was qualified to take over as commander in chief was his top consideration for the role.
“You need somebody that can be good just in case, that horrible just in case,” he said in an interview with “The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show” in May.
In an interview with Fox News’ Harris Faulkner taped hours before the Butler, Pennsylvania, rally, Trump was asked about how close he was to his VP pick and whether his decision-making would change if President Joe Biden steps aside.
“It’s a very important position especially if something bad should happen,” Trump said. “That’s the most important, if something bad should happen.”
Those on Trump's shortlist have differing levels of governing experience. Ohio Sen. JD Vance, for instance, has been in office less than two years, while North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum helms a state with a population (780,000 people) smaller than Columbus, Ohio (908,000). Florida Sen. Marco Rubio has been in politics for decades and is in his third term in the Senate.
He's talked about ‘The Apprentice’ — but for VP
Before the shooting, Trump had made clear that he wanted to dramatically reveal his pick at the convention, which he said would make it more “interesting” and “exciting.”
“It’s like a highly sophisticated version of ‘The Apprentice,’” he quipped in a radio interview last week, referring to the show he once hosted that featured him firing contestants on camera.
Trump and convention organizers have said the RNC's schedule will go on as planned despite the shooting, with Trump writing on his social media site that he could not “allow a ‘shooter,’ or potential assassin, to force change to scheduling, or anything else.”
“In this moment, it is more important than ever that we stand United, and show our True Character as Americans, remaining Strong and Determined, and not allowing Evil to Win,” he wrote.
He held meetings in the days before the shooting with the top contenders. All have submitted material, including bios and photographs, to convention organizers that can be used to prepare content if they're picked, according to multiple people familiar with the conversations who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the secretive process.
The private meetings with Vance, Rubio and Burgum were first reported by ABC News.
Nothing was offered during the meetings, one of the people said.
There's some historical precedent for waiting until the convention
Trump waiting until the convention to choose a running mate is later than usual for recent cycles but is hardly unprecedented.
In 1980, Ronald Reagan negotiated with former President Gerald Ford for hours during the Republican convention in Detroit but settled on his former primary rival George H.W. Bush when those discussions collapsed. Reagan cut it so close that his decision came less than 24 hours before he formally accepted the GOP nomination.
Bush himself waited until the 1988 Republican convention in New Orleans before shocking many attendees — as well as some of the then-vice president’s own top advisers — by picking little-known Indiana Sen. Dan Quayle to be his No. 2, rather than a more established running mate.
Since then, though, the tradition has been to pick a running mate shortly before the candidate’s party’s convention opens.
In 2008, Arizona Sen. John McCain, looking for a way to reset his race against Democrat Barack Obama, picked little-known Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin shortly before the Republican convention opened in Minnesota. He got a bump in the polls that didn't last.
Biden, a Democrat, tapped then-California Sen. Kamala Harris as his running mate six days before his party opened its convention, which was held mostly virtually due to the coronavirus pandemic. And Trump chose Indiana Gov. Mike Pence in the days before the 2016 Republican convention opened in Cleveland.