Donald Trump falsely suggested Vice President Kamala Harris had misled voters about her race as he appeared before the National Association of Black Journalists in Chicago.
The Republican former president wrongly claimed Wednesday at the group’s annual convention that Harris, the first Black woman and Asian American to serve as vice president, had in the past promoted only her Indian heritage.
Trump’s interview, a source of controversy even before it even took place, was remarkably contentious, primarily because of his reaction to sharp questioning by ABC News’ Rachel Scott. The appearance split the group’s membership.
Harris said Trump’s comments on her race were the “same old show” and stressed the need for Black women to organize for his defeat this November.
Trump did not repeat his claims at a rally later Wednesday in Pennsylvania. He also repeatedly mispronounced Harris’ first name. Before he took the stage, Trump’s team displayed on a big screen what appeared to be years-old news headlines describing her as the “first Indian-American senator.”
Harris and her Democratic allies are increasingly branding Trump and his running mate, U.S. Sen. JD Vance, as “weird.” As Vance’s rocky rollout continues, Trump is also in the position this week of having to defend someone else’s controversial comments.
About 8 in 10 Democrats say they would be somewhat or very satisfied if Harris became the Democratic nominee for president, according to a survey by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
Follow the AP’s Election-2024 coverage at: https://apnews.com/hub/election-2024.
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Court leaves Trump’s hush-money gag order in place
A New York appeals court denied Donald Trump’s bid to end a gag order in his hush money criminal case, rejecting the Republican former president’s argument that his May conviction “constitutes a change in circumstances” that warrants lifting the restrictions.
A five-judge panel in the state’s midlevel appellate court ruled Thursday that the trial judge, Juan M. Merchan, was correct in extending parts of the gag order until Trump is sentenced.
The ruling came a day after Trump’s lawyers tried to file papers asking the court to immediately lift the gag order. With its ruling imminent, the court rejected the filing, which called the restrictions an “unconstitutional, election-interfering” muzzle on Trump’s free speech.
In a copy of the prospective filing provided to the Associated Press, Trump’s lawyers wrote that Vice President Kamala Harris’ entry into the presidential race gives the matter new urgency as she pits herself as an ex-prosecutor taking on a “convicted felon.”
“It is unconscionable that Harris can speak freely about this case, but President Trump cannot,” Trump lawyer Todd Blanche wrote. Blanche declined to comment on Thursday’s ruling.
Trump, who has denied wrongdoing, was originally scheduled to be sentenced July 11, but Merchan postponed it until Sept. 18, if necessary, while he weighs a defense request to throw out his conviction in the wake of the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity ruling.
Washington state congressional races draw attention
Congressional primary races in Washington state are attracting outsize attention, including one that pits one of the few remaining U.S. House Republicans who voted to impeach Donald Trump against two conservative candidates whose platforms are in lockstep with the GOP presidential nominee.
Another race in the state’s moderate 8th Congressional District, held by centrist Democrat Rep. Kim Schrier, has been shaken up by an upstart campaign by the executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Washington, who has made the Israel-Hamas war the centerpiece of his platform.
And in the 3rd District, Trump-endorsed Joe Kent is trying to unseat Democrat Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, who defeated him two years ago. That race is expected to see one of the tightest general elections in the country.
Recount to settle narrow Virginia GOP primary
A Republican primary recount is being held Thursday in Virginia to settle whether John McGuire, a state senator backed by former President Donald Trump, narrowly defeated U.S. Rep. Bob Good, a conservative who leads the hard-right House Freedom Caucus.
The recount of the election for the seat representing Virginia’s 5th Congressional District comes after officials certified that McGuire won by 374 votes out of nearly 63,000 ballots cast, or six-tenths of a percentage point.
Election officials have said they are confident in the result, but Good filed a recount petition, citing apparent voting irregularities in Lynchburg.
Good was able to seek a recount because McGuire’s victory margin was less than 1 percent. But his campaign must pay for it because the margin is greater than half a percentage point.
What polling shows about the top VP contenders for Harris
As Vice President Kamala Harris prepares to announce her running mate, a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that several of the top potential contenders for the role are largely unknown to voters.
The survey, which was conducted after President Joe Biden announced he was withdrawing from the race and Harris became the likely Democratic presidential nominee, highlights the strengths and weaknesses that different politicians could bring to the ticket.
Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly stands out as a prospect who has more name recognition — and higher favorability, particularly among Democrats. And others, like Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, while less known nationally, could draw on a deeper well of support in their home states and regions.
Member of ‘Tennessee 3’ hopes to survive Democratic primary for US Senate
Tennessee’s primary election Thursday will decide whether state Rep. Gloria Johnson, who rose to national fame after surviving a Republican-led expulsion effort for her participation in a gun control protest, will become the Democratic nominee in a fall matchup for the seat held by Republican U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, who must first clear her own primary contest.
Last year, days after a school shooting that killed three children and three adults, Johnson, who is white, followed two Black Democratic representatives, Justin Pearson and Justin Jones, to the front of the state House floor with a bullhorn. The trio joined the chants and cries for gun control legislation by protesters in the public galleries and outside the chamber.
They were dubbed the “Tennessee Three.” Pearson and Jones were expelled and later returned to office. Johnson was spared expulsion by one vote and noted it was likely because she was white. Republicans denied race was a factor.
Whoever advances out of the Democratic primary will run in a state that for nearly two decades has elected only GOP candidates on a statewide level.
GOP primary voters in key Arizona county oust election official
A Republican election official lost his primary race this week in Arizona’s Maricopa County, an outcome that could significantly influence the way voting is run in one of the nation’s top battlegrounds.
County Recorder Stephen Richer lost to state lawmaker Justin Heap, who will face Democrat Tim Stringham in November. Richer had fought back against death threats, almost constant harassment and streams of misinformation during his nearly four years overseeing elections in Arizona’s most populous county.
Richer will remain in office through the November election, but his exit early next year will end a term racked by controversy. His office splits election duties with the county board of supervisors and has had to fend off attacks over the results of the 2020 presidential election, as former President Donald Trump and his allies falsely claimed that widespread fraud cost him the race.
The outcry from a group of Republican lawmakers, local officials and grassroots activists spiraled into protests and threats that energized the campaign for his ouster.
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