Trump, Georgia governor to reunite for first time in hurricane aftermath; Harris campaigns in Michigan: Live

Kamala Harris will be in Flint and Detroit today; Georgia Governor Brian Kemp testified about 2020 election interference leading to charges against former president, with Trump labeling him as ‘disloyal’

Kamala Harris calls Liz Cheney endorsement ‘profound honor’

Donald Trump will be joined by tech billionaire Elon Musk at his Saturday rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, the site of his attempted assassination on July 13 when a gunman’s bullet struck the politician’s ear.

Musk announced his appearance on X, responding to a Trump post about the event by saying: “I will be there to support!”

Kamala Harris spent Thursday visiting Ripon, Wisconsin, where political meetings in 1854 led to the formation of the Republican Party as she attempted to remind her opposition of its pre-Trump principles in the company of anti-Trump conservative Liz Cheney.

Cheney could prove an influential supporter of the Harris-Walz ticket, as might rock legend Bruce Springsteen, who formally endorsed the Democrats in an Instagram video yesterday in which he called Trump “the most dangerous candidate for president in my lifetime”.

At his own rally in Saginaw, Michigan, Trump himself repeated lies about the 2020 election, just a day after the release of a court filing by Special Counsel Jack Smith that outlined a sprawling criminal case against him over his alleged attempts to overturn the vote, accusing him of “increasingly desperate efforts” to cling to power with “knowingly false claims of election fraud”.

Key Points

• Trump attacks ‘Low IQ War Hawk’ Cheney over Harris support
• Where are Donald Trump and Kamala Harris campaigning today?
• New jobs numbers are very good news for Harris and Biden
• Elon Musk to join Donald Trump as he returns to scene of assassination attempt in Pennsylvania

[4 October 2024 12:50 · Joe Sommerlad]

Trump still will not share his medical records as he approaches 80

Since Donald Trump first emerged on the American political scene in 2015, he has refused to provide a glimpse into his medical records.

If the Republican, 78, wins in November, he will become the oldest person ever to serve as president, ousting the current record-holder, a certain Joe Biden.

When his potential second term ends, he will be 82 years old.

But despite his advanced age, Trump still refuses to provide any glimpse into his records.

Graig Graziosi has this report.

[4 October 2024 12:30 · Joe Sommerlad]

Barack Obama to stump for Harris in Pittsburgh next week

The 44th president, last spotted joking about Trump’s fixation with crowd sizes at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Chicago in August, will tour a series of battleground states to campaign for Kamala Harris in the coming weeks, starting with Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on Thursday October 10.

“Kamala Harris won’t be focused on her problems, she’ll be focused on yours,” Obama told the DNC this summer.

“A president, she won’t just cater to her own supporters and punish those who refuse to kiss the ring or bend the knee. She’ll work on behalf of every American. That’s who Kamala is.”

Barack Obama (Getty)

[4 October 2024 12:10 · Joe Sommerlad]

‘People need help now’: Biden on working with Republicans for Hurricane Helene relief

Funding to clean up the devastating Hurricane Helene, which has killed over 200 people, is desperately needed now, President Joe Biden said on Thursday – and he has still not ruled out ordering Congress to a special session to make it happen.

The President, who spent the day touring storm damage in Florida and Georgia, rejected House Speaker Mike Johnson’s suggestion that a delay until the post-election period could be acceptable rather than call Congress back into session from their pre-election recess.

“We can’t wait,” Biden said. “People need help now.”

Andrew Feinberg reports.

[4 October 2024 11:50 · Joe Sommerlad]

Trump’s hurricane relief claims draw backlash: ‘Professional conservatives know this is a lie’

The likes of Stephanie Ruhle and Chris Hayes have been picking up on the Republican presidential nominee’s breathtaking string of lies in Saginaw yesterday when he baselessly accused the Biden administration of embezzling FEMA funding to bankroll a non-existent influx of illegal immigrants to steal the election for Kamala Harris in November, which is simply not something that’s happening.

“Professional conservatives”, you say?

This is how Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham are covering it.

[4 October 2024 11:30 · Joe Sommerlad]

Cheney to be joined by three female former Trump aides at her next Harris event

Liz Cheney will be part of another campaign event for Kamala Harris next week, this time a “fireside chat” in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, also featuring Alyssa Farah Griffin, Cassidy Hutchinson and Sarah Matthews, former Trump administration aides all, CNN reports.

Cheney, Hutchinson and Matthews have formally endorsed Harris but Griffin, a co-host on ABC’s The View, has yet to do so, but often backs the Democrat’s point of view on that show.

The October 9 event will be hosted by activist group Democracy First in one of the all-important “collar counties” outside Philadelphia in an absolutely vital swing state.

A source told CNN the quartet will “offer a warning about the threat Donald Trump poses to democracy and the rule of law,” making the case about “the need for independents, moderates, and Republicans to stop him from getting back in office.”

Alyssa Farah Griffin (The View/ABC)

[4 October 2024 10:50 · Joe Sommerlad]

Trump responds to Melania standing up for abortion access

Asked during an interview with Fox News’s Bill Melugin yesterday about his wife Melania’s decision to champion women’s rights in her new memoir, Trump had this to say:

“We spoke about it. And I said, you have to write what you believe. I’m not going to tell what you to do. You have to write what you believe.

“She’s very beloved.

“But I said you have to stick with your heart. I’ve said that to everybody, you have to go with your heart.”

Here’s Katie Hawkinson on the rather less breezy reaction to the first lady’s stance from anti-abortion conservatives, who have called her “wrong” and even “disgusting”.

[4 October 2024 10:30 · Joe Sommerlad]

Watch: Trump reverts to election lies and pet themes at Michigan rally

The Republican presidential nominee was in Saginaw yesterday where he very much played the hits, repeating his lie about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, and his false claims that the Biden administration is not helping victims of Hurricane Helene in North Carolina.

Just a day after Jack Smith’s latest damning court filing on his 2020 election interference plot, Trump was back insisting the vote was “rigged” and, interestingly, appeared to have a problem drawing a crowd, which he will not like seeing pointed out.

We were also treated to baseless threats of a Second Great Depression, his old riff about people not being able to watch TV because it’s not windy out (nine years later and he STILL doesn’t understand the principle of battery power storage).

There was also more praise for Elon Musk and further unwise talk about his delight in stiffing contractors.

[4 October 2024 10:10 · Joe Sommerlad]

Bruce Springsteen endorses Harris and calls Trump ‘most dangerous candidate’ in his lifetime

The rock legend has formally endorsed Kamala Harris for president in an Instagram video, adding that Donald Trump’s “disdain” for the US Constitution should “disqualify him from the office of president ever again.”

The superstar, 75, is a longtime Democrat who has backed Joe Biden and Barack Obama in the past.

He warned in his post that Trump is “the most dangerous candidate for president in my lifetime”.

Kevin EG Perry has more from The Boss.

[4 October 2024 09:40 · Joe Sommerlad]

Trump attacks ‘Low IQ War Hawk’ Cheney over Harris support

This was the Republican nominee’s inevitable, angry response to the former Wyoming representative’s appearance with Harris in Ripon – you know that if she’d endorsed him, he’d be out there posting about how wonderful she is.

[4 October 2024 09:10 · Joe Sommerlad]

Kamala Harris and Liz Cheney campaign in birthplace of Republican Party

The Democratic presidential nominee spent Thursday visiting Ripon, Wisconsin, where political meetings in 1854 led to the formation of what became the Republican Party as she attempted to remind her opposition of its pre-Trump principles in the company of anti-Trump conservative Liz Cheney.

In an unprecedented joint appearance with the former House GOP conference chair, Harris said upholding the US Constitution should be a “basic requirement” for seeking and holding the highest office in the United States.

And, citing Trump’s efforts to block the peaceful transfer of power after he lost the 2020 election four years ago, she warned that her rival “must never again, stand behind the seal of the President of the United States.”

Cheney, who recalled how she’d first voted for a Republican presidential candidate when she cast a ballot for Ronald Reagan in the 1984 election, told the crowd in Ripon that, this year, she is “proudly casting [her] vote” for Harris because the Vice President is “standing in the breach at a critical moment in our nation’s history” and “working to unite reasonable people from all across the political spectrum.”

Here’s Andrew Feinberg with a full report.