Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Liveupdated1725917501

Trump and Harris neck-and-neck in polls as Chris Christie offers advice ahead of first presidential debate: Live

Harris and Trump will face off for the first time on Tuesday evening

Harris campaign reveals scathing new ad ahead of debate night

Your support helps us to tell the story

My recent work focusing on Latino voters in Arizona has shown me how crucial independent journalism is in giving voice to underrepresented communities.

Your support is what allows us to tell these stories, bringing attention to the issues that are often overlooked. Without your contributions, these voices might not be heard.

Every dollar you give helps us continue to shine a light on these critical issues in the run up to the election and beyond

Head shot of Eric Garcia

Eric Garcia

Washington Bureau Chief

Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are currently neck-and-neck in the polls ahead of their crucial first presidential debate on ABC News on Tuesday.

A recent New York Times/Siena College poll the former president ahead of the vice president by a single point. The latest average of national polls, meanwhile, shows Harris is 2.8 points ahead of Trump.

Meanwhile, former Republican governor Chris Christie offered some advice to Harris ahead of the highly-anticipated debate.

He advised Harris to draw on “touchstones” of preparedness and use Trump’s lack of preparation to her advantage. He also said that she would need to “charm” the American people.

“She needs to show that she’s not gonna be the 24-hour leaf blower noise that he is,” Christie told ABC News on Sunday.

“There is a way that you can be kind, that you can be smart, and tough at the same time – that’s the charm,” he continued. “Disarm is...do not engage him in that stuff.”

This advice comes after Christie helped Trump prep for debates in both 2016 and 2020 before their relationship broke down.

1725910225

Oprah to campaign for Harris next week

Oprah Winfrey is set to host an event for Kamala Harris on September 19 that will bring together dozens of grassroots groups fundraising for the Vice President.

The event, hosted by Unite for America, will bring together groups like #WinWithBlackWomen and #CatLadiesForKamala, for a night of fundraising.

“For the last 2 months, hundreds of organizations and millions of people - from #WinWithBlackWomen to #CatLadiesForKamala and everyone in between - have united to change our country,” the website reads. “On one special night, they’ll all come together with one of our country’s biggest forces for good: Oprah Winfrey.”

Oprah Winfrey speaks at the Democratic National Convention. Now, the infamous media personality will host a fundraising event for Kamala Harris next week
Oprah Winfrey speaks at the Democratic National Convention. Now, the infamous media personality will host a fundraising event for Kamala Harris next week (REUTERS)
Katie Hawkinson9 September 2024 20:30
1725909325

DeSantis accused of siccing his ‘election police’ on abortion rights supporters ‘to chill the democratic process’

A widely derided election crimes dragnet from Florida Governor Ron DeSantis appears to be targeting voters who signed a petition to get an abortion rights amendment on state ballots this fall, a measure that the Republican governor and his anti-abortion allies strongly oppose.

The Independent’s Alex Woodward has the story:

DeSantis accused of siccing his ‘election police’ on abortion rights supporters

Democrats are exploring legal options to block the governor from what they have called a voter intimidation scheme designed to suppress support for Amendment 4

Katie Hawkinson9 September 2024 20:15
1725909001

Trump’s campaign staffers are worried ‘angry Trump’ will show up to debate and self-sabotage

Donald Trump’s campaign staffers are worried “angry Trump” will show up to Tuesday’s presidential debate and “self-sabotage,” according to reports.

Staffers believe that Trump’s performance will be heavily influenced by his mood that evening, and they’ve been speculating whether “happy Trump” or “angry Trump” will show up to the ABC News debate against Kamala Harris, The Guardian reports.

If it’s the latter, they fear it could be a repeat performance of the 2020 presidential debates, where Trump “self sabotaged” and put voters off because of his behavior, the newspaper reports.

Rhian Lubin9 September 2024 20:10
1725907542

Meet the man who pretends to be Trump for Kamala Harris’s debate prep

A man who described Donald Trump as a “malevolent George Costanza” and a “malfunctioning appliance” is helping Kamala Harris prepare for her first debate with the former president.

Philippe Reines, a former deputy assistant secretary of state and senior advisor to Hillary Clinton, is the stand-in for Trump in mock debates ahead of the real thing on September 10.

This is the second time he has played the role after acting as Trump in Clinton’s own preparations in September 2016, and he takes the job seriously.

Read more:

Meet the man who pretends to be Trump for Kamala Harris’s debate prep

He helped Hillary Clinton prepare for her infamous 2016 clashes with Donald Trump. Now he’s helping Harris do the same.

Richard Hall9 September 2024 19:45
1725906642

Trump claims Zuckerberg told him ‘there’s no way I can vote for a Democrat’ after assassination attempt

Donald Trump has claimed that Mark Zuckerberg told him in a phone call shortly after the assassination attempt of the former president that there’s “no way I can vote for a Democrat”.

Trump told New York Magazine that the Meta CEO called him after he was shot in the ear at a July 13 campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

“Mark Zuckerberg called up and said, ‘I’ve never supported a Republican before, but there’s no way I can vote for a Democrat in this election,’” Trump told the magazine. “He’s a guy that, his parents, everybody was always Democrat. He said, ‘I will never vote for the people running against you after watching what you did.’”

Read more:

Trump claims Zuckerberg told him he can’t vote for Democrat after rally shooting

Zuckerberg has refused to endorse either candidate in this election

Katie Hawkinson9 September 2024 19:30
1725905742

Melania Trump complains about attempts to ‘silence’ husband and cost of food in new video

Melania Trump has had her say on the current cost of living crisis, political divisiveness across the US and the Biden administration’s alleged attempts to “silence” husband, in a new video plugging her tell-all, self-titled memoir.

The former first lady has been noticeably absent from her husband’s presidential campaign trail and numerous court appearances across 2024.

Her brief appearance at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee in July marked one in a handful of times she has stood by her husband’s side since he relaunched his re-election campaign.

Read on:

Melania Trump complains about attempts to ‘silence’ husband in new video

Former first lady declared that there are ‘significant challenges to free speech’ and condemned attempts to ‘silence’ her husband, as she shares her ‘truth’ in upcoming memoir Melania

James Liddell9 September 2024 19:15
1725904842

Nancy Pelosi responds to Trump’s comments about attack against her husband

Former speaker of the house Nancy Pelosi responded to Donald Trump’s comments last week that appeared to make light of the attack against her husband in 2022.

Nearly two years ago, David DePape broke into Pelosi’s home and brutally attacked her husband, Paul Pelosi, with a hammer. He has since been sentenced to thirty years in prison for the attack.

Last week, Trump appeared to comment on the attack during a campaign rally.

“Nancy Pelosi has a big wall around her house,” Trump said. “Of course it didn’t help too much with the problem she had, did it?”

Pelosi hit back during an interview with The View on Monday.

“Even as recently as one of the speeches the other day, he said, ‘she has a wall around it,’” Pelosi said. “We don't have a wall around the house. He's always projecting, he probably has a wall around his house.”

The former speaker said her husband is doing well in the wake of the attack.

“He's doing okay. He's coming along. A little more time,” Pelosi said. “Getting hit on the head three times is a horrible thing, and that was physical, but the traumatic effect for him, for us, for the family, but also for other political families as well, for families in America.”

“Violence has no place in any resolution of any discussion you may have,” she said. “So again, what was sad though, was that it was horrible. It was horrible, when it happened. It was horrible.”

Katie Hawkinson9 September 2024 19:00
1725903889

John Legend to campaign for Kamala Harris today

Musical icon John Legend will campaign for Kamala Harris today by attending a fireside chat event called “The Art of Voting” in Atlanta, Georgia.

There, Legend will talk to young voters about their role in the political sphere and why he’s supporting Harris this November, local outlet WSB-TV reports. This comes after the award-winning musician performed at the Democratic National Convention last month.

John Legend performs at the 2024 Democratic National Convention. The award-winning singer will attend a campaign event for Kamala Harris this afternoon
John Legend performs at the 2024 Democratic National Convention. The award-winning singer will attend a campaign event for Kamala Harris this afternoon (AFP via Getty Images)
Katie Hawkinson9 September 2024 18:44
1725903055

Watch: Harris campaign reveals scathing new ad ahead of debate night

Harris campaign reveals scathing new ad ahead of debate night
Katie Hawkinson9 September 2024 18:30
1725901677

Trump’s psychologist niece says he’s ‘dementing’ in wake of ‘gibberish’ answer on childcare question

Mary Trump, the niece of Donald Trump, has shared her analysis that the former president’s mental health is deteriorating after he struggled to answer a question on childcare.

In a piece on Substack on Sunday, the psychologist argued that Trump is “dementing,” citing his appearance at the Economic Club of New York last week, where he was asked what type of legislation he would push to make childcare affordable.

“Well, I would do that, and we’re sitting down, I was somebody, we had Senator Marco Rubio, and my daughter Ivanka was so impactful on that issue,” Trump began his long, rambling answer. “It’s a very important issue, but I think when you talk about the kind of numbers that I’m talking about that because look, childcare is childcare. There’s something, you have to have it in this country, you have to have it.”

Read on:

Trump’s psychologist niece says he’s ‘dementing’ in wake of ‘gibberish’ answer

‘We deserve to be told that there’s a maniac on the loose,’ Mary Trump writes as she lambasts the media

Gustaf Kilander9 September 2024 18:07

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in