Trump calls Walz ‘moron’ as betting odds show him favored over Vance ahead of high stakes VP debate: Live

While his campaign manages expectations ahead of vice presidential debate, Trump lashes out at Kamala Harris’s running mate

Donald Trump claims US election debates against Harris and Walz are ‘rigged’

The Trump campaign appears to be trying to manage expectations ahead of tonight’s vice presidential debate between Senator JD Vance and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, but Donald Trump doesn’t seem to be on message, calling Kamala Harris’s running mate “a moron”.

Earlier, during a campaign call with reporters, senior Trump adviser Jason Miller said: “Walz is very good in debates. I want to repeat that: Tim Walz is very good in debates. Really good. He’s been a politician for nearly 20 years. He’ll be very well-prepared for tomorrow night.”

Walz will square up to Vance on the debate stage on Tuesday evening in what promises to be a hugely consequential and fiery encounter in New York. Betting odds currently favor the Democrat.

Meanwhile, Trump has continued to try to attack Harris and Joe Biden over the federal response to Hurricane Helene, which has wrought havoc in states including Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina. State governors tell have said they have received the support they need.

Finally, Trump has been attacked by the daughter of his former personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, who says he “destroys everything he touches” in an article for Vanity Fair in which she implores voters to support Harris instead.

Key Points

• Betting odds: Walz and Vance go head-to-head in VP debate tonight, but who will win?
• Trump campaign tries to temper expectations ahead of VP debate — former president has other ideas
• When is the VP debate between Tim Walz and JD Vance?
• Trump GoFundMe for Hurricane Helene victims raises $1.8m
• Republican narrows Harris’s lead among Latino voters in new poll
• VP debate could change the course of the election, according to the data

[1 October 2024 08:00 · Oliver O'Connell]

VP debate: Who will be working the spin room for JD Vance?

NOTUS reports that the following Republican Party and Trump World figures will be working the spin room tomorrow for Senator JD Vance after he faces off against Governor Tim Walz in the vice presidential debate.

• Jason Miller
• Donald Trump Jr.
• Tom Cotton
• Katie Britt
• Elise Stefanik
• Byron Donalds
• Howard Lutnick

Both Cotton and Britt are two of Vance’s closest allies in Congress, and Don Jr pushed his father to pick Vance as his running mate.

[1 October 2024 07:00 · Oliver O'Connell]

43ft nude Trump statue erected along Las Vegas highway

Donald Trump has made his mark on Las Vegas — in the form of a 43ft, nude statue.

A naked statue of the former president, titled “Crooked and Obscene”, was erected in a fenced-in lot next to Interstate 15 north of Las Vegas, Nevada, on September 28.

Kelly Rissman has the story.

[1 October 2024 06:30 · Josh Marcus]

Ohio business owner who defended Haitians deluged with death threats

A business owner in Springfield, Ohio and his family have received graphic death threats after defending his Haitian employees from Donald Trump’s racist smears.

Jamie McGregor, 48, who employs about 30 legal Haitian immigrants at his vehicle parts factory, had spoken out in September after Trump and his allies began spreading false claims that Haitians in Ohio were eating people’s pets.

“They come to work every day. They don’t cause drama. They’re on time,” McGregor told The New York Times, saying that the migrants had taken up crucial positions that he’d been struggling to fill after expanding his business.

Now the Times reports that strangers have been threatening McGregor and his family in the most lurid terms, as well as putting up posters near the factory that declared him a “traitor”.

Io Dodds has the story.

[1 October 2024 06:00 · Oliver O'Connell]

Trump is trying to have it both ways with mail-in voting

Richard Hall reports from Indiana, Pennsylvania, on how MAGA activists are trying to flip the state for Trump by encouraging Republicans to vote by mail — despite messaging from the former president about its dangers.

[1 October 2024 05:30 · Josh Marcus]

Michigan man accused of attacking Black postal worker with knife over Kamala Harris election mailers

A Michigan man is accused of attacking a Black postal worker with a knife because he was furious about receiving political mail adverts for Kamala Harris.

Prosecutors in Farmington Hills, a suburb of Detroit, charged 61-year-old Russell Frank Valleau on Friday with assault and ethnic intimidation, the latter of which carries a maximum penalty of two years in prison.

Valleau was reportedly arrested the previous evening after hurling racial abuse at a US Postal Service mail carrier and “lunging” at her with a blade, forcing her to fend him off with her service-issued pepper spray.

Io Dodds reports.

[1 October 2024 05:00 · Oliver O'Connell]

In wake of Hurricane Helene destruction, Trump sparks controversy for calling climate change a ‘scam’

Donald Trump has sparked controversy for declaring that climate change is “one of the great scams” after Hurricane Helene left a trail of destruction, killing more than 100 people, across the southeast US.

Speaking at a rally in Erie, Pennsylvania, on Sunday afternoon, the former president pushed a conspiracy theory that man-made climate change is a myth.

James Liddell reports.

[1 October 2024 04:00 · Oliver O'Connell]

New unearthed footage shows JD Vance saying childfree adults should be 'punished' with higher taxes

[1 October 2024 03:00 · Rachel Sharp]

Trump admits he hates paying workers overtime. Harris responds by calling him a ‘scab’

In a wild rally speech in Pennsylvania on Sunday, Trump admitted he “hated” paying workers overtime at his businesses – and would replace workers who asked for it.

“I shouldn’t say this,” he admitted.

“I know a lot about overtime. I hated to give overtime. I hated it. I’d get other people, I shouldn’t say this, but I’d get other people in. I wouldn’t pay.”

Kamala Harris’s campaign quickly seized on the comments, branding Trump a “scab.”

“Donald Trump is finally owning up to it: He’s built an entire career on screwing over workers. It’s exactly what he did in the White House.... and exactly what he plans to do in a second term,” a spokesperson said.

“Trump is a scab, plain and simple. He is selling snake oil lies in a desperate attempt to trick voters. He can’t be trusted–workers know it, and voters know it. They’ll elect a champion who has their back by voting for Vice President Harris this November.”

[1 October 2024 02:00 · Oliver O'Connell]

‘Literally proposing The Purge’: Trump mocked for solution to crime

Donald Trump was mocked online after proposing a solution to crime that bore jarring similarity to horror movie franchise The Purge.

At a rally in Pennsylvania on Sunday the former president suggested that one way to decrease levels of criminal activity would be allowing police “one rough hour” to tackle the issue, during which time there would be less restraints.

“One rough hour and I mean real rough, the word will get out and it will end immediately,” Trump said.

Read the full story:

[1 October 2024 01:30 · Oliver O'Connell]

Numbers show Vance-Walz vice-presidential debate could change the course of the election

New poll shows the choice of VP has a ‘significant impact’ on two-thirds of Democrats, and 75 percent of Americans will be tuning in to watch Vance and Walz debate on Tuesday.

Two-thirds of Democrats believe the vice-presidential candidate has a significant impact on the overall presidential ticket, according to polling from Prolific for The Independent.

Republican vice-presidential nominee JD Vance is set to debate Democratic VP pick Tim Walz this Tuesday, October 1 at 9 p.m. ET.

Read more here: