Trump news: Latest updates on Republican candidates Donald Trump and JD Vance
Former president’s quest to retake White House continues amid outcry over racist and misogynistic remarks
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Eric Garcia
Washington Bureau Chief
Donald Trump is back on the campaign trail having returned to Pennsylvania for his first campaign rally in the swing state since he came within inches of being killed by a would-be assassin’s bullet on July 13.
The former president and Republican nominee spoke in Harrisburg, just hours after a confrontational interview with the National Association of Black Journalists in Chicago.
During the interview, Trump insulted his presumptive 2024 Democratic Party opponent, Kamala Harris, and falsely accused her of lying about her race — stating that she recently “became Black”. Harris, who is biracial, is Black and Indian-American.
At the evening rally, Trump remained largely tied to his prepared remarks and attacked Harris for supposedly wanting to “destroy” Pennsylvania’s economy.
His next big campaign event will be a joint appearance with his vice presidential pick, JD Vance. That will take place in Atlanta on Saturday, at the same venue Harris held a barnstorming first rally of her campaign earlier in the week.
We are temporarily pausing our Trump campaign blog.
Please join us in our main US election 2024 blog for full coverage of both campaigns as the race to the White House gathers pace.
Trump offers his own review of his NABJ performance
OK...
Watch: Trump repeats lie about Democrats supporting murder of babies
Republican Senator for North Dakota Kevin Cramer was asked about Donald Trump’s comments about Kamala Harris’s racial identity by Igor Bobic of HuffPost.
“I don't think he's doubting her blackness. What he's doing is he's making fun of the fact that she chooses it when it's convenient, and chooses another race when that's convenient.”
Senator Cramer went on to say he wants Trump to steer clear of making such comments because “nuance or satire is often confused, is often confusing.”
He adds: “It'll provide people opportunity to take words literally and apply them in a different way.”
Trump says he could ‘absolutely’ step down as president if health declined
Lost amidst the flurry of outrageous statements he made at today’s NABJ convention in Chicago was that Donald Trump said he would step down as president if his health declined.
Asked by Semafor’s Kadia Goba if he would step down as president if he felt his health was declining, Trump, 78, replied: “Oh, absolutely.”
He continued: “If I thought that I was failing in some way … I’ll go a step further, I want anybody running for president to take an aptitude test, to take a cognitive test, I think it’s a great idea. And I took two of them and I aced them.”
Trump then said anyone running for president should take such tests no matter what their age, before saying he would do another and so should Kamala Harris.
Watch: Fox News host calls Trump remarks ‘complete absolute dumpster fire’
Report: Truth Social nears lowest audience mark since its launch
Donald Trump’s social media platform Truth Social has suffered some of its worst-ever audience numbers as of late, according to a media analysis.
Last month, the site had just over 2.11 million unique visitors down 38 percent compared to the same period last year.
It is the second lowest site traffic has dipped since June 2022, when Truth Social attracted 1.8 million visitors, according to Howard Polskin, of media monitoring firm TheRighting, who based his analysis on Comscore data. And it’s a world away from the site’s more than 3.2 million visitors upon launch in February of 2022.
Josh Marcus reports.
![](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/05/21/00/AP24141763042527.jpg?quality=75&width=1200&auto=webp)
Trump’s Truth Social nears lowest audience mark since its launch, report says
Decline in audience comes as former president’s social media company recently inked deal to streat TV on platform
Watch: Buttigieg says Project 2025 is first time candidate has disavowed own policy framework
Vance says it’s time to ‘load the muskets’ in foreword on new Project 2025 book
JD Vance has said that it is “time to circle the wagons and load the muskets” in a foreword to a book on the controversial Project 2025.
The Ohio Senator – Donald Trump’s running mate for the 2024 presidential race – also praised the leader of the project despite the former president previously denying all connection to it.
Amazon’s listing of the book, Dawn’s Early Light, describes it as outlining “a peaceful ‘Second American Revolution’ for voters looking to shift the power back into the hands of the people.
Mike Bedigan reports.
![](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/07/18/12/Election_2024_RNC_59278.jpg?quality=75&width=1200&auto=webp)
JD Vance says it’s time to ‘load the muskets’ in foreword on new Project 2025 book
Amazon’s listing of the book, Dawn’s Early Light, describes it as outlining ‘a peaceful Second American Revolution’
In pictures: Crowd gathers for Trump’s first Pennsylvania rally since assassination attempt
![Supporters of former US President Donald J Trump gather for a Trump rally at New Holland Arena in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/07/31/22/SEI215185406.jpg)
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