Trump raves about Elvis at New York rally as new poll shows Harris leading in two key swing states: Live
Donald Trump indulges narcissism at Long Island event while latest survey places Kamala Harris comfortably ahead in Pennsylvania and Michigan and narrowly in front in Wisconsin
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Donald Trump delivered his latest rally in Uniondale on Long Island, New York, on Wednesday, pledging to “bring back religion” to thank God for saving his life, suggesting he was a bigger star than Elvis Presley, joking that he has not read his wife Melania Trump’s new memoir and asking New Yorkers to vote for him by saying: “What the hell do you have to lose?”
The Republican nominee also pledged to visit Springfield, Ohio, after he and running mate JD Vance spread a bogus story about Haitian immigrants stealing and eating residents’ pets, inspiring a spate of bomb threats.
Before Trump’s event began, local police were forced to shut down false claims that a car filled with explosives had been found close to the Nassau Coliseum where the candidate was speaking.
Meanwhile, a fresh poll from Quinnipiac University has placed his Democratic rival Kamala Harris ahead in two key swing states – Pennsylvania and Michigan – and more narrowly ahead in another, Wisconsin.
Elsewhere, Trump has accused Harris of colluding with Iran to spy on his campaign after the FBI revealed Tehran-backed hackers had attempted to pass stolen material onto the Democratic ticket.
Trump still in denial about disastrous debate performance
Also last night, Donald Trump dropped in to Greg Gutfeld’s show on Fox News (a rare, in-person appearance), joking at one point that he could have taken out would-be assassin Ryan Wesley Routh, who invaded his golf course on Sunday, with his 3-wood.
Otherwise, the Republican was busy bemoaning NBC’s handling of his debate and insisting, fancifully, that he actually did rather well.
Here’s more from James Liddell.
Trump jokes he would have taken out would-be assassin with his three wood
‘I always say golf is a very dangerous game,’ Trump told Greg Gutfeld on Wednesday night
First Trump said Haitian migrants in Ohio were ‘eating the pets’. Now he says they’re ‘destroying America’
One last one from Uniondale: Trump also pledged last night that he would visit Springfield, Ohio, after he and running mate JD Vance spread a bogus story about Haitian immigrants stealing and eating residents’ pets, inspiring a spate of bomb threats.
Even the town’s Republican mayor has said he would be “fine” with his party’s nominee not coming.
Here’s Gustaf Kilander again.
Trump says Haitian migrants are ‘destroying’ US as he vows to visit Springfield
‘You may never see me again, but that’s okay,’ Trump jokes after saying he’ll visit Springfield, city at center of his false claims that migrants are eating people’s dogs and cats
Trump hints he hasn’t read Melania’s new book: ‘If she says bad things about me, don’t buy it’
Getting in a little cross-promotion on stage in Uniondale last night, Donald Trump admitted he had not read his wife’s expensive new memoir Melania ($250 for the “Collector’s Edition”!), a rare example of him speaking honestly in public.
Here’s more from Gustaf Kilander.
Trump indicates he hasn’t read Melania’s new book: ‘So busy’
‘Go out and buy it, and if she says bad things about me, I’ll call you all up and I’ll say, don’t buy it,’ former president says
Trump asked New Yorkers ‘what have you got to lose’ by voting for him. The answers came thick and fast
The Republican nominee issued the following appeal to his fellow New York natives last night, also pledging to finally fix the city’s rickety subway.
He was met with cheers at the venue but, online, the response was rather different.
Gustaf Kilander reports.
Trump asked New Yorkers ‘what have you got to lose’ by voting for him
‘With crime at record levels, with terrorists and criminals pouring in, and with inflation eating your hearts out, vote for Donald Trump,’ Republican nominee pleads
Harris leads in two swing states but Wisconsin up for grabs, new polls finds
The Democratic presidential nominee leads Donald Trump by six points in Pennsylvania and five in Michigan but just one Wisconsin, according to the latest survey from Quinnipiac University.
Kamala Harris is up 51 per cent to 45 per cent in Pennsylvania, 50 per cent to 45 per cent in Michigan and 48 per cent to 47 per cent in Wisconsin, the poll reports.
On the issues, Trump is marginally ahead on the economy and immigration but narrowly behind on preserving democracy and trust in a crisis and way behind on abortion, Quinnipiac found.
“Three crucial swing states wave a red flag at the Trump campaign,” the institution’s polling analyst Tim Malloy writes.
“The GOP’s most ‘go to’ attack strategies against Democrats on immigration and the economy may be losing momentum. Likely voters now see little daylight, in most cases, between Harris and Trump on who can best handle those key issues.”
Here’s Alicja Hagopian on all the latest election polling.
Can Kamala Harris beat Donald Trump? Latest poll updates from the 2024 election
Here’s what the latest polls say about the 2024 presidential election, from The Independent’s data correspondent
Highlights from Trump’s New York rally
Good morning!
Here are some of the most eyebrow-raising moments from Donald Trump’s rally in Uniondale on Long Island last night, at which the Republican presidential nominee claimed he was “going to bring back religion” to thank God for saving his life twice, indulged his narcissism by suggesting he was a bigger star than Elvis Presley, attacked “radical left” Kamala Harris over her rhetoric (sigh), rehashed his 2020 election denials, pledged to visit poor old Springfield, Ohio, and stumbled over his lines – frequently.
His warm-up man was Rudy Giuliani, incidentally.
Melania Trump defends nude modeling career
Melania Trump has taken the media to task over its interest in her past nude modeling career in the latest video promoting her new memoir Melania.
“Why do I stand proudly behind my nude modelling work?” the former first lady and wife of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, 54, asks in the video posted on X and Instagram.
“The more pressing question is why has the media chosen to scrutinize my celebration of the human form in a fashion photo shoot?”
Joe Sommerlad reports.
Melania Trump defends nude modeling career in latest video promoting new memoir
Former first lady describes her early work as a ‘celebration of the human form’ akin to classical paintings and sculptures
Feature: The anti-abortion and anti-IVF campaigners who feel betrayed by Trump
Eric Garcia writes:
Trump has tried to walk a tightrope on both abortion and IVF. He knows that such hardline stances are unpopular with the wider American populace, and he fears what that could do at the ballot box — especially when even deep red states like Kansas ended up voting against abortion bans in recent referenda. His position is endlessly confused: He recently said that Florida’s six-week ban on abortion is “too short”, before he backtracked and said he would vote against a proposed constitutional amendment to enshrine abortion rights that will be on the ballot in his home state in November.
It’s not just progressives and those who fight for reproductive rights who are worried. For many conservative anti-abortion activists, Trump’s waffling feels like a confirmation of their worst fears.
Continue reading...
‘He’s listening to swampy people’: Anti-abortion campaigners feel betrayed by Trump
Kristan Hawkins, the president of Students for Life of America, tell Eric Garcia that Trump’s recent claims to support IVF set off alarm bells for them
Trump mixed up an Afghan airbase with an oil-rich region of Alaska
Donald Trump has been roasted after he bizarrely mixed up an Alaskan wildlife refuge and an Afghanistan airbase during a town hall in Michigan.
The former president appeared on stage in Flint on Tuesday for the event which was moderated by his former White House press secretary and current Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
Continue reading...
Trump roasted for mixing up Afghan airbase with oil-rich region of Alaska
Former president confused Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge with Afghanistan’s Bagram Airfield during a Flint, Michigan, town hall
Vance once penned a blog post slamming Republicans for anti-immigrant stance — oh how times have changed...
JD Vance once penned a furious blog post sharing his disdain for the Republican party’s hostility toward immigrants – then urged his professor to delete it years later as he sought to enter politics.
As a 28-year-old Yale law student back in November 2012, the Ohio senator wrote an article titled: “A Blueprint for the GOP.”
In it, the more youthful and progressive Vance slammed Republicans for being “tone deaf” on immigration and “openly hostile to non-whites.”
Now, more than a decade later, as Donald Trump’s running mate, he has been accused of amplifying this same anti-immigrant rhetoric – most recently pushing false claims about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio.
James Liddell has the story.
JD Vance penned 2012 blog slamming ‘tone deaf’ Republicans for alienating migrants
Four years after penning the 2012 post, Vance asked his Yale college professor to delete it
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