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Election live updates: Obama and Springsteen rally for Harris; Trump heads back to swing state after MSG

Harris campaign plans to visit all seven battleground states while Trump campaign is leaning on allies to help rally support

Biden comments on Trump’s ‘embarrassing’ offensive rally rhetoric

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With just eight days left in the 2024 presidential election cycle, Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are making their final push to voters across the U.S., especially in battleground states.

One of the Harris campaign’s tactics is leaning on popular musicians to perform at “Get Out the Vote” rallies to reach a larger voter base. Musician Bruce Springsteen is expected to appear alongside former President Barack Obama in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Monday.

Meanwhile, Harris will campaign in Ann Arbor Michigan, featuring singer Maggie Rogers.

Trump is expected to hold a rally in Atlanta, Georgia on Monday evening after hosting a blockbuster campaign rally at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Sunday.

The Republican nominee stands little chance of winning his home state on November 5 but was nevertheless joined by an army of MAGA cheerleaders, including his running mate JD Vance, billionaire Elon Musk, ex-Fox News host Tucker Carlson and wrestler Hulk Hogan.

President Joe Biden called the rally “embarrassing” after casting his ballot on Monday.

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Michelle Obama hits out at difference in expectations towards the two candidates and issues stark warning on abortion

“I hope you’ll forgive me if I’m a little frustrated that some of us are choosing to ignore Donald Trump’s gross incompetence, while asking Kamala to dazzle us at every turn,” the former first lady said in Kalamazoo, Michigan, over the weekend.

“I hope that you’ll forgive me if I’m a little angry that we are indifferent to his erratic behavior, his obvious mental decline, his history as a convicted felon, a known slum lord, a predator found liable for sexual abuse.”

It was barnstorming stuff from a truly great public speaker, who also warned men about being part of the conservative “assault” on reproductive rights by voting for the Republican ticket before returning to her initial theme by saying of Harris: “We expect her to be intelligent, articulate, have a clear set of policies, and never show too much anger… But for Trump? We expect nothing at all. No understanding of policy, no ability to put together coherent arguments.”

Ooof.

Mike Bedigan has more.

Michelle Obama slams ‘predator’ Trump as she rallies with Kamala Harris

In some of her most potent remarks on the campaign trail thus far, the former First Lady painted a sobering picture of the state of abortion rights and pregnancy care

Joe Sommerlad28 October 2024 13:20
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JD Vance calls ex-Marine John Kelly ‘disgruntled’ over Hitler claim

Before Sunday’s rally, Trump’s running mate was interview by CNN’s Jake Tapper for State of the Union and took the opportunity to accuse the former president’s ex-White House chief of staff of being disaffected as the reason for his coming forward last week to warn of Trump’s authoritarian tendencies.

John Bowden reports.

Vance calls ex-Marine Kelly ‘disgruntled’ over general’s claim Trump praised Hitler

Vance, media brawler, claims retired general who lost son in Afghanistan, is lying about Trump to advance pro-war agenda

Joe Sommerlad28 October 2024 13:00
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Who is incendiary comic Tony Hinchcliffe?

The man who could theoretically have just cost Trump Pennsylvania by trashing the 500,000 Puerto Ricans who live there styles him as a controversial comedian and podcaster who will “never apologize” for offensive jokes.

Rhian Lubin reports.

Who is Tony Hinchcliffe? Controversial comedian who will ‘never apologize’ for jokes

The comedian compared Puerto Rico to ‘garbage’ at Donald Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally

Joe Sommerlad28 October 2024 12:40
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Fox and Friends hosts defend Hinchcliffe joke as AOC condemns ‘hate rally'

Leaping to the defence of Trump Madison Square Garden rally and Tony Hinchcliffe’s Puerto Rico joke in particular, Brian Kilmeade said on Fox’s flagship show: “That was part of the pre-show; that was two hours before the president spoke.

“It’s amazing, the cover of The New York Times [reads] ‘Trump at Garden, a closing carnival of grievances, misogyny and racism.’ Only somebody who works for the Harris campaign pretending to be a reporter for The New York Times would write something like that.

“You don’t point out that RFK, the most famous Democratic family, actually was one of the featured speakers around,” Kilmeade continued.

“The most famous inventor in the world, Elon Musk. That stands out? No. A comedian with a successful podcast. You lose some off-color.”

Co-host Lawrence Jones helped him out by adding: “But you lose goodwill when before that rally even started, they called it a Nazi rally. Before they even took the stage, they had already said that it was going to be a racist rally

“Number two, maybe it’s just me… I have a dark sense of humor, you know, And so I, like... maybe this was not the appropriate format for the comedian to be there? But it’s comedy.”

Yep, just comedy. Nothing to see here folks.

Meanwhile, on Morning Joe, AOC saw things rather differently, you might not be too surprised to hear.

Joe Sommerlad28 October 2024 12:20
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Where are the candidates campaigning on Monday?

Here’s a quick look at today’s schedule, with just eight days to go:

  • Kamala Harris will visit Corning Inc’s Hemlock Semiconductor facility in Michigan to talk to workers and tour the assembly line before touring a labor union training facility.
  • She will then appear together with running mate Tim Walz in Ann Arbor, an event that will also feature a performance by singer-songwriter Maggie Rogers.
  • Harris will also be on the Club Shay Shay podcast.
  • Donald Trump will meanwhile attend the National Faith Advisory Summit in Atlanta, Georgia, before rallying in the same city later.
  • His running mate JD Vance will be speaking in Racine, Wisconsin.
Joe Sommerlad28 October 2024 12:00
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Watch: Tucker Carlson falsely brands Harris ‘Samoan-Malaysian’ at Trump rally

First she “happened to turn Black”, now they’re just picking random races to suggest the VP is somehow inauthentic in her public presentation, unlike, oh I don’t know, a spray-tanned billionaire man-of-the-people say?

Tucker Carlson falsely brands Kamala Harris ‘Samoan-Malaysian’ at Trump rally

Tucker Carlson bizarrely described Kamala Harris as "Samoan-Malaysian" during a speech at Donald Trump's Madison Square Garden rally on Sunday, 27 October. “It’s going to be pretty hard to look at us and say ‘You know what? Kamala Harris, she got 85 million votes because she’s so impressive as the first Samoan-Malaysian, low I.Q., former California prosecutor ever to be elected president," the former Fox News host told the crowd. The vice president was born in California while her father, Donald Harris, was born in Jamaica and her mother, Shyamala Gopalan, was born in India. Ms Harris has spoken openly about how she grew up appreciating both cultures.

Joe Sommerlad28 October 2024 11:40
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‘I was with Trump fans that flooded the streets outside MSG with red hats. The scenes were weird even for NYC’

Ariana Baio has this on her experiences navigating a sea of red-capped Juggalos on the streets of Midtown yesterday, which was weird, she says, “even for New York City”.

I was out with the MAGA supporters and the scenes were weird even for NYC

Ariana Baio recounts the scenes outside of Madison Square Garden as she waited for three hours with Trump supporters to attend his rally

Joe Sommerlad28 October 2024 11:20
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Republicans, Bad Bunny and J Lo lead backlash to Hinchcliffe’s racist Puerto Rico joke at Trump’s MSG rally

Here’s Rhian Lubin with more on the angry reaction to Tony Hinchcliffe’s nasty Puerto Rico joke yesterday, which could just cost Trump Pennsylvania.

Republicans, Bad Bunny slam Tony Hinchcliffe’s Puerto Rico joke at Trump’s MSG rally

Hinchcliffe compared the Caribbean island to ‘garbage’ at Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally in New York City

Joe Sommerlad28 October 2024 11:00
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Trump warns against migrants from ‘Congo prisons’ and calls the press ‘enemy of the people’ at MSG

When the Republican presidential nominee himself finally took the stage, he cranked up the fear-mongering rhetoric with even less concern for the facts than usual.

Deeply, deeply disturbing stuff that voters should think very carefully about before casting their ballots next week.

Joe Sommerlad28 October 2024 10:40
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‘Trump and his friends smiled and partied at Madison Square Garden – then they got mean’

Before we get to the headline act himself, here’s a little highlights package featuring some of the many MAGA celebrities speaking at Madison Square Garden yesterday and making total spectacles of themselves.

Feast your eyes upon the pop fascist showmanship of Alina Habba, Rudy Giuliani, Stephen Miller, RFK Jr, Tucker Carlson, Hulk Hogan, JD Vance, Don Jr and Elon Musk.

Fortunately for us, Alex Woodward is here to make sense of it all.

Trump’s crowd gets mean during Madison Square Garden rally, but keeps their smiles

Trump made his ‘surreal’ return to New York with his name in lights at one of the world’s most celebrated stadiums, where roughly 19,000 people cheered on crude insults and attacks days before Election Day, Alex Woodward reports from Madison Square Garden

Joe Sommerlad28 October 2024 10:20

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