Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on stage with Arkansas governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders during a town hall event in Flint, Michigan. Photograph: Evan Vucci/AP
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on stage with Arkansas governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders during a town hall event in Flint, Michigan. Photograph: Evan Vucci/AP
Another celebrity endorsement for Harris: Billie Eilish
Pop music superstar Billie Eilish along with her brother, producer and musician Finneas O’Connell, have announced their support for Kamala Harris.
In a video posted on X, where Eilish has 7.5 million followers, and Instagram, where her followers number 119 million, the siblings say they will vote for Harris because she supports for keeping abortion legal, and fighting the climate crisis:
They are the last pop megastars to back the Democratic vice-president, after Taylor Swift announced she would vote for Harris following her debate with Donald Trump last week.
Earlier in her conversation with the National Association of Black Journalists, Kamala Harris was asked about her message to the young Black voters who polls show are leaning towards voting for Donald Trump because they believe he will provide more economic opportunities.
If that dynamic plays out, it could have severe consequences for both Harris and Democrats nationwide, since Black voters have long been a cornerstone voting bloc.
“I think it’s very important to not operate from the assumption that Black men are in anybody’s pocket,” Harris replied. “Black men are like any other voting group. You got to earn their vote. So I’m working to earn the vote, not assuming I’m going to have it because I am Black, but because the policies and the perspectives I have understands what we must do to recognize the needs of all communities, and I intend to be a president for all people, specifically as it relates to what we need to do.”
Harris says she spoke to Trump after second apparent assassination attempt
Kamala Harris just said she called Donald Trump earlier today after the Secret Service on Sunday fended off a gunman discovered outside a golf course where he was playing.
“I checked on him to see if he was okay, and I told him what I have said publicly, there’s no place for political violence in our country,” Harris said. “I am in this election and this race for many reasons, including to fight for our democracy. And in a democracy, there is no place for political violence. We can and should have healthy debates and discussion and disagreements, but not resort to violence to resolve those issues.”
Harris also responded “I do”, when asked if she had confidence in the Secret Service, then said that rightwing attacks have made groups including migrants and LGBTQ+ people feel unsafe.
“Yes, I feel safe. I have Secret Service protection, but that doesn’t change my perspective on the importance of fighting for the safety of everybody in our country and doing everything we can to again, lift people up and not beat people down so they feel alone and are made to feel small and made to feel like they’re somehow not a part of it or us,” she said.
Harris calls attacks on Ohio Haitian community 'a crying shame'
Kamala Harris has condemned the campaign against the Haitian immigrant community in Springfield, Ohio, waged by Donald Trump, his running mate, JD Vance, and conservative commentators.
“It’s a crying shame,” the vice-president said in her ongoing conversation with Black journalists in Philadelphia. “My heart breaks for this community.”
Without mentioning Trump or Vance, Harris described the baseless allegations that Haitians who moved to the Ohio city were eating people’s pets as irresponsible:
When you are bestowed with a microphone that is that big, there is a profound responsibility that comes with that. That is an extension of what should not be lost in this moment, this concept of the public trust, to then understand what the public trust means. It means that you have been invested with trust to be responsible in the way you use your words, much less how you conduct yourself, and especially when you have been and then seek to be again president of the United States of America.
She also decried the wave of threats that have closed schools and other buildings in Springfield, noting the toll it has taken on law enforcement:
It’s a crying shame, literally, what’s happening to those families, those children in that community, not to mention what is happening in terms of, look, you say you care about law enforcement, law enforcement resources being put into this because of these serious threats that are being issued against a community that is living a productive, good life before this happened, and spewing lies that are grounded in tropes that are age old.
More on the threats that have disrupted daily life in Springfield for days:
Kamala Harris was pressed by her interviewers at the National Association of Black Journalists event about what specific changes she would make to US policy towards Israel and its invasion of Gaza.
“In the way that we send weapons, in the way that we interact as their ally, are there specific policy changes?” asked Politico reporter Eugene Daniels, one of three interviewers on the panel.
Harris replied:
For example, one of the things that we have done that I am entirely supportive of, is the pause that we put on the 2,000lb bombs. And so there is some leverage that we have had and used, but ultimately, the thing that is going to unlock everything else in that region is getting this deal done. And I’m not going to disclose private conversations, but I will tell you, I’ve had direct conversations with the prime minister, with the president of Israel, with Egyptian leaders and with our allies, and I think we’ve made ourselves very clear this deal needs to get done in the best interest of everyone in the region, including getting those hostages out.
Washington has supplied many of the bombs used in Israel’s assault on the enclave, but recently blocked a shipment of 2,000lb munitions blamed for strikes that have killed scores of people in Gaza. Here’s more on that:
Harris holds live interview with Black journalists
Kamala Harris is on stage now in Philadelphia, taking questions from three reporters in a live conservation organized by the National Association of Black Journalists.
In July, Donald Trump spoke at the group’s annual convention, where he said Harris was lying about her racial identity. Here’s our coverage of that infamous moment:
Vance pointing finger at Democrats over Trump assassination attempts 'dangerous' – White House
Joanna Walters
The White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, has condemned as “dangerous” comments made by JD Vance that the difference between Democratic rhetoric and Republican rhetoric in this election is that only Donald Trump – the Republican party nominee for president – has been shot at.
Vance, the Republican nominee for vice-president, has pointed out on the campaign trail that nobody has tried to assassinate Kamala Harris, the Democrats’ nominee for president, only her rival, Trump.
Trump was shot at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July and a man was arrested pointing a rifle through the fence of Trump’s golf course this last Sunday, as the former president was playing a round.
Vance said at a rally in Sparta, Michigan, moments ago that “what’s one-sided is that it’s Donald Trump who’s getting shot at” and he said at a previous event that the difference between the effects of both parties’ rhetoric is that “no-one has tried to kill Kamala Harris in the last couple of months”.
Jean-Pierre said at the ongoing press briefing just now: “When you are a national leader and you have a community that looks up to your leadership … and when you have that type of language out there, it’s dangerous … [and] it opens up an opportunity for people to listen to you and potentially take you very seriously.”
"Big difference between conservatives & liberals: No one has tried to kill Kamala Harris in last couple of months. And 2 people have tried to kill Donald Trump last couple months. That's pretty strong evidence left needs to tone down the rhetoric & cut this crap out"
Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Joe Biden would travel to New York City next week to attend the United Nations General Assembly.
The press briefing just got under way at the White House. Jean-Pierre made the announcement about the US president at the top of the briefing and will take journalists’ questions shortly.
World leaders will descend on the UN headquarters in New York for the annual gathering.
Israel’s war in Gaza will probably be a headline issue at this year’s gathering. The attack on southern Israel lead by Hamas last 7 October occurred after last fall’s UNGA event.
Israel’s counterattack on Gaza, which is controlled by Hamas, has raged since and a lasting ceasefire remains elusive. The death toll among Palestinians has passed 41,000, according to health authorities in the territory.
The Guardian is covering the latest events in this war and the current news out of Lebanon today in this live blog.
JD Vance has called for stepped-up security for Donald Trump following two apparent assassination attempts on the former president in the last two months, asking for him to have Secret Service resources equivalent to those afforded to Joe Biden, the sitting US president.
Vance, Trump’s running mate on the Republican ticket for this November’s presidential election, also blamed Democratic party rhetoric criticizing Trump for armed individuals targeting the former president.
“Democrats have got to cut this crap out,” he said.
He repeatedly criticized Kamala Harris, the Democratic party nominee for president, across policy platforms ranging from energy to taxes. She said, after a man was arrested on Sunday after pointing a rifle through the fence at Trump’s golf course in Florida as the former president was playing a round: “I will be clear: I condemn political violence.”
Asked by a journalist if the rhetoric was all one-sided, Vance said “there are absolutely people on our side who say ridiculous things”, but he added that “what is one-sided” is that only one person was being targeted by known gunmen.
“It’s Donald Trump who’s getting shot at,” he said, reiterating that Democrats should stop talking in tones of eliminating him as a threat.
The Republicans’ vice-presidential nominee, JD Vance, is on the campaign trail talking in Sparta, near Grand Rapids in central Michigan, the vital swing state, right now.
The White House daily media briefing, with press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, has been moved back to 2pm, from its previous schedule of 1.30pm.
Vance is talking about prices, the cost of food, gas, housing, saying “the number one thing” the US has to do to get “this crazy inflation” under control is to have better energy supply from the US.
“Drill, baby, drill,” Vance said. He said the US has “abundant American energy” and natural resources that are the envy of other countries.
