September 21, 2024, presidential campaign news

Our live coverage has ended.?Follow the?latest 2024 election news?here or read through the posts below.

Former President Donald Trump continues to criticize the network that hosted his September 10 debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, saying in an interview that aired Saturday that he thought ABC should be “investigated.”

Trump previously called for ABC to lose its broadcast license the morning after his face-off with Harris while claiming that the debate was “rigged.” The former president has also baselessly suggested that Harris was given the questions in advance.?

Trump added in the interview that he didn’t think his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, would “get a fair shot” at his vice presidential debate with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz to be hosted by CBS on October 1.?

Trump also praised his wife, former first lady Melania Trump, as a “tremendous person, very?precise, very accurate,” when asked about her upcoming memoir.?

“I do?believe she loves her husband.?That’s probably the biggest surprise to a lot of people, come to think of it. But she loves her husband,” the former president said.?

In a video posted on social media earlier this month to promote her book, Melania Trump said she felt “a responsibility to clarify the facts.”

“I believe it is important to share my perspective: the truth,” the former first lady says in the video.

North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson speaks at the Faith and Freedom Road to Majority conference in Washington, DC, on June 21.

Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance declined to take a definitive stance when asked Saturday if he believes North Carolina gubernatorial nominee Mark Robinson when he said the porn forum posts revealed in a recent CNN KFile story weren’t his.?

Referring to how Robinson, the state lieutenant governor, is officially on the North Carolina ballot as the Republican nominee, Vance said, “I just think that fundamentally it’s Mark Robinson and the people of North Carolina that get to decide whether he’s their governor and that’s what we’re going to focus on.”

Former President Donald Trump was in North Carolina on Saturday, rallying supporters in Wilmington. The Trump campaign did not invite Robinson to the event, and Trump made no mention of the lieutenant governor in his remarks.

With 45 days until the election, both campaigns took their message to key battleground states, as former President Donald Trump traveled to North Carolina and vice presidential nominees Tim Walz and JD Vance both held rallies in Pennsylvania.

Meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris, who was not on the campaign trail Saturday, accepted CNN’s invitation for a presidential debate next month, challenging Trump to another showdown.

Here’s what to know:?

Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance on Saturday defended his comments to CNN’s Dana Bash earlier this week about?creating stories?to generate media attention surrounding immigration issues in Springfield, Ohio – without addressing false claims he promoted about Haitian immigrants eating local pets.

On CNN’s “State of the Union” last weekend, Vance told Bash, “The American media totally ignored this stuff until Donald Trump and I started talking about cat memes. If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that’s what I’m going to do.”

As CNN has reported, there are no credible reports of Haitian migrants eating pets, and the false claim fueled by Trump and Vance, along with their allies, has led to?a wave of racist harassment?against the community.

Ohio Republican Gov. Mike DeWine, who has endorsed Trump and Vance, wrote an op-ed published Friday, expressing sadness that Vance and Trump “continue to repeat claims that lack evidence and disparage legal migrants.” In the New York Times op-ed, DeWine also stressed that the Haitian immigrants in the city are there legally.

While Vance on Saturday didn’t address the false claim on migrants eating pets, he argued that DeWine is “just wrong”?about Haitian migrants being in the country legally.

However, he continued to tout DeWine’s support.

Sen. JD Vance and former President Donald Trump stand onstage during a campaign rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on July 20.

Does Donald Trump?really?want his running mate,?JD Vance,?to have the final debating word this fall? Or does Trump want that opportunity for himself?

That’s one of the questions now on the table?after Vice President Kamala?Harris challenged Trump?on Saturday to a second debate hosted by CNN next month.

The only?remaining?agreed-to?debate of this presidential election season is the October 1 face-off between the vice presidential nominees, Vance and Tim Walz.

CBS is hosting the VP debate?and?allowing?other networks to simulcast?the matchup. The contrasts between Walz, 60, and Vance, 40, are sure to be fascinating.

But historically the VP debate has never?been the?last in an election cycle,?with the running mates?usually sandwiched in between debates between the candidates at the top of the ticket.

Of course, this year’s election cycle has been unusual for many reasons, including the?earliest general election?debate between President Joe?Biden and Trump, and the late ascension of Harris as the nominee.

But it sure would seem anticlimactic to have Walz and Vance helm the last debate of the cycle.

Read the full analysis here

Sen. JD Vance speaks during a campaign rally in Leesport, Pennsylvania, on September 21.

Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance said that he would welcome a second debate with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as the two are set to face off next month for the first vice presidential debate of the cycle.

Vance?and Walz will participate in a debate hosted by CBS on October 1. Vance previously accepted?a second debate offer from CNN, which was not accepted by the Harris-Walz campaign at the time.

The Ohio senator’s remarks come as his running mate, former President Donald Trump, said Saturday it was “too late” to debate Kamala Harris again after the vice president accepted CNN’s invitation for an October matchup.?“The problem with another debate is that it’s just too late, voting has already started,” Trump said at a rally in Wilmington, North Carolina.

Former President Donald Trump made no mention of Mark Robinson, the embattled Republican nominee for governor of North Carolina, during his campaign speech in the state on Saturday, and Robinson did not attend the rally.

Robinson has appeared at Trump campaign events in the past, and the former president has previously praised him as?“Martin Luther King?on steroids” and “outstanding.”?

CNN’s KFile reported this week that Robinson?made a series of inflammatory comments on a pornography website’s message board more than a decade ago, in which he expressed support for reinstating slavery and referred to himself as a “black NAZI!”

Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance claimed Saturday that the media is focusing?on “salacious scandals” in other states rather than the apparent second assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump, seemingly referring to the scandal surrounding Mark Robinson, North Carolina’s GOP nominee for governor.?

As CNN’s KFile reported, Robinson made a series of inflammatory comments on a porn forum more than a decade ago, including referring to himself as a “black NAZI,” saying he enjoyed watching transgender pornography and expressing support for reinstating slavery. Robinson denied making the comments.??

Robinson has appeared at several Trump campaign events in North Carolina and previously earned the praise of the former president, who has called him “better than Martin Luther King.”??

Trump campaigned in Wilmington, North Carolina, today, but Robinson did not attend.?

Then-Rep. Liz Cheney attends a committee meeting in Washington, DC, on December 19, 2022.

Republican former Rep. Liz Cheney, a vocal critic of Donald Trump, suggested Friday evening that a new political party may be needed as she criticized the former president.

Cheney predicted that “there is certainly going to be a big shift, I think, in how our politics work,” but added that it won’t be as simple as the Republican Party putting up “a new slate of candidates.”?

“I think far too much has happened that’s too damaging,” Cheney said.?

Some background: Cheney has been a vocal critic of Trump, whom she has argued does not represent the Republican Party or conservative values. She was one of two Republican members of the House January 6 committee and?lost the Wyoming Republican primary?during her reelection bid in 2022 to a Trump-backed candidate.?

Cheney’s remarks Friday come after she threw her support behind?Vice President Kamala Harris this month, and added that her father, former Vice President?Dick Cheney, will also vote for Harris.?

Cheney shared that she has spoken to Harris but did not answer whether she will join the vice president on the campaign trail.?“I’m going to do everything that I can because I think it’s so important. So, stay tuned,” Cheney said.?

Vice President Kamala Harris attends an event in Philadelphia on September 17.

Vice President?Kamala Harris?will not attend next month’s?Al Smith charity dinner?in New York City, her campaign has told organizers, opting instead to stump in a battleground state?on October 17, less than three weeks before?the election.

The historic Catholic fundraiser traditionally features light roasts by the two major-party nominees — aimed at each other and others — in presidential election years. This fall’s gathering is already sold out and poised to welcome an estimated 1,500 guests to a ballroom in Midtown Manhattan.

Donald Trump?stunned attendees in 2016 when he abandoned the collegial banter and?launched a series of personal attacks?on?Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, who in her own remarks had offered the expected round of self-deprecating humor. The affair — black-tie for attendees, white-tie for the headliners — is named after the first major-party Catholic presidential nominee, four-term New York Gov. Al Smith, the Democratic standard-bearer in 1928.

Neither Harris nor Trump had formally committed to attending this year, but both were expected, according to comedian and emcee Jim Gaffigan.

Read more here

Following this month’s presidential debate, there was a rise in positive sentiment around discussions of Vice President Kamala Harris, while the conversation around Trump trended more negatively.

That’s?the latest from?The Breakthrough,?a CNN polling project that tracks what average Americans are actually hearing, reading?and seeing about the presidential candidates throughout the campaign.

The measurement of sentiment doesn’t mean that Trump’s debate performance was itself received poorly in this survey. Rather, it implies that what Americans say about his performance tended to be framed in negative terms.

Contributing to the negative sentiment around Trump was the tone of responses focusing on immigration. In the most recent data, that largely referred?to a debunked viral claim of Haitian migrants eating pets in Springfield, Ohio?— first popularized by?Trump’s running mate, JD Vance, and then referenced by the former president?on the debate stage?– that?has since?led to?a wave of racist harassment?against the community.

“During the debate with Kamala Harris he was saying that people are stealing pets and eating them,” one respondent wrote. “I’ll never forget that.”

Read more on the latest findings from The Breakthrough here.

Former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Wilmington, North Carolina, on September 21.

Former President Donald Trump said Saturday that if reelected, he will push for congressional action to outlaw so-called sanctuary cities and empower federal law enforcement to curb undocumented immigration.

He added that he would do so by urging Congress to pass legislation, as well as by increasing the presence of federal law enforcement officer “to every city that is failing” to “turn over” undocumented immigrants.

“Sanctuary city” is a broad term applied to jurisdictions that have policies designed to limit cooperation with or involvement in federal immigration enforcement actions.?Trump regularly attacked sanctuary cities as president and tried to halt federal funding for them with an executive order but was blocked by a federal court.

Supporters listen to former President Donald Trump speak at a campaign rally in Wilmington, North Carolina, on September 21.

First responders are aiding people who need medical attention due to the heat at former President Donald Trump’s rally in Wilmington, North Carolina.?

CNN witnessed attendees leaving the rally as the former president speaks and the relentless sun hits the crowd on the tarmac at Aero Center Wilmington, a largely outdoor venue. The high temperature Saturday was 82 degrees.

Many of those remaining are fanning themselves with signs to try to stay cool.?CNN witnessed numerous attendees fainting at the?Saturday rally.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz took the Democratic ticket’s messaging to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, on Saturday with just 45 days until the election.

The stop was ostensibly part of the campaign’s efforts to reach Hispanic voters in the region, and the vice presidential nominee was introduced by Emmy-winning actor Liza Colón-Zayas and Grammy winner Anthony Ramos as part of the appeal.

During his remarks, which featured attacks on JD Vance over the GOP ticket’s health insurance plan, protesters interrupted him on five different occasions.

Many of the protesters were seen carrying Palestinian flags or were heard advocating on behalf of people in Gaza. Walz did not acknowledge the protesters, who were in each instance drowned out by chants from the crowd before being escorted out of the venue.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks at a campaign rally in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, on September 21.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz attempted to tie the Republican Party to North Carolina gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson during following CNN’s reporting that Robinson referred to himself as a “black Nazi” on a porn forum.

Walz told supporters at a Saturday rally in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, that Robinson’s sentiments aren’t isolated from that of other Republican candidates nationwide.

Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance on Saturday swung by King Food Supermarket in Reading, Pennsylvania, where he aimed to spotlight “way too expensive” grocery prices he blamed on Kamala Harris’ policies.?

Vance, inside the shop with his two sons, held a carton of eggs while addressing reporters briefly ahead of a rally in Leesport, Pennsylvania.

Vance received a warm welcome inside the supermarket, where he greeted workers and shoppers. One asked Vance to sign his book, “Hillbilly Elegy.”

Former President Donald Trump takes the stage at a campaign rally in Wilmington, North Carolina, on September 21.

Former President Donald Trump on Saturday argued it was “too late” to have another presidential debate because Americans have begun casting their ballots in the 2024 election.?

National polling continues to show no clear leader in the race between Harris and Trump.

Harris said earlier Saturday that she had accepted an invitation from CNN to participate in a debate in October. The Trump campaign reiterated the former president’s previous comments that he would not participate in another debate.

This post has been updated with additional information.

North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson speaks at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on July 15.

At former President Donald Trump’s rally in Wilmington, North Carolina, there’s no sign of Mark Robinson, the state’s embattled lieutenant governor and the GOP nominee for governor.?

A source close to the campaign reiterated Saturday that Robinson — a regular at Trump’s Tar Heel State events in the past — will not join the former president onstage today. His absence comes after CNN’s KFile reported on Robinson’s history of troubling and sometimes graphic statements on a porn website years ago, including referring to himself as a Black Nazi.?

Supporters cheer as former President Donald Trump arrives on his plane for a campaign rally in Wilmington, North Carolina, on September 21.

But Robinson is?not only not present, he has also gone unmentioned by the speakers. Instead, speakers — including Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley, who previously?led?the North Carolina GOP — have focused on Trump’s race against Vice President Kamala Harris.

Despite the contested?race for the state’s governorship, there has been little discussion of it. One speaker criticized Democratic gubernatorial nominee Josh Stein but stopped short of elevating Robinson. Instead, he encouraged the crowd to vote for Trump and Republicans up and down the ticket.?

Former President Donald Trump waits during a break in the presidential debate with Vice President Kamala Harris in Philadelphia on September 10.

Donald Trump’s campaign on Saturday referred to a previous comment from the former president saying there would not be another debate, shortly after Vice President Kamala Harris accepted an invitation from CNN for a debate in October.?

Trump posted on Truth Social last week that there would not be another debate.?

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a presidential debate with former President Donald Trump in Philadelphia on September 10.

Vice President Kamala Harris on Saturday?accepted an invitation from CNN to debate former President Donald Trump on October 23, challenging her rival to another showdown in the final weeks of the campaign.?

The debate would mirror the first 2024 presidential debate in June between Trump and President Joe Biden, taking place at CNN’s studios in Atlanta, according to the network.

CNN offered both campaigns a format similar to the June debate, in which?Trump and Harris would field moderators’ questions for 90 minutes without a live studio audience.

Trump suggested last week that he might be open to participating in a third presidential debate following his September 10 face-off with Harris hosted by ABC in Philadelphia.

When the ballot counting begins inside Arizona’s Maricopa County Tabulation Center this November, election workers will be protected behind doors and windows with bullet-proof glass and two layers of fencing. Security cameras will be monitored for suspicious activity inside and outside the building. A fleet of police drones and rooftop snipers will be at the ready.

In many ways, the county’s election headquarters has been transformed into “a fortress,” says Bill Gates, a member of the county’s Board of Supervisors who has received repeated?death threats?for rejecting bogus claims that officials helped steal elections in 2020 and 2022. He says the new safety measures reflect “the reality of elections in 2024.”

Such precautions were unheard of a few years ago. But during the ballot count in 2020, when armed MAGA protesters — inflamed by former President Donald Trump’s false claims of election cheating — swarmed the tabulation center and forced police to lock workers and reporters inside for their own safety, county leaders decided more needed to be done. That’s why Maricopa County has spent over $864,000 in federal funds and more than $3 million in county funds to bolster its election security and processes over the past four years.

But that level of planning and preparation stands in stark contrast with that of many other locales across the country with similar worries about election-related turmoil this November.

A CNN review has found that, amid an exodus of experienced workers and leaders, election officials across the country have struggled to enhance security measures to adequately safeguard workers and ensure voting integrity in advance of Election Day. Officials readily shared their worries with CNN, citing death threats, harassment, baseless lawsuits, onerous public-records requests and various security threats spurred by false claims about voter fraud.

Amid these challenges, budgets for election security have been squeezed in several ways.

Keep reading.

A woman wears an “I’m a Trump Girl, Get Over It!” T-shirt ahead of former President Donald Trump’s rally in Wilmington, North Carolina, on September 21.

Ahead of former President Donald Trump’s rally in Wilmington, North Carolina, on Saturday, some attendees and volunteers donned red T-shirts reading,?“I’m a Trump Girl, Get Over It.”

When asked about the phrase “Get Over It,” one rally volunteer explained, “Some people think women shouldn’t vote for President Trump, and that’s just not true.”

Earlier Saturday, Trump took to Truth Social to argue that women are “POORER,” “LESS HEALTHY” and “MORE DEPRESSED” now than during his presidency, and vowed that if he returns to the White House, he will “PROTECT WOMEN AT A LEVEL NEVER SEEN BEFORE.”

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz tours the America On Wheels automobile museum in Allentown, Pennsylvania, on September 21.

Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz on Saturday toured an automobile museum in Allentown, Pennsylvania, where he browsed historic cars and spoke with curators.

Walz, the Minnesota governor, visited the America on Wheels Museum, where he viewed exhibits of automobiles dating to the earliest manufactured vehicles and discussed the history of the automobile industry while taking a tour with the curators.

The visit comes after Walz posted a video of him maintaining his classic car, a 1979 International Harvester Scout, while warning of the dangers of former President Donald Trump’s agenda.

Walz has a rally in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, later Saturday.

Former President Donald Trump attends a campaign rally in Las Vegas on September 13.

Former President Donald Trump on Saturday announced he was selling “Trump Coins” featuring his face for $100.

Trump posted the announcement video to Truth Social and said, “this beautiful, limited-edition coin commemorates our movement, our fight for freedom, prosperity and putting America first.”

The website says the coin is a “1oz .999% silver medallion”?and features the White House on the back.

Trump has sold several products while running for president, including Bibles and sneakers.

Former President Donald Trump on Friday night argued “WOMEN ARE POORER,” “LESS HEALTHY” and “MORE DEPRESSED” now compared with when he was president four years ago.?

In an all-caps post on Truth Social, Trump said that he would “FIX ALL OF THAT” if reelected and that people would “NO LONGER BE THINKING ABOUT ABORTION.”

He pointed to the overturning of Roe v. Wade, which eliminated the constitutional right to an abortion, and said the issue is now “WHERE IT ALWAYS HAD TO BE, WITH THE STATES,” while reaffirming his support for abortion bans with exceptions for rape, incest and to save the mother’s life.

Vice President Kamala Harris arrives for a campaign rally in Madison, Wisconsin, on September 20.

Vice President Kamala Harris?entered September — and the closing weeks of the presidential campaign — with significantly more available campaign cash than former President?Donald Trump, new federal filings show, after setting a grassroots fundraising record during her first full month as the Democratic presidential nominee.

Fundraising by the national Democratic committees focused on the battle for Congress also surged — with the party arm working to turn the US House blue collecting more than double the amount raised by its Republican counterpart in August. The House GOP campaign arm, however, reported a six-figure donation from billionaire?Elon Musk?last month as the party seeks to defend its razor-thin majority in the chamber.

And with Democrats riding a wave of donor enthusiasm, the latest filings with the Federal Election Commission also showed some key outside groups ramping up their activity, while a leading pro-Trump super PAC unleashed a massive wave of independent expenditures to help Republicans close the gap.

The numbers: Harris has fully erased the financial edge that Trump momentarily gained over the summer, when the former president outraised?President Joe Biden?in two of the final three months before Biden withdrew from the race in late July. The vice president took in nearly $190 million directly to her campaign in August — more than quadrupling the $44.5 million the Trump campaign said flowed to its principal campaign account that month.

The Harris campaign also dramatically outspent the Trump campaign in August, burning through about $174 million. It plowed most of that into advertising — $135 million — as it raced to introduce Democrats’ newly minted nominee to voters on an abbreviated schedule.

By comparison, Trump’s campaign spent just $61 million last month, with the lion’s share — more than $47 million — going toward media buys.

Despite the spending spree, Harris’ main campaign account entered September with $235 million in available cash, far surpassing the $135 million remaining in Trump’s coffers, the latest FEC records show.

North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson joins former President Donald Trump onstage during a rally in Selma, North Carolina, on April 9, 2022.

Donald Trump returns Saturday for a campaign rally in North Carolina, where the former president is confronting a mess he played a key role in making in the critical battleground state.

The Republican nominee for governor, Mark Robinson — whom Trump has repeatedly compared to Martin Luther King Jr. — declined to drop out of the race by Thursday’s deadline, ignoring calls to do so from the NAACP, North Carolina newspaper editorial boards and some congressional Republicans.

That pressure followed?a CNN report?detailing his history of inflammatory comments on a porn website’s message board. Robinson, the North Carolina lieutenant governor, referred to himself as a “black NAZI,” expressed support for reinstating slavery, made repeated graphic sexual comments and more.

Trump’s Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris,?launched a new television advertisement?Friday tying Trump to Robinson — the first time the Harris campaign has used an ad to connect the former president with a down-ballot candidate.

The effort to connect Trump with Robinson, who polls show is well behind Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein in the governor’s race, comes as the Harris campaign plots paths to 270 Electoral College votes that could include four Sun Belt states: Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and North Carolina.

Trump defeated?Joe Biden?by 1 point in North Carolina in 2020. But polls have shown a tight race between Harris and Trump this year. The former president’s path back to the White House would become much more difficult without the state’s 16 electoral votes.

Read more about the possible political implications in North Carolina.

Georgia's State Election Board members discuss proposals for election rule changes at the state Capitol in Atlanta on September 20.

Allies of former President Donald Trump who control the Georgia State Election Board approved a controversial new rule Friday requiring counties?to hand-count the number of ballots cast at polling places on Election Day, despite bipartisan objections from election officials and poll workers.

The vote was 3-2, with the three Trump allies supporting the move, and a Democratic and independent GOP-appointed member of the board strongly opposing it, calling it an added step that could delay the results of the presidential election in the battleground state.

The new hand-counting rule requires counties to count by hand the number of ballots cast at a polling place, to make sure it matches the number of ballots tallied by voting machines. The hand-counters won’t be tallying how many votes each candidate received — that’s what the machines do.

The office of Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr, a Republican, previously warned the GOP-run board that this move would likely be unlawful because state laws don’t allow local election workers to hand-count ballots before the votes are officially counted.

Keep reading.

A man walks by a polling place during primary elections in Phoenix on March 19.

The Arizona Supreme Court ruled Friday that nearly 100,000 residents?who may not have fulfilled the state’s proof-of-citizenship requirements?can still vote in state and local races this year,?quickly resolving how election officials should address a clerical glitch that had left in question the eligibility of those registered voters in the critical battleground state.

The court was asked to decide whether these voters should get a “federal-only” ballot or the “full ballot,” which would also include state and local races.?Regardless of the outcome, these voters would have been able to cast presidential ballots.

Arizona uses these separate ballots because the state requires all voters to prove their citizenship before they can vote in state and local races.?Such documentation isn’t required to cast ballots for federal office in Arizona.

The decision to let these roughly 98,000 voters use the full ballot is a victory for Arizona’s Democratic secretary of state, Adrian Fontes, and liberal groups that pushed for this outcome.

The Arizona Supreme Court ruled just three days after the lawsuit was filed.?Election officials hoped a quick resolution of the issue would reduce confusion heading into voting season.

Besides state and local races, the ruling could also affect?Arizona’s?referendum?on abortion rights?this fall.

Read more about the ruling?here.

Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.

Some people can already start casting their ballots in the 2024 presidential race while both candidates continue to hit the campaign trail as Election Day gets closer.

Widespread early voting started Friday in Minnesota, South Dakota and Virginia.

Here’s what to know: