Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris is opening a two-day stay in Wisconsin and Michigan, and Republican candidate Donald Trump will be in Michigan on Thursday as the two candidates grapple for wins in the “blue wall” battleground states, which also include Pennsylvania.
Liz Cheney, one of Trump’s fiercest Republican antagonists, will join Harris at a campaign event in Wisconsin on Thursday aimed at reaching out to moderate voters and rattling the former president.
Cheney was the top Republican on the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, earning Trump’s disdain and effectively exiling herself from her own party.
Cheney lost her Wyoming seat to a Trump-endorsed candidate two years ago and she endorsed Harris last month. The two women will appear together in a historic white schoolhouse in Ripon, where a series of meetings held in 1854 to oppose slavery’s expansion led to the birth of the Republican Party.
Harris’ visit to Wisconsin comes one day after a federal judge unsealed a 165-page court filing outlining prosecutors’ case against Trump for his attempt to overturn his 2020 election defeat. Trump has pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy and obstruction.
Harris on Friday will hold a campaign rally in Flint, Michigan, continuing her tour of states that have been critical to Democratic victories. Trump won Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan in 2016, and Joe Biden won them in 2020.
Trump on Thursday will hold a rally in Saginaw County, a bellwether in the center of the state.
The Republican candidate has ramped up his focus on Michigan, holding two rallies there less than a week ago. In 2020, Biden’s win in Saginaw County by a slim 303 votes contributed to his victory in the state.
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Here’s the latest:
Michigan crowd awaits Trump
The crowd at a small university in Michigan awaiting Trump’s speech was notably subdued, with rows of empty seats in a gymnasium shortly before he was set to speak. The university is located in Saginaw County, which Biden flipped by a few hundred votes in 2020.
Josh Faulk, 38, traveled from nearby Bay City to attend his first Trump rally this cycle. Faulk said he wanted to attend Thursday’s rally because of the “excitement behind the candidate” and to show Trump “support like he does for us.”
“It’s more exciting for me to be around people that aren’t so combative and angry,” said Faulk. “You know? I mean, we’re in a great, happy, wonderful place.”
Melania Trump says she supports abortion rights, putting her at odds with the GOP
Melania Trump revealed her support for abortion rights Thursday ahead of the release of her upcoming memoir, exposing a stark contrast with her husband, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, on the crucial election issue.
In a video posted to her X account Thursday morning, the former first lady defended women’s “individual freedoms” to do what they want with their body — a position at odds with much of the Republican Party and her own husband, who has struggled to find a consistent message on abortion while wedged between anti-abortion supporters within his base and the majority of Americans who support abortion rights.
“Individual freedom is a fundamental principle that I safeguard,” she said in the video. “Without a doubt, there is no room for compromise when it comes to this essential right that all women possess from birth: individual freedom. What does ‘my body, my choice’ really mean?”
The video appears to confirm excerpts of her self-titled memoir reported by The Guardian on Wednesday.
Melania Trump has rarely publicly expressed her personal political views and has been largely absent from the campaign trail. But in her memoir, set to be released publicly next Tuesday, she argues that the decision to end a pregnancy should be left to a woman and her doctor, “free from any intervention of pressure from the government,” according to the published excerpts.
President Biden says he isn’t concerned the 2024 presidential race is close
President Joe Biden said Thursday that he wasn’t concerned the 2024 presidential race between Democratic nominee Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump was close
“It always gets this close,” he said to reporters on the South Lawn of the White House on his way to visit storm-ravaged Georgia and Florida. “She’s gonna do fine,” he said of his vice president.
Biden was also asked how Harris’ running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz did in the vice presidential debate.
“The other guy lost the debate,” Biden said. “He misrepresented everything.”
Hurricane Helene brings climate change to forefront of presidential campaign
The devastation wrought by Hurricane Helene has brought climate change to the forefront of the presidential campaign after the issue lingered on the margins for months.
Vice President Kamala Harris traveled to Georgia Wednesday to see hard-hit areas, two days after her Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump, was in the state and criticized the federal response to the storm, which has killed at least 180 people. Thousands of people in the Carolinas still lack running water, cellphone service and electricity.
President Joe Biden toured some of the hardest-hit areas by helicopter on Wednesday. Biden, who has frequently been called on to survey damage and console victims after tornadoes, wildfires, tropical storms and other natural disasters, traveled to the Carolinas to get a closer look at the hurricane devastation. He is expected to visit Georgia and Florida later this week.
