Harris allies seek to keep the ‘Biden coalition’ in the fold
Mike Memoli
As PresidentJoe Bidenfought to remain in the presidential race this summer, advisers often argued there existed a “Biden coalition” — a cohort only the incumbent could hold together. With Vice PresidentKamala Harrisatop the Democratic ticket, there has been a shift in the focus on these voters, like white working-class voters in places like Pennsylvania, seniors and union members.
A pro-Harris super PAC has been running a series of ads — in heavy rotation during the Major League Baseball playoffs — featuring testimonials from working-class voters, as well as voters who say they previously backed former PresidentDonald Trump, that echo Biden’s message. A coalition of labor groups targeting union members in battleground states is pointing to Biden’s term in office. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., has trained his sights on keeping voters who backed Trump in 2016 and Biden in 2020 in the Democratic camp with a populist, progressive pitch that leans on Biden’s accomplishments.
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Vance says Ukraine is 'not nearly as important to us as other regions of the world'
Alec Hernández
Megan Lebowitz
Alec Hernández and Megan Lebowitz
In a podcast interview with conservative comedian Tim Dillon, Vance argued that Ukraine was not as important to the U.S. as Taiwan because of the island nation's role in chip manufacturing.
"Our interest is in peace. But part of that is motivated by my view that Ukraine is not nearly as important to us as other regions of the world, right? Just putting my cards on the table," he said. "Taiwan makes so much of the computer chips, right, which is such a driver of all economic growth, that if the Chinese took over Taiwan, it would be really bad for us."
Vance also posed the question about whether American diplomacy created "conflict instead of diffusing conflict," referring again to the war in Ukraine.
"In my view, it did," he said.
Earlier this week, Vance said that he believes "Ukraineis going to have to make thatdecision" about whether the country would have to cede land to Russia. He has previously said that he believes Ukraine would have to cede land to end the war.
‘You lost this vote’: Arab Americans in Dearborn struggle in an election where they don’t feel heard
Mirna Alsharif
Reporting from Dearborn, Michigan
Orthopedic surgeon Adam Fahs burst into tears as he recently recounted the horrors of what he saw in Gaza when he traveled there last December to treat wounded Palestinians. Fresh in his mind, he said, were the European Hospital’s wards full of women and children who had been maimed, and doing his best to treat them with grossly inadequate access to medical supplies.
“I remember talking with one of the health care workers and he was telling me that there’s a tradition now that the Palestinians have where before you go to sleep, you say goodbye to your family because you never know if you’re going to wake up,” said Fahs, a Lebanese American. “And you say your testimonies of faith, in case you pass away in your sleep.”
Read the full story here.
Elon Musk says million-dollar giveaway was intended to draw attention from legacy media
Emma Barnett
Raquel Coronell Uribe
Emma Barnett and Raquel Coronell Uribe
Elon Musk said tonight he decided to do a daily million-dollar giveaway to draw attention from “legacy media” to a petition meant to support the Constitution — particularly the First and Second Amendments.
“People sort of wonder, 'Why? What’s up with the million-dollar prizes?' I’m like, 'Well, we needed to get the legacy media to talk about it.' And, and I just knew that they would be, like, complaining like hell about it, that, like for sure, complaining on every newspaper at every TV station, or complaining like, like crazy,” Musk said.
Musk has raised eyebrows on the legality of the $1 million lottery-style contest — including from the Justice Department, which warned it could go against the law.
Musk defended its legality yesterday, saying it incentivized signing a petition that supported the Constitution and was not meant to induce people to register to vote, an illegal action under federal law.
Elon Musk sows doubt in voting by mail during Pennsylvania town-hall
Emma Barnett
Raquel Coronell Uribe
During a town hall in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Elon Musk sowed doubt in mail-in voting, calling them a “recipe for fraud” — even as Trump and Republicans push his supporters to vote by mail.
Though Musk said attendees could still mail in ballots, he advised them to vote early or hand absentee ballots in in-person.
“But really, like, you have an obvious recipe for fraud and an inability to prove fraud if you’ve got no ID, no voter ID, and you’ve got mail-in ballots,” Musk said.
When asked, Musk added he would be in favor of getting rid of mail-in ballots in the future.
Vance: Current U.S. leadership is ‘a way bigger threat than any foreign threat’
Alexandra Marquez
Sen. JD Vance on Saturday defended former president Donald Trump’s comments calling Democratic leaders “the enemy from within,” saying that inflation, slowing military recruitment and the migrant crisis are a “way bigger threat than any foreign threat.”
These problems, the Ohio Republican told NBC News’ “Meet the Press,” are “caused by broken leadership.”
“Look, when I look at the biggest threats to America, Kristen, I think the fact that people can’t afford groceries, the fact that our — we can’t meet our recruitment goals in the military, the fact that Americans have a wide-open southern border, that’s a way bigger threat than any foreign threat,” Vance told moderator Kristen Welker.
Read the full story here.
NYC Board of Elections announces highest estimated first day of early in-person voting turnout ever
Joe Kottke
New York City experienced its highest turnout for the first day of early in-person voting in history, according to the city's Board of Elections.
As of close of polls, more than 140,000 voters were checked in at polling sites across the five boroughs today, according to the board’s unofficial estimates.
In a briefing today on security preparations ahead of Trump's rally at Madison Square Garden tomorrow evening, Mayor Eric Adams encouraged New Yorkers to "be heard."
"We believe in working out our differences through our democratic process, and today, the democratic process continues with the start of early voting throughout New York City," he remarked.
Pennsylvania Republican county office closed after receiving bomb threat
Joe Kottke
The Republican Party of Pennsylvania said its Montgomery County Republican Committee Headquarters was forced to close earlier today due to a bomb threat.
In a statement, the party said that staff received a call this morning that included an "angry, profanity-laced bomb threat."
Chairman Lawrence Tabas said in a statement there should be "unanimous agreement that political violence has no place in our elections."
"We emphatically urge Pennsylvanians to voice their opinions by voting, not violence and intimidation," he continued.
The incident was reported to the Pennsylvania Election Threats Task Force, local police and the FBI, according to the party.
Gov. Josh Shapiro’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the threat.
Shapiro cast his mail-in ballot today in Montgomery County, he said in a post on X.
Michelle Obama hits the trail, warning what a Trump presidency would mean for women’s health
Megan Lebowitz
In her first stop on 2024 campaign trail, former first lady Michelle Obama delivered an urgent message to men, arguing that the election could have life or death consequences for the women they love.
“I am asking y’all from the core of my being to take our lives seriously,” she said at a rally for Harris in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Read the full story here.
Swifties for Harris sends mailers to Philadelphia suburbs
Abigail BrooksAbigail Brooks is a producer for NBC News.
Swifties for Harrisknows all too well how important the Philadelphia suburbs are — and with just over a week to go until Election Day, the group is targeting women in the city’s "collar counties" with mailers encouraging them to vote for Democrats up and down the ballot.
NBC News was sent photos of the mailers from a suburban woman voter in Delaware County, Pennsylvania who is a registered Republican. The mailer peppers Swift’s lyrics throughout, encouraging voters to not “leave any blank spaces” to make sure “all the stars align for VP Harris,” saying, “we are never going back, like ever.”
It also contains a QR code where Swifties who pledge to vote can claim a limited edition friendship bracelet. The beaded bracelets have become a staple during Swift’s Eras tour.
Swifties for Harris did not immediately respond a request for comment.
Trump hits a reflective note near the end of his latest rally
Allan Smith
Reporting from State College, Pennsylvania
Trump told rally attendees that after nine years of running, he knows win or lose this is the end of him campaigning for president.
“It’s coming to an end,” Trump said, adding, “In some ways it’s sad.”
“But we have to finish it off with a big victory,” he told the crowd.
The Constitution would restrict Trump from running again if he wins a second term in 2024, of course. But Trump also said last month that he thinks this election "will be it" for him.
Vance says children in Pennsylvania are 'not getting the education that they need' due to non-English speaking children
Raquel Coronell Uribe
Speaking at a rally in Erie, Pennsylvania, Vance claimed that “open borders” are decreasing the quality of education for Pennsylvanian children due to children who come into the country without knowing English.
“We’ve got thousands of children in Pennsylvania schools who don’t even speak English, which of course means that a lot of Pennsylvania children are not getting the education that they need,” Vance said.
“Now I don’t begrudge any child or any family for wanting a better life in the United States of America, but number one, you’ve got to come through the legal way,” the senator added.
Trump takes the stage over an hour late in Pennsylvania
Abigail BrooksAbigail Brooks is a producer for NBC News.
Trump is now taking the stage roughly an hour and 40 minutes late at his rally in State College, Pennsylvania, prompting cheers from the crowd of “Give us Trump!” and “Get him here already!”
When Trump adviser Stephen Miller took the stage, it prompted boos and groans from the crowd.
Last night in Traverse City, Michigan, Trump was so late after his three-hour Joe Rogan interview that many people left the rally before he arrived. Trump is frequently late to his rallies and often talks for 90 minutes to two hours.
NYC Mayor Eric Adams says he does not believe Trump is a fascist
Andy Weir
During remarks in New York on security preparations ahead of Trump’s rally tomorrow at Madison Square Garden, New York City Mayor Eric Adams told reporters, “I do not believe [Trump] is a fascist.”
Adams called on everyone to “dial down the temperature” and urged New Yorkers to show “a level of respectable communication.”
With that statement, Adams bucked the trend of Democratic leaders using the term after former White House chief of staff John Kelly said Trump meets the definition of a fascist.
Walz and AOC to livestream ‘Madden’ video game face off
Megan Lebowitz
Tim Walz and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez will take to the livestream platform Twitch tomorrow, where they will face off in a game of “Madden,” the football video game.
“You ready Gov?” Ocasio-Cortez said in a post to X announcing their livestream plans.
"Can’t wait. Looking forward to playing with you, @AOC!" Walz responded.
Elon Musk’s X is boosting election conspiracy theories with AI-powered trending topics
David Ingram
Elon Musk’s social media app X is supercharging the spread of voter-fraud conspiracy theories with the help of artificial intelligence, boosting unfounded claims including two personal smears against Vice President Kamala Harris.
The dubious content is spreading in the app’s “explore” section, which says it uses Musk’s AI software, named Grok, to aggregate trending social media topics. The information does not appear to be fact-checked by humans, and in several recent examples it seemed to repeat false or unsubstantiated claims as if they were true.
The feature is named “stories for you” and has a label saying it’s in a beta test, meaning it’s an experiment not available to all users. Each “story for you” consists of a feed of posts related to a trending topic. On the desktop version of X, users can also see a paragraph-long summary of the topic written by the Grok software if they look at the history of the “story for you.”
The feature’s placement in X’s explore section gives it prominent digital real estate in the final weeks of the presidential election, in which Musk is backing former President Donald Trump. Its repeated amplification of misinformation and conspiracy theories related to the election follows a string of instances where Musk has personally shared similar ideas, both in live appearances and on his social media.
In the past week, NBC News identified five “stories for you” that pushed baseless claims related to the election.
Read the full story here.
National Park Service issues permit for Harris' upcoming Ellipse speech
Hallie Jackson
The National Park Service on Saturday issued the permit approvingHarris’ upcoming Tuesday-night speech at the Ellipse in Washington, D.C.
The permit lists an estimated crowd of 20,000 as Harris seeks to make her closing argument to voters in prime time.
Harris campaign paints Trump as defensive on the economy
Alexandra Marquez
In a new Harris campaign memo shared first with NBC News, senior adviser Ian Sams writes that "it is clear that Donald Trump is on defense on the economy."
Sams pointed to a Thursday Truth Social post from Trump where he wrote that he is not proposing a national sales tax "as the Democrats say in their advertisements against me."
The Harris campaign added that they're winning on the economy because they argue that Trump's plan for tariffs would raise costs for Americans.
"Experts, voters, and apparently Donald Trump agree that his economic plan willraise costson the middle class as this election comes to a close. Trump’s loud lies on Truth Social show he knows it’s a problem," Sams wrote.
The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the memo.
Trump accuses Harris of 'loving' a military draft
Jake Traylor
Alexandra Marquez
Jake Traylor and Alexandra Marquez
During an event in Michigan, Trump blasted Harris, saying that she wants war and would love a military draft.
“Your sons and daughters will end up getting drafted. ... She’d love a draft. All she wants is a war,” Trump said.
He also spoke about Beyoncé's appearance at a Harris rally in Houston on Friday, telling attendees at his Michigan event that "they have to use [famous] people to get people to come to her events."
In a statement following Trump's Michigan rally, Sarafina Chitika, a spokesperson for the Harris campaign, said in a statement that "Trump showed again today that he is too busy trying to divide our country to lead it. America can’t afford to let an unhinged and unchecked Complainer-in-Chief back into the White House to enact his revenge."
"While Trump adds to his enemies list, Vice President Harris is bringing voters together across party lines because she is focused on actually helping the American people as President," Chitika added.
Harris will rally with Michelle Obama in Michigan today
Alexandra Marquez
On the first day of statewide early voting in Michigan, Harris plans to rally with former first lady Michelle Obama.
The two will attend a get-out-the-vote rally alongside Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist, Sen. Gary Peters and other local Michigan leaders.
Trump campaign launches first Snapchat ads
Andrew Arenge
With 10 days until the general election, the Trump campaign just launched its first Snapchat digital ads of the 2024 cycle.
The ads, which are running across swing states, are focused on mobilizing voters to go vote. Inone of the ads,an on-screen graphic asks, “Who needs to vote?” and the camera pans to reveal Trump pointing at the screen and giving a thumbs-up.
During the 2020 election, the Trump campaign had spent $268,000 on Snapchat ads and started consistently advertising on the platform at the end of August.
So far this year, the Democratic presidential campaign has spent $7.8 million on Snapchat ads. It’s been running ads on the platform since March.
Biden: Women 'can do anything any man can do,' including being president
Julia Jester
Alexandra Marquez
Julia Jester and Alexandra Marquez
During a speech at the Laborers’ International Union of North America Get Out the Vote kickoff event in Pittsburgh, President Joe Biden boosted Harris, telling the crowd that women “can do anything any man can do, including being president of the United States.”
Biden also blasted Trump, calling him a "loser of a man," and urged the crowd to vote, telling attendees, "don't do it for me, do it for your kids."
Trump doubles down on negative comments about Detroit
Alexandra Marquez
During a rally in Novi, Michigan, Trump doubled down on his critical comments about Detroit, saying that the city "makes us a developing nation."
His remarks came during a section of his speech about bringing manufacturing back to Michigan from China and Mexico.
"I think Detroit and some of our areas makes us a developing nation. China doesn’t have any place like that," the former president said.
In key swing states, the lines at food banks are growing longer
Shannon Pettypiece
Across the rural communities and industrial towns of western Michigan, semitrucks hauling thousands of pounds of food are pulling up to church parking lots and community centers where growing lines of people are waiting for a few boxes of free groceries.
One truck can carry enough food for up to 600 households, but some days even that isn’t enough to meet the demand, which has gone up by 18% over the past 12 months, said Ken Estelle, president of Feeding America West Michigan.
“We have never seen this level of need in the 43 years we have been serving this community. It is significantly higher than during Covid and has pressed us beyond our capacity,” said Estelle. “We’ve just seen this drumbeat increase every month of more people and more people.”
From rural Michigan to midsize towns in Pennsylvania and affluent suburbs in Wisconsin, food banks are reporting record levels of need that have been steadily increasing over the past several years. Despite rising wages and low unemployment rates, many households continue to struggle with escalating costs that havedepletedtheir savings andincreasedcredit card debt, leaving little money left over at the end of the month to put food on the table, food bank directors said.
Read the full story here.
Judge rules that the voter registrations of nearly 2,000 S.C. teens won't proceed before Election Day
Alexandra Marquez
A South Carolina judge on Friday ruled that the voter registrations of 1,900 teens wouldn't be addressed before Election Day.
The ACLU sued after the state's Department of Motor Vehicles failed to transmit the teens' voter registrations to the elections board. The teens were 17 when they registered but would have been 18 on Election Day.
In his ruling, the judge said it was simply too close to Election Day to add people to the voter rolls.
In a statement, Allen Chaney, legal director for the ACLU of South Carolina, said, “Our government failed these young voters, and now the same government is making excuses rather than making things right. When ‘It’s too hard to fix’ becomes an acceptable reason to disenfranchise voters, we know that there’s work to do.”
Trump records a 3-hour interview with Joe Rogan about the election, Harris and whales
Matt Dixon
In a highly anticipated interview, Donald Trump touched on a wide range of cultural and political issues Friday night in a three-hour conversation with Joe Rogan, who hosts one of the biggest podcasts in the world.
The recording went on so long that Trump arrived several hours late to his rally that night in Traverse City, Michigan. Frustrated at having to wait so long,many people left.
The Rogan interview is a continuation of Trump turning to nontraditional media outlets, including podcasts, in the weeks leading up to Election Day. Rogan also invited Vice President Kamala Harris to do an interview, but her campaign has declined. Rogan’s podcast has more than 17 million YouTube subscribers.
Read the full story here.
Trump supporters who bought his lies about the last election face reality in court
Ryan J. Reilly
With just days left until the 2024 election, Donald Trump supporters who fell for his lies about fraud in the last election continue to face legal consequences for storming the Capitol on Jan. 6, even as Trump managed to stave off his own criminal trial and again become the Republican presidential nominee.
On Friday afternoon, a young Trump supporter who stormed the Capitol faced sentencing inside a federal courthouse in Washington, just a few hundred feet from the crime scene. Caleb Berry, a now-23-year-old who stormed the Capitol along with members of the far-right Oath Keepers group, stood before the judge in a black shirt and apologized to everyone in the courtroom, and to the country.
Read the full story here.
9 congressional sleeper races to watch on Election Night
Sahil Kapur
The presidential race between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump is dominating the 2024 debate, but control of both chambers of Congress is also very much up for grabs — and a series of fluid races may produce surprises on election night.
These sleeper races could determine which party wins a majority in the House or Senate, which will have a substantial impact on the next president’s agenda. They will be decided by a mix of factors, including voter turnout and whether the candidates have a unique ability to defy the broader political winds.
Here are nine races for Congress where one side should be clearly favored, but appears to have a battle on their hands.
Read the full story here.