Election 2024 Latest: Trump and Harris zero in on economic policy plans ahead of first debate

The two presidential nominees are using the week before their debate to sharpen their economic messages about who could do more for the middle class. Vice President Kamala Harris discussed her policy plans on Wednesday in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, while Donald Trump will address the Economic Club of New York on Thursday.

Harris used the New Hampshire campaign stop to propose an expansion of tax incentives for small businesses, a pro-entrepreneur plan that may soften her previous calls for wealthy Americans and large corporations to pay higher taxes. Trump, meanwhile, is betting that Americans crave trillions of dollars in tax cuts — and that growth will be so fantastic that it’s not worth worrying about budget deficits.

The candidates will debate next week in what will be their first meeting ever. The nation’s premier swing state, Pennsylvania, begins in-person absentee voting the week after. By the end of the month, early voting will be underway in at least four states with a dozen more to follow by mid-October.

In just 62 days, the final votes will be cast to decide which one of them will lead the world’s most powerful nation.

Follow the AP’s Election 2024 coverage at: https://apnews.com/hub/election-2024.

Here’s the Latest:

Harris accepts rules for Sept. 10 debate with Trump on ABC, including microphone muting

Vice President Kamala Harris has accepted the rules set forth for next week’s debate with former President Donald Trump, although the Democratic nominee says the decision not to keep both candidates’ microphones live throughout the matchup will be to her disadvantage.

The development, which came Wednesday by way of a letter from Harris’ campaign to host network ABC News, seemed to mark a conclusion to the debate over microphone muting, which had for a time threatened to derail the Sept. 10 presidential debate at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.

Republican Liz Cheney says she’ll vote for Kamala Harris

Former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney on Wednesday said she would support Kamala Harris for president, ending weeks of speculation about how fully the member of a GOP dynasty-turned-Trump critic would embrace the Democratic ticket.

Cheney, who co-chaired the House investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack, became a fierce Trump critic and was ousted in her 2022 Republican primary in Wyoming as a result, made her announcement at an event at Duke University. In a video posted on the social media network X, she finished by talking about the “danger” she believed Trump still poses to the country.

“I don’t believe that we have the luxury of writing in candidates’ names, particularly in swing states,” she said. “As a conservative, as someone who believes in and cares about the Constitution, I have thought deeply about this. Because of the danger that Donald Trump poses, not only am I not voting for Donald Trump, but I will be voting for Kamala Harris.”

Read more here.

That photo of people wearing ‘Nebraska Walz’s for Trump’ shirts? They’re distant cousins

A sister of Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz says she doesn’t recognize the people wearing “Nebraska Walz’s for Trump” T-shirts in a photo that is making the rounds on social media. It turns out they are distant cousins.

The photo shows eight smiling people wearing navy pro-Trump shirts, underneath a “Trump 2024 — Take America Back” sign. The photo was eventually reposted by former President Donald Trump, who wrote on his Truth Social platform: “It is a Great Honor to have your Endorsement. I look forward to meeting you soon!”

The photo was first posted on X by Charles Herbster, a former candidate for governor in Nebraska who had Trump’s endorsement in the 2022 campaign. Herbster’s spokesperson, Rod Edwards, said the people in the photo are cousins to the Minnesota governor, who is now Kamala Harris’ running mate.

“The family in the picture are the descendants of Francis Walz, who was brother to Tim Walz’s grandfather,” Edwards said. “They’re all Walzes and spouses.”

Read more here.

Harris calls Georgia school shooting ‘senseless tragedy’

Vice President Kamala Harris addressed the “senseless tragedy” of Wednesday’s school shooting in Georgia during a campaign stop in New Hampshire.

“It’s just outrageous that every day, in our country, in the United States of America, that parents have to send their children to school worried about whether or not their child will come home alive.”

“She added, “We’ve got to stop it. It doesn’t have to be this way.”

Harris talked about meeting with college students who told her they grew up with active shooter drills.

“Our kids are sitting in a classroom where they should be fulfilling their God-given potential and some part of their big beautiful brain is concerned about a shooter busting through the door of the classroom,” she said.

Jimmy McCain, a son of the late Arizona senator, registers as a Democrat and backs Harris

Jimmy McCain, a son of former Arizona senator and 2008 Republican presidential nominee John McCain, said this week he has registered as a Democrat and will vote for Vice President Kamala Harris, a valuable nod of support for the Democratic nominee in a battleground state.

Meanwhile, Trump’s running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, is scheduled to appear outside Phoenix Wednesday at a rally with the conservative youth organizing group Turning Point USA, which has been instrumental in remaking the Arizona GOP as a faithful organ of former President Donald Trump’s “Make America great again” movement.

Jimmy McCain’s endorsement and Vance’s Turning Point USA appearance reflect the disparate segments of the GOP that Harris and Trump are trying to reach. Democrats are appealing to traditional conservatives disillusioned by Trump’s takeover of the GOP, while Republicans are looking to shore up their base and ensure that their young supporters turn out.

Jimmy McCain said he had been an independent since leaving the Republican Party after Trump became its standard bearer in 2016. He decided during a nine-month overseas deployment that just ended to switch his registration to Democratic and announce it publicly.

Kennedy files lawsuit in Wisconsin, trying to force his way off the state's presidential ballot

MADISON, Wis. — Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has filed a lawsuit in Wisconsin trying to force his way off of the presidential battleground state’s ballot after the state elections commission voted to keep him on it.

Kennedy suspended his campaign in August and endorsed Republican Donald Trump. Kennedy said he would try to remove his name from the ballot in battleground states while telling his supporters they could continue to back him in the majority of states where they are unlikely to sway the outcome.

Kennedy also filed a lawsuit in neighboring Michigan but a judge ruled Tuesday that he must remain on the ballot. A Kennedy lawsuit filed on Friday in North Carolina seeking removal from the ballot is pending.

Republicans and Democrats have until 5 p.m. on the first Tuesday in September ahead of an election to certify their presidential nominee. Independent candidates like Kennedy can only withdraw before the Aug. 6 deadline for submitting nomination papers.

State law does not provide a way for independent presidential candidates to remove themselves from the ballot after they have submitted nomination papers unless they die. Kennedy filed his papers before the Aug. 6 deadline.

The Wisconsin Elections Commission, citing that law, voted 5-1 last week to approve Kennedy’s name for the ballot after an attempt by Republican commissioners to remove him failed.

Kennedy is asking the court for an order that bars the elections commission from putting his name on the ballot and puts on hold its vote last week placing him on the ballot.

The US is preparing to accuse Russia of disinformation campaigns targeting the presidential election

The Biden administration is preparing Wednesday to accuse Russia of disinformation campaigns targeting the presidential election, according to three people familiar with the matter.

Intelligence agencies have previously accused Russia of using disinformation to try to interfere in the election. But the announcement expected from Attorney General Merrick Garland is expected to show the depth of U.S. concerns and signal legal actions against those suspected of being involved.

The people who discussed the announcement spoke on condition of anonymity with The Associated Press because the matter was not public. One of the people said the announcement will involve, in part, an accusation of the use of Russia-state media to spread disinformation and propaganda.

Garland and other law enforcement leaders are expected to speak briefly at the opening of a meeting of the Justice Department’s elections threats task force.

In a speech last month, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said Russia was the primary threat to the election.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and “his proxies are using increasingly sophisticated techniques in their interference operations. They’re targeting specific voter demographics and swing-state voters to manipulate presidential and congressional election outcomes,” she said. “They’re intent on co-opting unwitting Americans on social media to push narratives advancing Russian interests.”

A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment.

CNN first reported the expected announcement.