2024 Election Latest: Trump Jr. calls for unity, attacks enemies

The third day of the Republican National Convention kicked off Wednesday with Republicans — led by the newly nominated Donald Trump and his running mate, U.S. Sen. JD Vance of Ohio — shifting their focus to issues of national security and foreign policy.

Republicans are expected to focus on Democratic President Joe Biden’s handling of the ongoing crises in Europe and the Middle East. Former Trump administration officials are also expected to take the stage to outline what foreign policy would look like if he returns to the White House for a second term.

Here's the Latest:

Vance is contrasting Biden and Trump

“Joe Biden has been a politician in Washington as long as I’ve been alive,” Vance, 39, said. “For half a century he’s been a champion of every single policy initiative to make America weaker and poorer.”

In contrast, Vance said, Trump in four years was able to reverse all those negative trends. “Just imagine what he’s going to do when we give him four more years,” Vance said, sparking chants of “four more years.”

Vance, still a relative unknown, familiarizes the crowd with his autobiography

The crowd inside the convention hall welcomed Vance warmly, but they were somewhat quiet during his remarks — at least compared to other more fiery speakers from earlier in the night.

In winning the nomination, Vance has leap-frogged a deep bench of aspiring Republican politicians in Ohio, where the GOP controls every statewide executive office, both legislative chambers and the state Supreme Court.

The muted reception was a reminder that Vance is still not well known, even among Republicans. And he was not the most talented orator among the list of veep finalists. Perhaps that’s why Vance has closely followed the script for much of his speech, according to the teleprompters in the room.

It’s also worth noting that the speech is more focused on Vance’s biography than the red-meat conservative issues that most excite Republican activists.

Vance pays homage to his ‘Mamaw’

Vance drew upon his bestselling memoir to talk about growing up in a faded Ohio town. He credited his success to his grandmother, who he refers to as “Mamaw.”

He recounted how she was “tough as nails.” Once, when Vance recalled that he was spending too much time hanging out with a local kid who dealt drugs, his grandmother said she’d run the boy over with her car if Vance didn’t stop.

“She said, ‘JD, no one will ever find out about it,’” Vance recalled.

The crowd roared and began chanting “Mamaw! Mamaw!”

Vance pays respect to his running mate before detailing his own life story

Vance’s autobiographical speech is supposed to introduce the 39-year-old freshman senator to the nation, but he seemed to have little choice but to immediately address Saturday’s assassination attempt on his running mate.

“For the last eight years, President Trump has given everything he has to fight for his country. He didn’t need politics but the country needed him,” Vance said.

“They said he was a tyrant. They said he had to be stopped at all costs. But what did he call for?” Vance asked. “He called for national unity.”

He also shared an unexpected private detail — two nights ago, he said, Trump gave each of his two adult sons a kiss on the cheek. “Sorry guys,” Vance joked about the moment, noting the two Trump sons “squirmed” like Vance’s own 4-year-old son when the Ohio Senator tries to kiss him.

JD Vance takes the stage

With a kiss to his wife, he walked out to Merle Haggard’s “America First,” which has played several times during the convention.

Bowing his head and waving to the crowd, the 39-year-old Ohio senator, elected just 20 months ago, proclaimed, “Wow, wow!” as the crowd briefly chanted “JD, JD.”

“My name is JD Vance, from the great state of Ohio,” he said.

To the chance of OH-IO, he said, “We gotta chill with the Ohio love, we have to win Michigan too.”

Usha Vance introduces her husband

Usha Vance, JD Vance’s wife and political unknown, arrived on the RNC stage for her prime-time debut.

“When I was asked to introduce my husband JD Vance to all of you, I was at a loss,” she said. “What can I say that hasn’t already been said. I mean the man was a subject of a Ron Howard movie.”

Usha Vance laid out the stark differences between how she and her husband grew up. The senator is from a low-income Appalachian family and she came from a middle-class immigrant home in San Diego. “When JD met me, he approached our differences with curiosity and enthusiasm,” she said.

Biden: ‘I am doing well’ after testing positive for COVID-19

Biden commented after Air Force One brought him back to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. The president was in Las Vegas to speak to members of a Latino civil rights organization but canceled the appearance after learning he was positive for the virus.

The White House said the president was experiencing mild symptoms, had begun treatment and will isolate at his home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.

Trump Jr. calls for unity, attacks enemies

Donald Trump Jr. spoke movingly about his father’s bravery on Saturday after a would-be assassin opened fire, saying he showed “for all the world” that “the next American president has the heart of a lion.” But he toggled back and forth between talking about his father as a symbol of national unity and slamming his enemies.

“When he stood up with blood on his face and the flag at his back, the world saw a spirit that could never be broken,” Trump Jr said. “And that is the true spirit of America. America knows what it’s like to be down. We know what it’s like to be confused and afraid.”

He quickly segued to slamming the media’s “lies.”

“They lied about Russia collusion, they lied about Hunter’s laptop. They lied about Joe Biden’s fitness for office, they lied about the border being secure,” Trump Jr said. Eventually, he said, “all hell has broken loose in America.”

Trump Jr. concluded by referencing his father again on Saturday. “He may have moved to the ground but he stood back up,” he said. “He raised his fist in the air and what did he say?” The crowd echoed back “Fight! Fight! Fight!”

The speech shows the challenge facing the convention — to give voice to the fear and frustration of their conservative base while also trying to promote Donald Trump as a symbol of hope for all voters.

Unauthorized aircraft escorted out of airspace surrounding RNC

An aircraft entered the restricted airspace surrounding the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on Wednesday and was escorted out of the area by a North American Aerospace Defense Command F-35 jet.

The aircraft was not in communication with air traffic control when flying about 24 miles southwest of Milwaukee around 3:30 p.m., NORAD said. The F-35 jet was flying at about 4,000 feet and would have been visible from the ground, NORAD said.

NORAD did not provide any details about the type of aircraft it intercepted, where it was headed or if it knew it was violating the restricted airspace.

The Federal Aviation Administration has implemented temporary flight restrictions in and around Milwaukee throughout the convention which concludes Thursday.

JD Vance to highlight his Appalachian upbringing in RNC speech

Vice presidential nominee JD Vance will draw upon his poor upbringing in Appalachia in his keynote address while promising voters that he won’t forget the small Midwestern town where he comes from.

“Never in my wildest imagination would I have believed that I could be standing here tonight,” Vance, a 39-year-old first-term senator, will say, according to excerpts of his remarks released by the campaign.

He grew up in Middletown, Ohio, “a small town where people spoke their minds, built with their hands, and loved their God, family, community and country with their whole hearts.”

In the speech, he uses his youth to help draw a contrast with Biden, 81, who is more than twice his age.

Vance notes he was in fourth grade when “a career politician by the name of Joe Biden supported NAFTA, a bad trade deal that sent countless good American manufacturing jobs to Mexico.”

“In small towns like mine in Ohio, or next door in Pennsylvania, or in Michigan and other states across our country, jobs were sent overseas and children were sent to war.”

He’ll also reference his mother, a single mom “who struggled with money and addiction but never gave up. And I am proud to say that tonight my mom is here, 10 years clean and sober.”

Vance will conclude his remarks with a promise to the American people:

“The people of Middletown, Ohio, and all the forgotten communities in Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and every corner of our Nation, I promise you this: I will never forget where I came from.”

A 98-year-old World War 2 veteran took the stage to criticize the country’s 81-year-old Democratic president

William Pekrul, who said he’s the father of 11 children, fought on D-Day and at the Battle of the Bulge. “There were many of us left, there aren’t many of us left today,” Pekrul said, standing on his own on stage.

“But for those of us who are here, America’s still worth fighting for.”

Pekrul continued that “it hurts my heart” to see how Biden and Harris have taken care of the country. “If President Trump were the commander-in-chief, I’d go back and reenlist today,” Pekrul said, as Trump smiled and clapped.

Trump has a history of controversial statements about veterans, including being accused by his former chief of staff, a one-time Marine General, that he scoffed at the sacrifice of those buried in Normandy who died during the D-Day invasion. Trump has denied he made the statement.

Biden has remained supportive of Israel despite protests within his own party

As the issues from the stage turn to the Israeli-Hamas war, signs saying “We are Jews for Trump” are emerging from the crowd on the floor.

An Israeli flag is being waved near a woman holding a sign that says, “Free hostages, Support Israel and Fight Antisemitism.”

The Biden administration has steadfastly supported Israel despite major protests from within the Democratic party’s own ranks. Biden visited Israel shortly after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks and hugged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Biden has rejected demands to halt all weapons shipments to Israel, although it did suspend the transfer of 2,000-pound bombs over fears they might be used in heavily populated areas in Gaza.

At the same time, US officials have been working since October to try and arrange a cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas that would see the release of hostages and at least a temporary end to hostilities.

Top Biden aides, including national security adviser Jake Sullivan and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, have met repeatedly with the families of American and other hostages still held by Hamas and pledged to work for their release.

Convention speakers turn to condemning activists on college campuses

Country singer Brian Kelley played his song “American Spirit” as a group of fraternity brothers from UNC Chapel Hill strode to the stage, carrying American flags.

The group was honored for taking down a Palestinian flag that activists raised in place of an American flag on their camps. The fraternity brothers then again raised the American flag.

Next up was Shabbos Kestenbaum, a Jewish Harvard student suing his school for alleged antisemitism. “After Oct. 7, the world finally saw what I and so many Jewish students across this country experience every day,” Kestenbaum said.

The parents of an American man captured by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, and held hostage ever since also spoke.

Gold Star families say Biden ‘refused to recognize’ the sacrifice of their loved ones

The families of the 13 U.S. service members who were killed by a suicide bombing in August 2021 appeared on stage as Trump and Republicans look to further highlight one of the most difficult moments of Biden’s tenure. “Joe Biden has refused to recognize their sacrifice,” Christy Shamblin, the mother of Sgt. Nicole Gee, told the crowd. “Donald Trump knew all of our children’s names. He knew all of their stories.”

The crowd at the RNC chanted “Never forget!” and “U.S.A!”

The parents and loved ones of those service members have been thrown into the political spotlight, appearing before congressional hearings and doing various news interviews.

Republicans have claimed that Biden’s decision to remove U.S. soldiers after the two-decade war in Afghanistan was a strictly political move. But the agreement for the U.S. to withdraw from Afghanistan was signed by Trump’s administration in February 2020. The deal called for American troops to be out by May 2021, but Trump left office that January without leaving a plan in place for the actual withdrawal of forces.

The families have blasted Biden for never publicly naming their loved ones. On stage Wednesday, one of the family members named each of the 13 members, with the crowd echoing back each lost soldier’s name as it was read out loud.

The Republican criticism of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan resonates with voters across party lines. Former Biden supporters, such as former New Hampshire House Speaker Steve Shurtleff, have cited the botched withdrawal as one reason why they want Biden to step aside.

Rep. Waltz describes Trump’s relationship with the families of military service members

Rep. Michael Waltz of Florida said Trump has helped Gold Star families heal following the deaths of their relatives in combat.

Waltz talked about how Trump has hosted such families at his clubs for dinners and events as a way to thank them for their families’ service and sacrifice.

The former Green Beret also opened his Wednesday night comments with a crack on Biden, asking attendees, “Has anyone seen charging stations in the Middle East for Biden’s electric tanks?”

Waltz, co-chairman of the Platform Committee, also spoke at the convention on Monday. His name has been mentioned as a possible secretary of state contender in a second Trump administration.

Kellyanne Conway highlights the women from Trump’s administration

Kellyanne Conway reminded RNC attendees how many women served at top levels in Trump’s White House.

The former senior presidential adviser said Tuesday that she was one of five women, along with others including former press secretary-turned-Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, in top jobs during Trump’s administration.

Conway noted that among them, they had 19 children in total. Party officials and strategists have noted that Trump has struggled in the past two elections — and again may in 2024 — to attract suburban, college-educated women.

In 2016, Conway became the first woman to successfully head up a Republican presidential campaign.

Her comments at the 2020 RNC served as a farewell of sorts, as she had announced she’d be leaving the administration.

Gov. Abbott wants to ‘take back our land and wire it shut’

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is receiving a warm welcome from the entire delegation, led by Texans waving their white cowboy hats.

“I can tell you America needs a president that will secure our border,” says Abbott, governor of the state with the largest section of the U.S.-Mexican border.

Abbott criticized the Biden administration for objecting to his administration’s effort to secure more of its section of the border, “to take back our land and wire it shut.”

Abbott’s remarks prompted thousands in Fiserv Forum to chant, “Send them back, send them back.”

GOP showcases ‘everyday Americans’

Throughout the convention, the party has been been highlighting nonpoliticians they've dubbed ‘everyday Americans’ to make the case for Trump — or against President Biden.

“It looks like and it feels like an invasion because it is,” Jim Chilton, an Arizona rancher, said of immigration issues he’s observed near his property.

Chilton’s wife, Sue, said a U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agent was shot near their home, and she often worries for her husband’s safety when he goes out on their property.

“Under President Donald Trump, it wasn’t like this,” Sue Chilton said.

The shooting of the U.S. border agent occurred in 2018 when Trump was president.

Schumer spokesperson pushes back on ABC News report

After an ABC News report that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer made the case to President Joe Biden on Saturday that it would be best for him to drop his reelection bid, a spokesperson for the lawmaker is not denying the report.

“Unless ABC’s source is Senator Chuck Schumer or President Joe Biden the reporting is idle speculation,” the Schumer spokesperson said. “Leader Schumer conveyed the views of his caucus directly to President Biden on Saturday.”

Ex-White House official speaks at RNC after being released from prison

The packed convention hall gave former Trump White House official Peter Navarro an ovation that spanned over a full minute when he took the stage. He was released from a Florida prison earlier today.

“If they can come for me, if they can come for Donald Trump, be careful, they can come for you,” Navarro told convention goers and delegates. Navarro was released from custody after completing a four-month sentence for refusing to cooperate with a congressional investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by a mob of Trump supporters, according to the federal Bureau of Prisons.

Navarro’s defiant speech was a rare mention of Jan. 6 on the convention floor. He spoke for more than 10 minutes — one of the longest speeches yet — about what he called the “lawfare jackals” he blamed for locking him up. Navarro embraced his fiancée onstage to wild cheers. It was a striking reception for one of Trump’s longest-standing advisors, though one who had not had a particularly high profile before his defiance of the Jan. 6 committee.

The scene was the sort of spectacle common at Trump rallies, where the presidential nominee routinely plays a recording made by those convicted of crimes on Jan. 6, who he refers to as “hostages.” But there hasn’t been a similar moment at the convention, which has so far avoided talking about Trump’s push to overturn his 2020 loss.

RFK Jr. supporters gather outside RNC entrance

A handful of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. supporters waved flags near an entrance in support of the independent candidate who they say is a strong alternative to a two-party system where they increasingly feel out of place.

Patrick Clerkin, 31, who lives outside of Boston, said he was in Milwaukee trying to energize young voters. “They really do have a third choice this time,” Clerkin said, as an AI-generated pop version of a John F. Kennedy campaign jingle blared on a speaker in the background.

Clerkin described the apparent leaked video of Kennedy’s phone call with Trump as “encouraging.”

“It wouldn’t be happening if they didn’t consider him worthy of the attention,” Clerkin said.

Republicans lay the groundwork for their potential fight against Harris

Trump’s former White House physician, Rep. Ronny Jackson of Texas, is the latest to attack Harris.

Jackson is hammering Biden’s physical and mental capabilities to perform his presidential duties and blaming the president’s “staff and family” for not pushing him to abandon his reelection campaign. But Jackson said, “Perhaps the greatest blame lies with his own vice president. ... She has lied to us. She has put party above country. She is as unfit in character as Joe Biden is in body and mind.”

In case it’s not obvious, Republicans are doing everything they can to lay the groundwork for a campaign against Harris if that becomes necessary.

Rep. Nancy Mace has been on Trump’s bad side before, but now she’s backing him

The South Carolina Republican took the stage at the RNC on Tuesday night, talking about her origins as a high school dropout and Waffle House waitress before becoming the first woman to graduate from The Citadel military college.

She also referenced the assassination attempt on Trump’s life, saying that, “just as Trump quickly rose to his feet” after the shooting, “America will soon be back on hers” with him back in the White House.

Mace worked for Trump’s 2016 campaign and won South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District in 2020. But after she criticized Trump following the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, the former president supported a Republican who primaried her in 2022.

Mace won that contest, has gotten back in Trump’s good graces and now has his support as she seeks a third term.

Wednesday session is underway, promises sweeping attacks on Biden

The third night of the RNC promises sweeping critiques of President Biden as a weak commander-in-chief and head of state. There has been plenty of Biden bashing already this week — expected at a Republican convention ahead of challenging an incumbent Democrat.

The question is whether the attacks land beyond conservatives already inclined to vote for Trump.

Republican Chairman Michael Whatley previewed the line of argument in his introductory remarks, talking of a porous Southern border and asserting that Russia and China were “in check” when Trump was president. But the latter, in particular, is a simplified view of the realities behind Moscow’s and Beijing’s ambitions and aggressive posturing in their respective regions.

Trump spent much of his presidency making friendly overtures toward Vladimir Putin. Biden, meanwhile, has largely tracked Trump’s approach on trade policy with China.

But those details and nuances won’t find airtime tonight in Milwaukee.

Russian diplomat praises Vance on Russia-Ukraine War stance

Russia’s top diplomat is welcoming Republican vice-presidential nominee JD Vance’s support for ending U.S. aid to Ukraine and says Moscow will work with any American leader “willing to engage in equitable, mutually respectful dialogue.”

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told a U.N. news conference that Vance is in favor of peace and “that’s what we need — to stop pumping Ukraine full of weapons.”

“Then, the war will end and then we can look for solutions,” he said.

Vance wants the United States to attend to its own problems — not necessarily a war thousands of miles away on a different continent, even though he has said Putin was wrong to invade. That view dovetails with presidential nominee Trump who has claimed that if elected he would end the conflict before Inauguration Day in January, though he has declined to say how.

The Russian minister stressed that any solution in Ukraine must take into consideration both the situation on the ground and the reality of political life. And a key feature is that the four Ukrainian regions Moscow illegally annexed in 2022 are now part of Russia, enshrined in the constitution, “and there’s no use discussing that any further — it’s nonnegotiable.”

Biden boards Air Force One unmasked, returns to Deleware

Biden boarded Air Force One and told reporters traveling with him that, “I feel good.” The president was not wearing a mask as he walked onto Air Force One.

Shortly before the White House announced Biden’s condition, the president had stopped at the Original Lindo Michoácan Restaurant, mingling with customers, making small talk and taking selfies as he went table to table before participating in an interview with Univision.

President Biden tests positive for COVID-19 while campaigning in Las Vegas

President Biden has tested positive for the coronavirus, according to a speaker at the UnidosUS annual conference broadcast on the White House’s YouTube channel.

Biden was slated to speak at the event in Las Vegas Wednesday afternoon as part of an effort to rally Hispanic voters ahead of the November election. Unidos US President and CEO Janet Murguía told the guests that the president had sent his regrets and could not appear because he tested positive for the virus.

The president had previously been at the Original Lindo Michoacan restaurant in Las Vegas, where he was greeting diners and was scheduled to have an interview with Univision.

Milwaukee police chief defends use of outside law enforcement at RNC

The role of police from outside Milwaukee has been under scrutiny after officers from Columbus, Ohio, shot and killed a man wielding two knives near the convention.

Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman told The Associated Press today, a day after the shooting, that the officers took it upon themselves to intervene in an “active imminent threat situation.” He says it should restore people’s faith that law enforcement has the community’s back, no matter where they are from.

The shooting angered area residents because the police were from elsewhere. It’s also reignited activists’ concerns about police use of deadly force.

JD Vance won’t commit to VP debate until Democrats formally choose their nominee

Newly minted Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance’s team says it’s too soon to discuss the vice presidential debate because Democrats don’t formally have their nominees and President Biden could still drop out of the race.

After Vice Harris accepted a third debate date offered by CBS News and encouraged Vance to accept, Brian Hughes, a spokesperson for the Trump campaign said, “We don’t know who the Democrat nominee for Vice President is going to be, so we can’t lock in a date before their convention. To do so would be unfair to Gavin Newsom, JB Pritzker, Gretchen Whitmer, or whoever Kamala Harris picks as her running mate.”

President Biden is the presumptive Democrat nominee but is facing pressure from party leaders to step aside after his disastrous debate with Trump. Biden has insisted he’s not leaving the race.

Former White House official Peter Navarro arrives following prison release

A black SUV dropped off Peter Navarro at a Hyatt Hotel just outside the security perimeter surrounding the Republican National Convention. He is set to speak tonight night.

Navarro, who served as a White House trade adviser under Trump, was freed from a Florida prison earlier today after serving four months for refusing to cooperate with a congressional investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by a mob of the Republican president’s supporters, according to the federal Bureau of Prisons.

Navarro carried his own luggage into the hotel after his release from prison earlier in the day.

“I’m enjoying the freedom,” he told the AP.

Vance lashes out at press, says Trump delivered on toning down ‘the temperature’ of rhetoric

Ohio Sen. JD Vance lashed out at the press at his first fundraiser since becoming Trump’s running mate Thursday, saying they “really miss what the man is made of.”

Speaking to donors in Milwaukee not far from the convention site, Vance said the truth about Trump was put on display Saturday, after he survived a failed assassination attempt and Trump stood up, raised his hand in the air, and said “Fight! Fight! Fight!”

Trump, he said, “literally got shot — came within millimeters of losing his life in the service of this country.”

But instead of being mad and angry, Vance said, Trump “called for national unity. He called for calm. He showed leadership, my friends.”

“The media keeps on saying they want somebody to tone down the temperature. Well, Donald Trump got shot and he toned down the temperature. That’s what a real leader does,” he added.

Vance quips that he told Trump that he’s ‘very excited’ for RNC address

Trump’s running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, is attending his first fundraiser since becoming the official Republican vice presidential nominee.

Vance said he would use his speech Wednesday night to make the case about the importance of reelecting Trump.

Speaking to a room of several hundred donors at Discovery World, a lakefront museum and aquarium in Milwaukee, he quipped that he’s told Trump he’s “very excited about this evening” and doesn’t plan to screw it up, but that it’s too late for Trump to change his mind.

Vance was introduced by Ohio Congressman Jim Banks, who called him the “future of the Republican Party” and the America First movement.

He applauded Trump for his choice, saying Vance was the best candidate to connect with working class men and women in critical states like Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania.

Can anyone say 2028?

Fresh off his convention floor speech marching behind Donald Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was back on the GOP circuit.

One of his first stops Wednesday: the Iowa Republican luncheon. Yes, the state that will cast the first votes of the 2028 Republican presidential nominating contest.

DeSantis finished a disappointing distant second in the Iowa caucuses in January and dropped out afterward to endorse Trump. He did not mention 2028 during his time with Iowa delegates, but he certainly sounded like a governor who was still trying to sell his record to a collection of influential Republican activists.

He ticked off several conservative policy achievements and, as he did Tuesday night, bragged about how dominant Republicans now are in what was once a coin-flip state.

The reason, according to DeSantis: “We had good leadership.”

New York congressional candidate says Vance is unfamiliar, but Trump’s pick is ‘my pick’

Menachem M. Raitport, a delegate from New York state and a candidate for the 9th Congressional District seat there, says he doesn’t know much about JD Vance or any of the other people Trump considered as a running mate.

“I trust that our president did a thorough evaluation of his candidates,” Raitport said Wednesday outside the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee. “And if Donald Trump decided this is his pick, then he’s my pick because I put full faith in the president that he is going to lead our country back to prosperity, safety, security, secure borders and repairing our economy and repairing our nation as a whole and bringing us all together.”

If Vance and Vice President Kamala Harris face off in a debate, Raitport said he would watch it “with a big bucket of popcorn and laugh.”

“JD Vance, I’m sure, has a lot to say and he’ll be articulate,” Raitport said. “On the other hand, Kamala Harris — it’s gonna be a comedy show.”

Gingrich: JD Vance pick part of Trump’s mission to transform the party and country

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is billing Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance as part of Donald Trump’s ongoing process of remaking the Republican Party and the nation.

Gingrich, a Trump ally who speaks with the former president, told Iowa Republicans on Wednesday that the former president could have made a historically conventional pick to “consolidate” the party — a marriage like the conservative insurgent Ronald Reagan and the establishment figure George H.W. Bush who ran against him for the nomination in 1980.

“He had time to think it through, and his answer is, ‘No, people aren’t for me so I can compromise. People are for me so we can get things done and I need somebody who believes in what we’re doing,’” Gingrich said.

That cuts against some of the talk of party unity that has dominated the RNC’s first two days. Or, perhaps more accurately, it reflects that the definition of Republican unity in 2024 is to accept Trump’s vision and imprint on the party.

That influence runs so deep, Gingrich added, that “every word” of the Republican platform was “personally written or edited” by Trump.

Huckabee Sanders says the November election is her focus for now — not 2028

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who served as former President Donald Trump’s press secretary, was asked about 2028 possibilities and whether she was intrigued by the prospects of becoming the first female president.

“Right now, frankly, the only election I am focused on is November of this year. As soon as that’s over, I would transition into really focusing on 2026 and getting reelected as governor in my home state,” she said in a conversation with Politico at an event hall across the street from the convention venue in Milwaukee.

She was also asked about waiting to endorse Trump and whether he gave her a hard time.

“I have a great relationship with the president,” she said. “I have maintained a great back and forth, and I’m really proud to stand with him both in 2016 and 2020.”

Harris calls assassination attempt on Trump a ‘heinous, horrible and cowardly act’

Vice President Kamala Harris spoke during a moderated conversation on abortion access in Kalamazoo, Michigan, about the attempted assassination of Donald Trump.

“As we all know it was a heinous, horrible and cowardly act,” Harris said. “My husband and I are thankful he was not seriously injured that day. As soon as we saw what was happening, we said a prayer for his well-being,” she continued.

Harris also offered condolences to the family of Corey Comperatore, the former fire chief killed while, authorities have said, defending his family from gunfire during the Saturday Trump rally in Pennsylvania.

US Sen. Stabenow lavishes VP Harris with praise while criticizing Vance as Trump ‘clone’

Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow praised Vice President Kamala Harris’ time in the U.S. Senate and her role as a consistent tie-breaking vote for Democrats’ legislative agenda during a campaign rally in Kalamazoo, MI.

Stabenow said the Biden administration has done “an incredible job rebuilding our country” and “has been able to get more done for Michigan than in my lifetime.”

“We watched her masterfully question Trump’s Supreme Court nominees and the other people in the administration,” Stabenow said. “I can’t wait for her to debate JD Vance. He should be shaking in his boots right now.”

Stabenow then focused her attention on Vance, who she criticized as a “clone” of Trump while critiquing his record on abortion issues, Medicare and the results of the 2020 election.

“Tonight when he makes his speech, and when he moves out across the country. The truth of the matter is JD Vance, and certainly Donald Trump, are wrong for America,” she said to applause.

House Oversight panel subpoenas the Secret Service director to appear Monday

U.S. Rep. James Comer, the Republican chairman of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, has issued a subpoena to Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle compelling her to appear before the committee on Monday for what is scheduled to be the first congressional hearing on the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.

Comer said initially that the Secret Service committed to her attendance but that Homeland Security officials appear to have intervened and there has been no “meaningful updates or information” shared with the committee.

Comer said the “lack of transparency and failure to cooperate” with the committee called into question Cheatle’s ability to lead the Secret Service and necessitates the subpoena.

Cheatle has said the agency understands the importance of a review ordered by Democratic President Joe Biden and would fully participate in it as well as with congressional committees looking into the shooting.

House Oversight panel subpoenas Secret Service director to appear

The House Oversight panel has subpoenaed the Secret Service director to appear Monday at the first hearing on the attempted assassination of Donald Trump.

Former national security adviser: TikTok is ‘best espionage operation’ ever created

Former National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien says the hugely popular TikTok app is “the best espionage operation that’s ever been created in the history of espionage.”

Speaking to reporters at a forum hosted by Bloomberg News at the Republican National Convention Wednesday, O’Brien said the app gives China unprecedented access to American users’ personal information, posing an immediate national security threat.

Trump, however, has backed off on TikTok, which he once tried to ban. O’Brien noted the former president has amassed a huge following on the app, with significantly more followers than President Biden.

“I think he likes that metric,” O’Brien joked.

O’Brien is widely expected to have a role in the administration if Trump wins a second term and has said he’d “certainly be willing to serve,” if asked.

O’Brien also entertained the idea of a return for former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, who ran a bitter primary campaign against Trump but spoke his praises on the convention stage Tuesday night.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if she came back,” he said. “President Trump’s always very generous, I think, especially when people say nice things about him. And she said very nice things about him last night.”

TikTok has long rejected allegations that authorities in Beijing have access to user data.

US Rep. Schiff calls on Biden to ‘pass the torch’

California Rep. Adam Schiff says he believes it is time for President Joe Biden to “pass the torch” and withdraw from the election.

Schiff said Wednesday that Biden has been “one of the most consequential presidents” but that the nation is at a crossroads and a second Trump presidency would undermine U.S. democracy.

“While the choice to withdraw from the campaign is President Biden’s alone, I believe it is time for him to pass the torch,” Schiff said in a statement. “And in doing so, secure his legacy of leadership by allowing us to defeat Donald Trump in the upcoming election.”

Schiff, who is running for Senate this year, is a former chairman of the House Intelligence Committee who led the first House impeachment against Trump in 2019.

U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst says she’ll be ready with popcorn for Democrats’ convention

U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst says she’s enjoying the unified vibe of the Republican convention but tells her fellow Iowans that she’s excited for a different reason about Democrats’ gathering next month in Chicago.

“How many of you are going to watch the Democratic National Convention?” Ernst asked at an Iowa Republican Party lunch on Wednesday.

Delegates laughed as she continued: “Get the popcorn ready because this is going to be the most hilarious exercise that we have ever seen.”

Ernst said proudly that she is a “conspiracy theorist” who for “well over a year now” has told people privately that President Joe Biden would not be the nominee. “He is on a nosedive, and the sad thing is they’ve dug in so deep at this point, how on earth do they get rid of him?”

US Rep Adam Schiff,

calls for Biden to withdraw from race

U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff, a prominent California Democrat who is running for Senate, has called for President Biden to withdraw from the presidential election.

Man charged with carrying concealed firearm near RNC

Prosecutors have charged a 21-year-old Milwaukee man with carrying a concealed firearm near the Republican National Convention’s security perimeter.

The Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office filed one misdemeanor count of carrying a concealed weapon without a permit against the man on Tuesday.

According to the criminal complaint, federal agents patrolling the convention’s security zone spotted the man walking on Monday morning. The agents noticed the man was wearing black pants, black gloves and a ski mask and was carrying what the complaint described as a “large black tactical backpack.”

The agents stopped him and noticed a bulge in his waistband, prompting them to ask if he had a gun. The man allowed the agents to search him, according to the complaint. They found an AK-47-style pistol in his backpack. The agents also found a “Scream” movie mask, a flashlight and other materials.

The man told the agents he didn’t have a concealed carry permit, the complaint said.

Online court records indicated the man was scheduled to make his initial court appearance Thursday morning.

Court records did not indicate if the man had an attorney who could speak on his behalf and the district attorney’s office said it had no information on who might be representing him. Attempts to find a telephone number for the man were also unsuccessful.

VP Harris agrees to another date for a debate against Vance

Vice President Kamala Harris has agreed to another date for a debate against Ohio Sen. JD Vance, the GOP vice-presidential nominee.

That date is Tuesday, Aug. 13, which CBS News had offered and Harris accepted, according to an official from the Biden-Harris campaign granted anonymity to discuss debate negotiations.

She had initially accepted two other dates — July 23 or Aug. 13. But the Biden campaign has only agreed to a vice presidential debate hosted by CBS News, while the Trump campaign has insisted on one from Fox News.

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