April 12, 2024 - The latest on the 2024 campaign

By Aditi Sangal, CNN

Updated 12:14 p.m. ET, April 17, 2024

What we covered here today

Harris goes on offensive: On a trip to Arizona, Vice President Kamala Harris on Friday called the state Supreme Court's ruling that banned abortions in almost all cases an “inflection point” in the fight over abortion rights and pointed the blame at Donald Trump.
Trump backs speaker: At a joint appearance in Florida, the former president expressed support for House Speaker Mike Johnson, saying he was "doing a very good job," when asked about GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s motion to oust him from his speakership.
Trump juggles multiple legal woes: Meanwhile, a federal judge appeared dubious Friday of efforts by Trump’s two co-defendants in the classified documents case to get the charges against them thrown out. The hearing took place days before Trump's first criminal trial in the hush money case begins in New York. Track the four criminal cases Trump is facing as he prepares for a rematch with Biden in November.

Our live coverage is over for today. Please scroll through the posts below for the latest from the 2024 campaign trail.

4 Posts

Sort by

12:39 p.m. ET, April 12, 2024

Biden campaign launches new abortion-focused ad in Arizona

From CNN's Betsy Klein

Abortion rights activists Marion Weich hugs Carolyn LaMantia during a news conference addressing the Arizona Supreme Court's ruling to uphold a 160-year-old near-total abortion ban at the Arizona state Capitol in Phoenix on April 9. Joel Angel Juarez/The Republic/USA Today Network

The Biden campaign is seeking to galvanize momentum in battleground Arizona following a Tuesday Supreme Court ruling upholding an 1864 law on abortion with no exceptions for rape or incest, launching a seven-figure ad buy on the issue as it argues Republicans are “out of step.”

In a new 30-second ad, “Power Back,” President Joe Biden places the blame squarely on former President Donald Trump.

“The question is — if Donald Trump gets back in power, what freedom will you lose next? Your body and your decisions belong to you, not the government, not Donald Trump. I will fight like hell to get your freedom back,” Biden says in a direct-to-camera appeal.

The campaign will spend seven-figures on this ad and another ad introduced earlier this week with the story of a woman impacted by the Texas abortion ban. It will specifically target the key voting blocs of women, younger voters and Latinos as the Biden campaign believes it can pull moderate voters on the issue. It will air during shows including: "Abbott Elementary," "Survivor," "Grey’s Anatomy," "American Idol," "The Voice," and "Saturday Night Live," plus “high-audience sports and entertainment programming,” the campaign said in a news release.

The Biden campaign is leaning into the issue, which will be on Arizona’s ballot in November. The campaign is repeatedly working to drive the message that former President Donald Trump “is responsible for the state of reproductive freedom in Arizona today.”

This comes as Vice President Kamala Harris is set to travel to Arizona for an event on reproductive rights.

12:40 p.m. ET, April 12, 2024

Johnson won't say if he will talk about threats to oust him with Trump

From CNN's Lauren Fox and Kristin Wilson

House Speaker Mike Johnson and the House Republican leadership depart after meeting with reporters as lawmakers work to pass the final set of spending bills to avoid a partial government shutdown, at the Capitol in Washington, DC, on March 20. J. Scott Applewhite/AP/File

House Speaker Mike Johnson would not say Friday if he will be discussing the threat to oust him with Donald Trump when he visits the former president in Florida today.

“I don’t ever comment on my private conversations with President Trump but I’m looking forward to going to Florida and spend some time with him,” Johnson said.

The visit comes of course as Johnson continues to face pressure from GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who even today, engaged in a lengthy back-and-forth with the speaker in the well of the House for several minutes ahead of a key vote on FISA.

“We’re just talking about all sorts of things. Look, dialogue is important. Marjorie and I agree on our conservative philosophy. We just have different ideas sometimes on strategy. The important part of governing in a time of divided government like we have is communication with members and understanding the thought process behind it, that they have a say in it.”

1:10 p.m. ET, April 12, 2024

Harris heads to Arizona days after restrictive abortion ruling as Biden campaign looks to galvanize voters

From CNN's Michael Williams and Priscilla Alvarez

Vice President Kamala Harris is traveling to Arizona on Friday, hoping to use this week’s restrictive abortion ruling in the state to mobilize voters who see November’s election as a referendum on women’s health rights.

Her visit to the battleground state comes on the heels of a Arizona Supreme Court ruling that revived a 160-year-old law barring all abortions except in cases when “it is necessary to save” a pregnant person’s life — thrusting abortion politics into the spotlight.

Harris has been crisscrossing the country as part of her reproductive rights tour since January, arguing that abortion rights hang in the balance with the results of the election. Last month, Harris visited a Planned Parenthood clinic in Minnesota, becoming the first sitting vice president or president to visit an abortion provider.

And at her campaign event Friday, Harris is expected to cast the court ruling as “one of the biggest aftershocks yet” since the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

“Here in Arizona, they have turned the clock back more than a century on women’s rights and freedoms. The overturning of Roe was a seismic event. And this ban in Arizona is one of the biggest aftershocks yet,” Harris will say, according to prepared remarks. “We all must understand who is to blame. It is the former president, Donald Trump.”

Democrats have seized on abortion ahead of November, seeing it as a salient political issue that could spur moderate voters — particularly women — to turn out in droves against former President Donald Trump by tying the abortion bans directly to him.

1:02 p.m. ET, April 12, 2024

Harris blames Trump as the "one person responsible" following Arizona Supreme Court ruling

From CNN's Sam Fossum and Kevin Liptak

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks in Charlotte, North Carolina, on April 4. Allison Joyce/AFP/Getty Images

Vice President Kamala Harris will visit Arizona today to discuss reproductive rights in the immediate aftermath of the state's Supreme Court decision to uphold a 160-year-old abortion ban.

Harris pinned the blame directly on former President Donald Trump after the court’s decision.

“Arizona just rolled back the clock to a time before women could vote – and, by his own admission, there’s one person responsible: Donald Trump,” Harris said in a statement sent by the Biden-Harris campaign.
“This even more extreme and dangerous ban criminalizes almost all abortion care in the state and puts women’s lives at risk. It provides no exceptions for rape, incest, or health. It’s a reality because of Donald Trump, who brags about being ‘proudly the person responsible’ for overturning Roe v. Wade, and made it possible for states to enforce cruel bans," she said.