July 19, 2024, presidential campaign news

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President Joe Biden posted a series of comments on X Friday night, writing, “I’m stuck at home with COVID, so I had the distinct misfortune of watching Donald Trump’s speech to the RNC.”

In eight subsequent posts (and counting), the president pilloried Trump’s Thursday remarks to the Republican National Convention, hitting his GOP rival for his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, comments on Social Security and Medicare, contrasting economic visions, and comments demonizing immigrants.

New evidence from law enforcement sources reveal the ladder purchased by the gunman who sought to assassinate former President Donald Trump and a backpack that allegedly belonged to him, have both now been located and are in possession of federal authorities. 

According to law enforcement sources from two separate agencies, a workman driving by the shooter’s home discovered the ladder and the backpack lying on the side of the road near the home. The worker reportedly observed the ladder in that location for several days before deciding to turn it into authorities.

The workman also found a backpack near the ladder, which authorities believe is connected to gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks.

Additionally, investigators involved in the search of Crooks’ belongings, discovered a drone in his car. According to a source familiar with the investigation, they believe that Crooks may have deployed the drone on a reconnaissance trip to the farm grounds on the day of the Trump rally. 

The working theory is that the drone would’ve given Crooks an overview of the rooftops of nearby buildings and how they connect. That could have helped Crooks choose the spot where he fired the shots towards the podium where Trump was wounded. 

As the investigation continues, authorities are likely to scrutinize these newfound items for any clues that might help piece together the sequence of events and the suspect’s movements before Saturday’s shooting.

This post has been updated with additional reporting.

Debris litters the empty rally site after shots were fired at former President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13.

The House Homeland Security Committee has subpoenaed Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for documents and information “regarding the failed security efforts” around the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.

The Republican-led committee said Friday that Chairman Mark Green issued the subpoena after DHS failed to meet today’s deadline for providing the requested documents and information.

According to the release, the committee has requested documents related to “the security plan to secure the perimeter of the event site” and “communications between or among personnel at DHS related to any potential increase or addition of protective resources” to Trump’s security detail, among other things.

CNN has reached out to DHS for comment.

Even as Vice President Kamala Harris is trying to reassure big donors, there is deep skepticism across the party’s most deep-pocketed fundraisers about how Joe Biden’s campaign can possibly continue its basic operations with so little coming in. 

This donor mused that perhaps the campaign can get away with digging in for a few more weeks under the current circumstances, but that anything longer would become extraordinarily difficult. 

They also noted that emails from the campaign for events and fundraisers have significantly slowed in recent weeks: “They seem far and few between,” the donor said. 

Longtime California Rep. Zoe Lofgren told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer that her letter calling on President Joe Biden to drop out of the 2024 race was not personal.

“This is not anything personal about the president. In fact, I praised him in the letter I sent to him,” she said on the “Situation Room.” “It’s about not him and not me. It’s about the American people and our future and the need to defeat Donald Trump. That’s all it is.”

Lofgren, a close ally to former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, was part of a chorus of Democratic lawmakers to issue public calls on Friday for the president to step aside from the race.

CNN reported earlier Friday that two House Democrats close to Pelosi, speaking on condition of anonymity given the sensitivity and rawness in the party right now, attributed Friday’s new statements – especially Lofgren’s letter to Biden – to the former speaker and her belief that it is critical for the president and his allies to understand the effort to push him aside is not going away. 

\When asked about reporting that Biden is “seething” at Pelosi’s efforts, Lofgren said, “Well, I don’t know if it’s true, and if so, I’m sorry for that.”

“Democrats are united. Here’s how we’re united: We want to defeat Donald Trump, and you know, he is unfit to be president. He’s corrupt. He incited a riot to overturn the Constitution and the election,” she said. 

Lofgren also noted that she is “very concerned that the data does not show a path to victory with President Biden” and said she would not be surprised if other Democratic lawmakers in Congress called for Biden to withdraw. 

 Jeremy Herb, John King and Dana Bash contributed to this report.

Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio became the fourth Democratic senator to call on President Joe Biden to step aside from his 2024 reelection campaign.

Brown, who is a vulnerable Democrat running for reelection this year, said in a statement on Friday that he thought Biden should withdraw from the race.

“Over the last few weeks, I’ve heard from Ohioans on important issues, such as how to continue to grow jobs in our state, give law enforcement the resources to crack down on fentanyl, protect Social Security and Medicare from cuts, and prevent the ongoing efforts to impose a national abortion ban,” Brown said.

Former President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Former President Donald Trump said he “had a very good phone call earlier today” with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky Friday.

The two leaders had a complicated relationship while Trump was president, and the call – their first conversation since Trump left the White House – comes the day after Trump accepted the Republican Party’s presidential nomination and amid concerns in Europe about what Trump’s policy towards the Ukraine war would be if he were to win the election in November.

Trump added that the Ukrainian leader also “condemned the heinous assassination attempt last Saturday.”

Zelensky confirmed in a post on X Friday that he did congratulate Trump on the nomination and condemned the attack.

“I wished him strength and absolute safety in the future,” Zelensky said. “I noted the vital bipartisan and bicameral American support for protecting our nation’s freedom and independence.”

Trump, in his post, continued on to say he appreciates Zelensky for reaching out to speak with him. And Zelensky expressed gratitude to the United States “for its help in strengthening our ability to resist Russian terror.”

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox participates in a discussion on bipartisanship in Washington, DC, on February 21.

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox on Friday posted a letter he wrote to Donald Trump in which he said he pledged his support to the former president and that he believed Trump had the opportunity to “unify and save our country,” after telling CNN’s Kaitlan Collins last week he would not vote for Trump in November. 

Cox said in the letter, which he posted on X, that he believed God “had a hand in saving you,” after the attempt on Trump’s life at his Pennsylvania rally on Saturday.

Cox told Collins last week on “The Source” that he would not be voting for either presidential candidate this year and that one of his concerns about Trump was his role in the insurrection at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. He said he had not voted for the top of the GOP ticket since 2012. 

But in his letter Cox wrote, “Mr. President, I know we have some differences and you probably don’t like me much. And that’s OK. I get it. I’m not writing this letter looking for a position in your Cabinet or a role on your team. But I have loved so many of your policies and firmly believe that our country has suffered over the last four years due to a lack of leadership and is in desperate need of change.”

“However, you have a chance to do something that people have said is impossible. You have a chance to build a coalition of support that our country has not seen since Ronald Reagan. And you don’t have to compromise on a single conservative policy in order to do it. By treating President Biden with basic human dignity and respect and by emphasizing unity rather than hate, you will win this election by an historic margin and become one of our nation’s most transformational leaders,” Cox said. 

GOP vice presidential nominee and Ohio Sen. JD Vance has been given his own private Boeing 737 outfitted with Trump-Vance decals now that he is officially Donald Trump’s vice-presidential nominee, two sources with direct knowledge of the situation told CNN. 

Vance’s first trip on his new private plane, which is being paid for by the Trump campaign, was on Friday morning when he flew from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to Cincinnati, Ohio.

The plane has been held in a secret airport hangar for the past several weeks while Trump continued to mull his vice presidential pick, one of the sources said. It was flown to Milwaukee during the Republican National Convention. 

Vance will take his new plane to Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Saturday for a joint rally with Trump.

National security advisor Jake Sullivan gave a forceful defense and description of President Joe Biden’s leadership as commander-in-chief, sharing behind the scenes details about what was happening in the Situation Room on April 13 when Iran attacked Israel with more than 300 drones and missiles.

Sullivan said Biden was surrounded by his top national security officials and “engaged in a multi-hour back and forth” with CENTCOM Commander Erik Kurilla who was “narrating an extraordinary set of events.”

Biden was “sitting there at the head of the table, running the show” as military and intelligence leaders walked the room through the projectiles’ flight path and shoot-downs. 

The night culminated, Sullivan said, with a call between Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. 

Asked if Biden can continue for four more years, Sullivan said he believes Biden will continue to do a very good job as president “and that’s why he’s standing for office and that’s why he has laid out his case to the American people.”

Rep. Gabe Vasquez leaves the Capitol in Washington, DC, on February 15.

New Mexico Rep. Gabe Vasquez is the 33rd congressional Democrat to call on President Joe Biden to withdraw his 2024 bid for the White House.

Vasquez serves as the Vice Chair of Diversity and Inclusion on the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, whose political arm – the BOLD PAC – just issued their endorsement of Biden Friday.

Vasquez joins four other members of the caucus who previously called on Biden’s withdrawal: Reps. Mike Levin, Raul Grijalva, Jim Costa and Chuy Garcia.

And Vasquez is the 11th congressional Democrat to join the growing chorus of lawmakers calling on Biden to step aside on Friday.

Rep. Morgan McGarvey became the 32nd Democrat on Capitol Hill to call for President Joe Biden to withdraw his candidacy.

Though he praised Biden’s leadership, the freshman Kentucky Democrat said “there is no joy in the recognition that he should not be our nominee in November.”

McGarvey is the 10th congressional Democrat to call for Biden to step aside today.

Vice President Kamala Harris was just on a call with Wisconsin campaign staff, a source familiar told CNN.

It was an all hands call with state staff, following the call with all campaign staff earlier in the day.

Harris praised the Wisconsin team for the work they had been doing and spoke about the stakes of the election. 

The campaign announced Friday morning that Harris will hold a campaign event in Milwaukee on Tuesday.

A growing collection of congressional Democrats are calling on Joe Biden to end his reelection bid, following the president’s disastrous debate performance last month and his failure since to convince members of his own party that he can defeat former President Donald Trump in the fall.

It would not be an easy process since Biden is already the Democrats’ presumptive nominee and the overwhelming choice of primary voters. He faced little opposition during the primary season, and the fact that he won nearly all of the party’s delegates means it’s very unlikely he’d be forced out of the race against his will.

That current primary system, which empowers primary voters over party bigwigs, essentially sprang from discontent after Democrats selected Vice President Hubert Humphrey as their nominee in 1968. Even after President Lyndon Johnson bowed out of the presidential race that year, recognizing his fading popularity and opposition to the war in Vietnam, Humphrey represented a continuation of Johnson’s Vietnam policy at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Violence broke out when protesters clashed with police as Humphrey accepted the nomination.

Things would be very different in 2024 if Biden decided to leave the race, although Democrats’ convention will return to Chicago in August.

Rep. Seth Moulton speaks during a TV interview at the Capitol in Washington, DC, on April 17, 2023.

Democratic Rep. Seth Moulton, who previously called for Biden to withdraw from the race, alleged in an op-ed Friday that President Joe Biden failed to recognize him in Normandy for the 80th anniversary of D-Day, despite a years-long relationship with the commander in chief.

Moulton detailed his long-standing relationship with the president wherein Biden would campaign for Moulton, invite him over for breakfast and served as a mentor to the newly elected member of Congress. “Every time we crossed paths and I caught his eye, he would break into that big, wide Joe Biden grin and say how glad he was to see me,” Moulton wrote.

“It was a crushing realization, and not because a person I care about had a rough night but because everything is riding on Biden’s ability to beat Donald Trump in November,” Moulton wrote, reiterating the stakes of the upcoming election.

Moulton ended with a plea to Biden: “This is bigger than one president or one party. It’s about America. Let’s win this election, Mr. President, and in the process, ensure you have the legacy you deserve from a lifetime of service to our country.”

Rep. Betty McCollum, a veteran Minnesota Democrat, called on Joe Biden to step aside and for Kamala Harris to become the new Democratic standard bearer. She urged Harris to choose Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate. 

McCollum joins the growing list of congressional Democrats publicly urging Biden on Friday to drop out.

A Democratic lawmaker tells CNN that House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries and his team are not discouraging members from continuing to speak out against President Joe Biden’s candidacy. 

This source said it was their impression that members were privately being encouraged to make such statements if they felt that way. 

For some of those who want Biden to step down, this source said that there is a fear that the public piling on today — which is expected to grow — is overkill, and that it may be making Biden angry and potentially even more dug in. 

This source, who is in touch with the White House, said that while Biden is now more open to the conversation about potentially stepping aside, he “could go either way” and that the people he is listening to aren’t talking publicly. 

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign event in Greensboro, North Carolina, on July 11.

Vice President Kamala Harris will join a call with donors this afternoon, according to a source familiar, amid ongoing party panic about President Joe Biden’s candidacy. 

The vice president was asked to do the call by the West Wing, according to campaign officials. Harris aides have repeatedly stressed that there’s no daylight between the vice president and the president. 

On the campaign trail, Harris has staunchly defended the president and tried to show unity at a time when lawmakers are urging Biden to step aside and while some float her name as a replacement to lead the party’s ticket. She is likely to express that same defense in her call with donors Friday. 

Biden campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon gave a pep talk to campaign staff moments ago, described by one campaign official as a “ra ra” speech. 

Marty Walsh was one of the speakers. The call touched on, in part, the importance of voter contact.

A source familiar with the call confirms that O’Malley Dillon told campaign staff: “When you give me polls, I’m going to give you direct voter contact.” 

Two sources described the call as another “pep talk.” O’Malley Dillon was “talking about the work ahead” as campaign staff continues to move forward. 

This post has been updated with additional developments.