August 8, 2024, presidential campaign news

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has qualified for the ballot in Texas, the Texas Secretary of State’s office announced on Thursday.

In May, the Kennedy campaign submitted over 245,000 signatures to the Texas Secretary of State. Kennedy and his running mate Nicole Shanahan appeared in person to help carry boxes of signatures into the state’s elections office in Austin, part of the campaign’s effort to highlight the strength of its signature-gathering operation by petitioning in the state with one of the largest signature thresholds in the country for independent candidates.

On Thursday, Texas Director of Elections Christina Adkins informed the Kennedy campaign in a letter that Kennedy will appear on November’s ballot, after his petition was found to contain 122,513 valid signatures, more than the 113,151 signatures needed to qualify.

In July, Texas Democrats sent a letter asking the Secretary of State’s office to reject Kennedy’s petition, arguing Kennedy’s signatures violated several state laws on the proper formatting guidelines for petition signatures. The letter to the Kennedy campaign did not acknowledge the Texas Democrats request.

Including Texas, Kennedy has qualified for the ballot in 16 states. He’s also gained ballot access in New Jersey, Vermont, Michigan, North Carolina, Colorado, New Mexico, Tennessee, Minnesota, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Delaware, California, Nebraska, Hawaii and Utah.

Kennedy is now eligible for 212 electoral college votes.

Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris speaks with members of the media before boarding Air Force Two at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport in Romulus, Michigan, on Thursday, August 7.

Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday defended her running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s military service in the face of criticism by Republicans, including GOP vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance, who have accused Walz of embellishing his record.

“Listen, I praise anyone who has presented themselves to serve our country, and I think that we all should,” Harris told reporters as she prepared to depart Detroit with Walz.

On Wednesday in Michigan, Vance, also a veteran, accused Walz of ducking service in Iraq when he left the Army National Guard and ran for Congress in 2005 and falsely claiming he had served in a combat zone.

Some context: Walz served in the Army National Guard for 24 years before retiring. He launched a campaign for Congress in Minnesota’s 1st Congressional District that year and was elected in November 2006. He retired two months before his unit received alert orders to deploy to Iraq. He did not deploy to Afghanistan or Iraq or a combat zone as part of his service.

In a 2009 interview for the Library of Congress, Tim Walz said he left the Army National Guard to focus full time on running for Congress, citing concerns about trying to serve at the same time and the Hatch Act, which limits political activities for federal employees. 

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz signed two state proclamations this week that highlight aspects of his record and background playing a prominent role in his first days as Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate.

On Wednesday, Walz signed a proclamation naming August 7, 2024, as “Combat Wounded Veterans Purple Heart Day” in Minnesota. On Thursday, Walz signed another proclamation labeling today as “Farm Family Recognition Day” in the state. The two proclamations are Walz’s first official actions as governor since being tapped as Harris’ running mate on Monday.

The honorary proclamation recognizing wounded veterans comes amid renewed scrutiny of his record of military service. Republicans, including GOP vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance, have accused Walz of inflating his service record and skirting a deployment to Iraq while enlisted in the Army National Guard. Walz retired two months before his unit received alert orders to deploy to Iraq. He has previously referred to guns as weapons “I carried in war,” despite not being deployed to a combat zone during his 24 years of service.

In the proclamation, Walz recognized the sacrifice paid by wounded veterans.

Walz’s recognition of family farm workers aligns with the Harris campaign’s attempt to highlight Walz’s Midwestern roots, in part to rural voters in the region. On the day Walz was announced as Harris’ running mate, the campaign released a camouflage hat bearing the Harris-Walz campaign logo.

“I grew up working on a family farm. I know the work our farmers, ranchers, and producers do is tough under the very best of conditions,” he wrote on social media in a post sharing the proclamation. “I’ll always make the case: We owe them our full support to keep feeding Minnesota and the world.”

Vice President Kamala Harris waits to speak at a campaign rally at United Auto Workers Local 900 on August 8, in Wayne, Michigan.

Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday posted on social media that she is looking forward to debating former President Donald Trump on September 10.

CNN previously reported Trump and Harris are set to debate on ABC on September 10 after the former president said during a news conference earlier today that he agreed to it along with two others next month.

Harris also told reporters before boarding Air Force Two in Detroit that she is “happy” to discuss further debates.

“I’m glad that he’s finally agreed to a debate on September 10. I’m looking forward to it and I hope he shows up,” Harris said.

When asked if she would be open to the other debates mentioned by Trump, Harris said: “I’m happy to have that conversation about an additional debate for after September 10.”

During a press conference earlier today, Trump indicated he would debate Harris on September 4 with Fox and September 25 with NBC — in addition to the now-agreed upon September 10 debate.

Asked when she will sit down for her first interview, Harris said she’s talking to her team and wants to get an interview scheduled before the end of the month.

President Joe Biden speaks in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on August 8.

President Joe Biden told reporters at Joint Base Andrews Thursday he’s confident in Vice President Kamala Harris’ ability to debate former president Donald Trump, following the news the two candidates have agreed to participate in at least one debate next month.

Asked if he’s confident in his vice president’s ability to debate the GOP nominee, Biden appeared first not to hear the question, before responding, “Yes, I am, as long as you keep him talking!”

He then boarded AF1 for New Castle, Delaware.

Union members listen as Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Democratic vice presidential nominee, speak at a campaign rally at United Auto Workers Local 900, on August 8, in Wayne, Michigan.

Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz rallied union members in a local union hall in Michigan Thursday, working to drum up support amongst organized labor and draw a sharp contrast between the Democratic ticket and Trump when it came to labor issues.  

In remarks focused on unity and community, Harris highlighted the strength and basic “fairness” of collective bargaining as she drew a throughline to how she believes it’s reflected in her campaign.

Harris has touted her support of unions in the past including walking the picket line with striking workers in 2019. She praised unions for their contributions. 

Walz, who was a union member as a teacher, thanked the auto workers for the “privilege” of joining their picket line last year, and sharply criticized the former president on labor issues.  

“We know that unions built the middle class,” he said, adding, “you know who doesn’t believe that? Donald Trump.” 

United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain offered a warm welcome to the Democratic ticket, telling members that Harris and Walz are both “one of us.”

While Harris and Walz joined autoworkers on picket lines during their major strike last year, Fain noted Trump was “nowhere to be found,” and instead visited Detroit to go to a non-union business 

In September, instead of participating in the second Republican presidential primary debate, Trump visited Drake Enterprises, a non-union auto parts supplier in Clint Township, to appeal to a group of current and former union workers.

Vice President Kamala Harris arrives to speak at a campaign rally on August 8, in Wayne, Michigan, with Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

Vice President Kamala Harris would not answer a question from CNN on whether she will commit to three debates against former president Donald Trump in September.

Harris and Trump are slated to debate on ABC on September 10 after the former president said Thursday at a news conference that he had agreed to it, along with two others.

It is not immediately clear whether Harris will attend the other debates that Trump mentioned Thursday. Harris deflected most questions from several reporters, including CNN, along the ropeline after her campaign event in Detroit today.

The two candidates have been at odds for weeks over the issue. Harris previously agreed to the ABC debate on September 10 – which was originally accepted by Trump and former President Joe Biden before the latter dropped out of the race. Earlier this week, Trump had said that he would not debate Harris if she did not agree to attend the proposed Fox News debate on September 4.

The Harris campaign responded to Donald Trump’s news conference this afternoon, saying the former president “took a break from taking a break to put some pants on to host what it called a “public meltdown.”

The campaign knocked Trump for not campaigning all week, while Harris and her running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz are on a battleground campaign blitz.

“He hasn’t campaigned all week. He isn’t going to a single swing state this week. But he sure is mad Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are getting big crowds across the battlegrounds,” the campaign said.

During his news conference, Trump argued he hasn’t been campaigning because “I’m leading by a lot and I’m letting their convention go through,” in response to a question from CNN’s Kristen Holmes at a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago residence.

Former President Donald Trump said Thursday that inflation virtually did not exist during his presidency – drawing a contrast between his administration and that of President Joe Biden whose early years in office were plagued by decades-high inflation. 

“I had 1% inflation. I had actually no inflation because if you look at the categories, we had just about no inflation,” he said at his Mar-a-Lago press conference. “I actually had a positive inflation. It was a perfect number because you don’t want zero …  I had a perfect number, right around the 1%.” 

Facts First: Trump’s comment is false. Inflation was low, but not 1%. 

The Consumer Price Index, a common measure of inflation, rose about 8% during Trump’s four years in office. In January 2021, his final partial month in office, it increased 1.4% from a year earlier, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The Trump campaign is downplaying the significance of the Democratic Party reshuffling its ticket to elevate Vice President Kamala Harris replacing President Joe Biden, arguing that despite the change in the dynamics of the race, the “fundamentals” of the campaign have remained the same. 

Trump campaign officials told reporters on Thursday they believe Harris’ improvement over Biden in public polls can be attributed to “irrational exuberance,” arguing that Harris is making up ground with voters who supported Biden in 2020 but had moved away from Democrats before Harris moved to the top of the ticket. 

The official pushed back on Harris’ attacks on Trump’s presidential record, crystallized in the campaign’s new slogan, “We are not going back,” which Harris and her supporters have latched on to at recent campaign events. 

“When you ask voters whether they’d rather return to the Trump economy, or stay with the Biden economy, we win that two to one,” the official said.  

The official said the campaign’s internal data showed Harris has increased enthusiasm among Democratic voters and does better with undecided voters than Biden, but contended she still trails Trump in both voter motivation and popularity with undecided voters. Officials also said Harris was doing better among Black voters then President Joe Biden was, a demographic that Trump’s team has been heavily targeted this cycle.