August 24, 2024, presidential campaign news

Our live coverage has ended. Follow the latest 2024 election news here or read through the posts below.

Kamala Harris waves to the crowd at the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago on August 22.

Former President Donald Trump’s campaign is bracing for more unfavorable polling news in the days to come.

A memo from Trump pollsters Tony Fabrizio and Travis Tunis sent out by the Trump campaign Saturday predicts a convention bump in polls after the Democratic National Convention for Vice President Kamala Harris. 

In July, Fabrizio wrote he expected a “honeymoon” period for Harris after she replaced President Joe Biden on the Democratic ticket – a prediction that has certainly come to pass. Before ending his re-election campaign, Biden’s support in CNN Poll of Polls registered at 45%, behind Trump at 49%. Heading into the convention, the race had shifted, with Harris at 50% and Trump at 48%, the CNN Poll of Polls found. 

Fabrizio now anticipates the honeymoon for Harris extending, blaming it largely on favorable media coverage of the vice president. 

The memo went on to caution against reading too much into national polls that may show Harris pulling ahead.

Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz are joined by their spouses onstage on the final day of the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Thursday, August 22.

A new presidential candidate, a slew of celebrities and slick programming helped propel Democrats and Vice President Kamala Harris to a ratings win at this week’s Democratic National Convention, surpassing the television viewership of last month’s Republican gathering.

Viewership of the four-day festivities in Chicago drew an average of 21.8 million viewers, according to Nielsen data, eclipsing the audience of the Republican National Convention by nearly 15%.

On the final evening this week, Harris’ acceptance address was watched by 28.9 million viewers, narrowly outdrawing former President Donald Trump’s speech in Milwaukee, which drew 28.4 million viewers across 15 television networks. Trump’s more than 90-minute address, the longest convention acceptance speech in recent history, came just days after he survived an assassination attempt.

Harris’ viewership victory amounted to a blow for Trump, who is famously obsessed with television ratings and the size of his crowds.

Excitement over her candidacy — as well as high-profile speeches by former President Barack Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and former first lady Michelle Obama — helped fuel viewership. So did appearances by a host of celebrities, including Stevie Wonder, John Legend, Pink, Kerry Washington and Mindy Kaling.

Viewership was also likely boosted by a non-appearance: Speculation ran wild online that music superstar Beyoncé would make a surprise performance on the final night. The singer had previously given the Harris campaign permission to use her 2016 hit “Freedom,” which played Thursday night as she took the stage.

The DNC turned normally staid moments into slickly produced spectacles, including a raucous take on the ceremonial roll call that featured music from each state, as well as a surprise performance by rapper Lil Jon.

Read more here about the Democrats’ convention ratings win.

Former President Donald Trump points to supporters at a campaign rally on August 23, in Glendale, Arizona.

Former President Donald Trump will deliver remarks on the economy in Potterville, Michigan, Thursday afternoon, according to his campaign.

The former president is also set to host a town hall that evening in La Crosse, Wisconsin.

Trump “will meet with Wisconsinites to listen to their concerns and share his promising agenda: to make America affordable again,” the campaign said in a statement.

Reaching out to swing voters: While Trump campaigns in two of the “blue wall” states viewed as critical to Democrats, Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz will be in another battleground state.

The running mates are kicking off a bus tour in Georgia on Wednesday and will conclude with a rally in the Savannah area on Thursday, according to the campaign.

Few battlegrounds will be more closely watched than Georgia — where President Joe Biden won by fewer than 12,000 votes four years ago — for signs of how voters are responding to campaign outreach.

WhatsApp is seen on the App Store. 

An Iranian hacker group targeted the WhatsApp accounts of individuals associated with the administrations of President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, Meta announced Friday.

Meta said their investigation linked the efforts to a group called “APT42,” known for using phishing tactics to steal credentials to people’s online accounts. Meta’s security team blocked a cluster of accounts posing as support agents for various tech companies.

CNN has reached out to both the White House and Trump campaign for comment.

President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.

This is just the latest case: The Meta incident adds to the growing number of reported attempts by Iranian-backed hackers to influence the 2024 US presidential election.  

Just last week, Google said an alleged Iranian hacking operation aimed at US presidential campaigns is ongoing and wide-ranging. On Monday, US intelligence agencies officially linked Iran to an instance of a hack-and-leak operation targeting Trump’s campaign.

The FBI pointed to a statement from Monday when asked about the purported latest hacking attempts by Iran.

Read more on the reported hack here.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. delivers remarks on August 23 in Phoenix. 

When Robert F. Kennedy Jr. suspended his presidential campaign, he did it in the most complicated way.

Kennedy will take himself off the ballot in certain key states, but says he is encouraging supporters to vote for him in safe red and blue states so that he can feature in a “contingent election” if former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris tie. In the battleground states, Kennedy said he’s supporting Trump.

Here’s what you should know:

What’s a contingent election? If there’s a 269-269 tie in the contest for 538 Electoral College votes, or if a third-party or independent candidate wins electoral votes and keeps both candidates from reaching an Electoral College majority of 270, the next step is called a “contingent election.”

According to the 12th Amendment, the new House of Representatives, which would have just been sworn in on January 3, chooses the president. The Senate would choose the vice president.

Could Kennedy actually feature in such an election? Short answer: No. He could not take part unless he won electoral votes, something that does not seem to be mathematically possible. Perhaps he’s envisioning an elector going rogue and supporting him in defiance of voters, but Kennedy did not share details of his thinking.

Could a tie actually happen this year? Yes. While a tie is not a likely outcome, it is something to be ready for.

Here is one plausible scenario for the 2024 election: If Harris wins Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona and Nevada and a single electoral vote in Nebraska, all of which Joe Biden won in 2020, but she loses Pennsylvania and Georgia, there’s a tie, 269-269.

The website 270 to Win also has more tied-election scenarios.

How would the process work? The nation would clearly be divided. Lawmakers could be torn between supporting their preferred candidate and the one their state’s voters preferred.

House members can only choose from among the top three finishers in the Electoral College for president, and senators can choose from among the top two finishers for vice president. Kennedy would presumably need to win electoral votes — either a state, or a congressional district in Nebraska or Maine — in order to be an option in a contingent election. There’s no chance of that happening at the moment.

Read more about a contingent election here.

Halfway through the final night of the Democratic National Convention, actress and celebrity host Kerry Washington noted there are some who still struggle — “or pretend to struggle” — with how to say Vice President Kamala Harris’ first name.

“Confusion is understandable,” Washington said. “Disrespect is not.”

In keeping with the convention themes of joy and an introduction to the Democratic nominee, Washington was joined onstage by Harris’ great-nieces Amara and Leela Ajagu, who led the crowd in a chant: “Comma,” like the punctuation mark, then “La,” like a sing-song la-la-la.

It was a lighthearted approach to a darker theme running through this election: the ways race and gender have colored attacks leveled at Harris since she launched her presidential campaign. Former President Donald Trump has mocked Harris’ name and laugh in an echo of his 2016 race against Hillary Clinton, and has even made false claims about Harris’ racial identity.

For many women of color, particularly those who have run for office and been in the political spotlight, it’s a familiar challenge.

“When I have a job to do, you can call me every name in the book — that does not define me,” said Val Demings, a former Florida US congresswoman and 2022 Democratic nominee for Senate. “I am defined by the quality of work that I do for the people that I represent.”

The end of the Democratic convention marks a new phase of the campaign, a 74-day sprint to Election Day and increased pressure on Harris to lay out her policies, including at next month’s debate. In interviews and convention speeches, Black women leaders said the Harris campaign should continue to avoid engaging directly with personal attacks.

Read more here about the personal attacks on Harris.

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks at a press conference in Phoenix, on August 23.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced Friday that he will be suspending — but not “terminating” — his presidential campaign and threw his support behind former President Donald Trump.

Kennedy announced that he will withdraw his name from the ballot in “about 10 battleground states, where my presence would be a spoiler.”  

But he added that he will remain on the ballot in several solidly red or blue states, where voters can vote for him without “harming or helping” Trump or Vice President Kamala Harris, because the winner’s margins of victory are expected to be so significant.

And in those states, he urged voters to vote for him, making the case that he “could conceivably still end up in the White House” if Trump and Harris each fail to secure 270 electoral votes.  

Kennedy continued on to say that the causes that led him to “leave the Democratic Party and run as an independent” also “persuaded” to “throw my support to President Trump.”

Trump thanked Kennedy for his “very nice endorsement.”

CNN’s Aaron Pellish and Edward-Isaac Dovere contributed to this post.

Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Thursday, August 22.

Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz will kick off a bus tour in battleground Georgia next week, marking their first time campaigning in the state together and underscoring the Democrats’ focus on the Peach State.

Few battlegrounds will be more closely watched than Georgia — where President Joe Biden won by fewer than 12,000 votes four years ago — for signs of how voters are responding to campaign outreach, making the state a fitting kickoff for Harris and Walz on the heels of the Democratic National Convention.

The swing through south Georgia will kick off Wednesday and conclude with a rally in the Savannah area on Thursday, according to the Harris-Walz campaign. Walz will not attend the rally.

The campaign has already built a robust infrastructure in the state, with more than 170 staffers in 24 offices. The campaign on Friday also released a new TV ad in Georgia, among other swing states, focusing on Harris’ economic vision.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., left, waves to the crowd as former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Glendale, Arizona on August 23.

Former President Donald Trump addressed supporters at a rally in Glendale, Arizona, Friday, where he was joined by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who suspended his own presidential campaign just hours earlier.  

Trump criticized Harris’ convention speech: The former president slammed Vice President Kamala Harris for her repeated mentions and attacks on him, and claimed her speech at the Democratic National Convention on Thursday night lacked any mention of policy issues, such as immigration and inflation. However, Harris did mention the border and criticized Trump’s role in tanking a bipartisan border bill earlier this year. 

He previewed a new presidential commission: Trump said, if elected, he would create an independent commission to investigate assassination attempts that would release “all the remaining documents” related to former President John F. Kennedy’s assassination and would “conduct a rigorous review” of the assassination attempt against him last month.  

RFK Jr. could be appointed to a health panel: When suspending his presidential campaign, Kennedy suggested that he could join a potential second Trump administration in a role that would oversee a health care portfolio. 

Trump revealed Friday that if elected, he will ask Kennedy to work on a panel that would investigate “the decades-long increase in chronic health problems, including autoimmune disorders, autism, obesity, infertility, and many more.” 

Kennedy praised Trump for sharing his views on “ending the chronic disease epidemic” and asked the crowd, “Don’t you want a president that’s going to make America healthy again?” 

Kennedy has a long history of making false claims about the safety and efficacy of vaccines.

Several attendees were treated for heat-related illnesses: More than 100 people were treated for heat-related illnesses while waiting for the former president to take the stage as temperatures in Glendale, reached 106 degrees.

CNN’s Aaron Pellish, Kate Sullivan, Kristen Holmes. Alejandra Jaramillo and Michelle Watson contributed to this post.