August 31, 2024, presidential campaign news

President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden spend time on the beach on August 31, in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.

President Joe Biden spent most of the last two weeks out of sight while Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump hit the campaign trail, sparring over key issues and trying to win over swing voters in a flurry of appearances.

Biden has been resetting in California and Delaware following a whirlwind six weeks after ending his future in presidential politics.

The president has stayed out of the public eye for large stretches of the bicoastal vacation, charting out how to spend his remaining months in office after abandoning his bid for a second term in the White House. Biden is expected to return to the campaign trail on Monday to support Harris before returning to Washington.

What’s still to come: Now free from the pressures and time constraints that come with being a campaign principal, Biden has worked over the last few weeks to set his legacy — with a special focus on foreign affairs. His administration’s negotiation with Russia that led to the largest prisoner exchange in decades at the beginning of this month was a crucial achievement.

Throughout his time in California and Delaware, the president participated in a series of calls with foreign leaders as the US continues to push for a deal that would see a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of Hamas-held hostages, while trying to stop clashes between Israel and Hezbollah from devolving into a wider war that could draw in the United States and Iran.

Biden has also spoken with at least five world leaders since his speech at the Democratic National Convention last week. He spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the continued threats from Iran and the need for a ceasefire deal last Wednesday.

Read more here about Biden’s time away from the spotlight

Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.

Vice President Kamala Harris on Saturday continued to push for open microphones at the first presidential debate against former President Donald Trump.

“Donald Trump is surrendering to his advisors who won’t allow him to debate with a live microphone. If his own team doesn’t have confidence in him, the American people definitely can’t,” Harris said in a post on X.

CNN previously reported that ABC News intends to mute the microphones of Trump and Harris while their opponent speaks, according to a copy of the formal rules, but the Harris campaign is continuing to push back on the final sticking point.

While the Trump campaign has accepted the rules governing the September 10 matchup, Harris’ campaign said it remains in ongoing discussions with the network about the microphone issue.

More context: During an event in Virginia on Monday, Trump said of the microphones, “We agreed to the same rules, I don’t know, doesn’t matter to me, I’d rather have it probably on, but the agreement was that it would be the same as it was last time.”

Behind the scenes, the Trump campaign continued to advocate for the rules they had already agreed to with ABC. Trump then said in a Truth Social post Tuesday that the rules would be the same as the CNN debate against President Joe Biden.

That has led to Harris needling Trump that his advisers are overruling him.

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign rally in Savannah, Georgia, on August 29.

Vice President Kamala Harris slammed Donald Trump for saying he’s voting “no” on a Florida abortion amendment on Friday. Trump made the comment during a Fox New interview earlier that day.

“So, of course he thinks it’s a ‘beautiful thing’ that women in Florida and across the country are being turned away from emergency rooms, face life-threatening situations, and are forced to travel hundreds of miles for the care they need,” she added.

Some context: A “no” vote would pave the way for a 6-week abortion ban, which Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed last year, to stay in effect. The amendment would protect the right to have an abortion until a fetus is viable, which many experts believe is around 23 or 24 weeks of pregnancy.

Under the Biden administration, Harris has been leading the charge on the issue of reproductive rights. In April, Harris traveled to Florida just hours after the controversial ban went into effect and warned another Trump term would mean “more bans, more suffering, less freedom.” 

In the statement released on Friday, Harris echoed the sentiment and vowed to restore reproductive rights if she is elected president.

Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris have picked their running mates and held nominating conventions to rally their parties. They have limited time to convince the few undecided voters and make sure everyone in key battleground states gets to the polls.

While we don’t know specifically what will happen between now and Election Day — or what could come after, when the country’s unique Electoral College process gets going — we do have some idea of what to expect:

There were some interesting and off-brand pledges on the environment from Vice President Kamala Harris and on abortion policy from former President Donald Trump to close out the week:

Harris on fracking: The vice president and Democratic presidential nominee made very clear during an interview with CNN that she now supports fracking, the oil and gas extraction process that climate and environmental activists largely oppose.

“I cast the tie-breaking vote that actually increased leases for fracking, as vice president. So I’m very clear about where I stand,” she said, arguing the US can have a clean-energy economy and still embrace fracking.

Trump on reproductive health: The former president and Republican nominee floated making either the US government or insurance companies pay for expensive in vitro fertilization treatments, crossing both abortion activists and small-government conservatives.

Trump also had to clarify his position about a six-week abortion ban in Florida. Trump told NBC News he thinks the six-week ban is “too short” for women. But he later told Fox News he would oppose a Florida ballot initiative that would reverse the current six-week policy put in place by Republicans who run the state government.

Obvious political explanations: On the one hand, Harris acknowledges the threat of the climate crisis and brags about the Biden administration’s record on climate policy. On the other, she is also hoping to hold on to Pennsylvania and Michigan, “blue wall” states won by President Joe Biden in 2020, where fracking is big business.

And Trump, on the one hand, wants credit with conservatives for appointing the US Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v. Wade, which allowed some states to severely limit or end access to abortion. On the other, a more moderate position on abortion and support for more affordable IVF could appeal to women.

Keep reading “What Matters” from Zachary B. Wolf.

Special counsel Jack Smith and former President Donald Trump.

Former President Donald Trump and special counsel Jack Smith are at odds over how the election subversion case in Washington, DC, should move forward, according to a status report filed late Friday.

However, neither side is rushing to get to trial before the November presidential election — or even before the end of the year.

Smith is not offering firm dates for the next phase of the case, while Trump is recommending a schedule for certain pre-trial disputes that would carry through until at least the beginning of 2025.

Trump’s proposed schedule, however, says that it could take until fall 2025 to work through “additional proceedings, if necessary.”

The Friday filing sets the stage for a potentially contentious hearing next week in DC’s federal courthouse where Judge Tanya Chutkan will determine how the case will proceed. It will be the first hearing in the case after the landmark Supreme Court ruling that said Trump has some immunity in the election subversion prosecution.

The filing also comes just days after the special counsel refashioned his indictment to bring it in line with the ruling from the Supreme Court’s conservative majority this summer.

Trump wants to challenge Smith’s appointment: The parties disagree in the Friday filing on the order of operations and whether certain issues in the case can be resolved concurrently.

Smith would like Chutkan to first tackle the questions raised by the Supreme Court’s recent ruling on presidential immunity, but he says she can do that while also handling certain other pre-trial issues that Trump plans to bring up in the case.

Trump, meanwhile, said that he plans to challenge the legality of Smith’s appointment and argued the judge should deal with that issue before moving on to the immunity dispute.

Continue reading.

Former President Donald Trump rushed to clarify his stance on a ballot measure in Florida this week following intense blowback from anti-abortion advocates online, leading to concerns among Republicans that Trump’s continued waffling on the issue might lose him some deeply religious voters in a tightening race.

The episode marked the latest illustration of Trump straining to navigate the new era of post-Roe politics that he helped create.

Florida is set to vote on the referendum, which would make abortion legal in the state up to the point of viability, which many experts believe is around 23 or 24 weeks of a pregnancy. The state currently bans the procedure after six weeks.

Here’s a timeline of Trump’s latest comments on reproductive rights:

Thursday: Trump told NBC that Florida’s six-week ban was “too short” and added that he would be “voting that we need more than six weeks.” The campaign quickly clarified in a statement that Trump had not, in fact, picked a side.

The same day, Trump promised universal coverage of in vitro fertilization if he is elected, though he did not specify how the treatments would be paid for. This came despite senators in his own party, including his running mate, JD Vance, had defeated a bill with a similar provision earlier this summer.

Friday: Trump told Fox News that he will be voting “no” when asked about the Florida amendment.

The former president also sidestepped a question on whether he would veto a federal abortion ban if he were to get elected and such a bill made its way to his desk. Vance has said earlier this week that he thinks Trump would veto a federal abortion ban.

Read more on how Trump is navigating the issue.

Former President Donald Trump observes a changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery on August 26.

Former President Donald Trump on Friday defended his visit to Arlington National Cemetery with the families of the 13 service members killed in Afghanistan three years ago.

Speaking at the Moms for Liberty annual convention in Washington, DC, he recounted the Arlington visit as a “beautiful” moment and appeared to call it “disgusting” that he was criticized for taking pictures of the gravesites for his campaign.

Of his Democratic opponent, Trump suggested that Vice President Kamala Harris wouldn’t sit for any other media interviews and accused her of not wanting to debate him. He again attacked Harris over her CNN interview, specifically over her answer on fracking.

He mentioned Harris’ attack against President Joe Biden over desegregation busing during a 2020 Democratic presidential primary debate, calling Harris the “nastiest person” to Biden.

He accused Harris of lying about working at McDonald’s. He also joked that he would send Harris a MAGA hat, “because she loves everything we’re doing.”

“So we’re going to send her a nice, bright red Make America Great Again hat,” he said.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Vice President Kamala Harris sit for an interview with CNN’s Dana Bash in Savannah, Georgia, on August 29.

CNN conducted the first joint interview of Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, on Thursday.

Here’s how the Democratic ticket responded to some key questions from CNN’s Dana Bash:

Flip-flop on fracking: In 2019, Kamala Harris opposed fracking — a position that could have proven politically damaging in Pennsylvania, where it’s a huge employer. Now, she says, she supports it.

Progressives have opposed fracking due to concerns about climate change. But under the Inflation Reduction Act, a bill that Harris cast the tie-breaking vote to pass in the Senate and President Joe Biden signed into law in 2022, fracking has expanded.

Harris said she had already changed her position on fracking in 2020, when she said that Biden “will not end fracking.”

“What I have seen is that we can grow and we can increase a thriving clean energy economy without banning fracking,” she told Bash.

Appointing a Republican to the Cabinet: Asked if she would appoint a Republican to her Cabinet, Harris said: “Yes, I would.”

“No one in particular,” she said. “We have 68 days to go in this election, so I’m not putting the cart before the horse. But I would.”

Refusing to engage in identity politics: Last month, Donald Trump questioned Harris’ racial identity, suggesting she’d previously identified as South Asian but “happened to turn Black” for political purposes.

Shaking her head, Harris said Trump’s remark is part of his “same old tired playbook.”

“Next question, please,” she said.

Her refusal to comment further aligns with her campaign’s strategy to avoid leaning into identity politics following Trump’s remarks.

Blaming Trump on border security: Trump has made attacking the Biden administration’s handling of the US-Mexico border a signature issue, but Harris said Trump bears much of the blame for the border security problems he bemoans.

She pointed to his opposition to the bipartisan border security bill hashed out by a group of lawmakers. Asked if she would push that bill if she is elected president, Harris said: “I would make sure that it would come to my desk and I would sign it.”

Read more takeaways from the exclusive interview.