US elections live: Harris backs Biden’s supreme court reforms as House speaker calls them ‘dead on arrival’

6.07pm BST

Kamala Harris ’s election campaign has accused Elon Musk of spreading “manipulated lies” after the Tesla chief executive posted a doctored video featuring the vice-president on his X account.

Musk reposted a manipulated Harris campaign video on Friday evening in which a fake Harris voiceover says: “I was selected because I am the ultimate diversity hire,” and that anyone who criticises her is “both sexist and racist”.

The video has been viewed 128m times on Musk’s account after the world’s richest man posted it with the words “this is amazing” followed by a laughing emoji. Musk owns X, which he rebranded from Twitter last year .

Amy Klobuchar, a Democratic senator, accused Musk of violating the platform’s guidelines. According to X’s synthetic and manipulated media policy , users are barred from sharing “synthetic, manipulated, or out-of-context media that may deceive or confuse people and lead to harm” although allowances are made for satire provided it does not “cause significant confusion about the authenticity of the media”.

A spokesperson for Harris’s presidential campaign said:

The American people want the real freedom, opportunity and security Vice-President Harris is offering; not the fake, manipulated lies of Elon Musk and Donald Trump.

Updated at 6.09pm BST

5.54pm BST

Democratic chair of Senate justice committee backs Biden reform call

Dick Durbin, the Democratic chair of the Senate judiciary committee, has voiced support for Joe Biden ’s call for supreme court reforms.

Durbin, in a statement posted to X, wrote:

If Chief Justice Roberts won’t use his existing authority to implement an enforceable code of conduct, Congress must. We should use our established authority to require the Court to implement reforms consistent with *every* other federal court.

Updated at 6.15pm BST

5.49pm BST

The Michigan governor, Gretchen Whitmer, in the CBS interview, said she has not been a part of the vetting process for Kamala Harris ’s running mate.

Whitmer said:

I have communicated with everyone, including the people of Michigan, that I’m going to stay as governor until the end of my term at the end of 2026.

Whitmer was touted as a potential replacement for Joe Biden before he exited the race and endorsed Harris last week.

In the interview this morning, Whitmer pushed back on the idea that Harris’s running mate must be a white man:

Every one of us was told there may be too many women on the ticket. Baloney. We’ve proved that wrong in the swingingest of swing states.

Updated at 5.54pm BST

5.43pm BST

Harris likely to announce running mate 'in the next six, seven days', says Whitmer

Gretchen Whitmer, the governor of Michigan rumored to be in the running for Kamala Harris’s potential ticket mate, has said she expects the vice-president to announce her running mate “in the next six, seven days”.

Whitmer, in an interview on CBS, said:

Everything’s truncated, and [Harris] is going to make that decision probably in the next six, seven days. I would imagine we’ll know who her running mate is, and we’ll get ready for convention.

Updated at 5.51pm BST

5.29pm BST

Biden critic Leo has played key role in moving court to the right

Leonard Leo, the rightwing dark money organizer who just issued a statement slamming Joe Biden’s call for supreme court reforms, has played a key role in the conservative effort to move the judiciary to the right.

Leo’s advocacy and financial network played a major role in Donald Trump ’s judicial nominations and confirmation hearings as part of his years-long push to make the courts more friendly to conservatives and their causes.

Justice Clarence Thomas once joked that Leo was the “No 3 most powerful person in the world”.

Leo is a Catholic conservative activist widely known as the force behind the Federalist Society, which has helped transform the US courts system, ultimately through the installation of three hardline justices on the supreme court that has handed down epochal rulings on abortion rights, presidential immunity and more.

Updated at 5.31pm BST

5.24pm BST

Rightwing donor hits out at Biden over supreme court reforms

Leonard Leo , the rightwing donor, has hit back at Joe Biden ’s call for supreme court reforms, saying they were about “Democrats destroying a court they don’t agree with”.

Leo, in a statement, said that if Biden and the Democrats were “truly serious” about ethics reform, they would calls for bans on “all gifts and hospitality of any kind to any public official in any branch of government”, including in Congress, where he said “the real corruption is”. He concluded:

Let me be clear: If Democrats want to adopt an across the board ethics ban for all branches, I am in favor of that: no jets, no meals, no speaking honorariums, no gifts for anyone from anyone for any reason in any branch, starting with Congress. Until they support that, let’s all be honest about what this is: a campaign to destroy a court that they disagree with.

Updated at 5.33pm BST

5.12pm BST

Joe Biden, in his proposals for supreme court reform, also called for a binding, enforceable code of ethics.

The president “believes that Congress should pass binding, enforceable conduct and ethics rules that require Justices to disclose gifts, refrain from public political activity, and recuse themselves from cases in which they or their spouses have financial or other conflicts of interest,” according to a White House statement.

Supreme Court Justices should not be exempt from the enforceable code of conduct that applies to every other federal judge.

Updated at 5.12pm BST

4.59pm BST

Joe Biden ’s proposals also call for limiting a supreme court justice’s term to a maximum of 18 years rather than the current lifetime appointment, under a system where a new justice would be appointed to the supreme court by the serving president every two years.

Term limits would help “reduce the chance that any single Presidency imposes undue influence for generations to come,” according to a White House statement.

Congress approved term limits for the Presidency over 75 years ago, and President Biden believes they should do the same for the Supreme Court. The United States is the only major constitutional democracy that gives lifetime seats to its high court Justices.

4.55pm BST

The White House has detailed a series of sweeping changes to the supreme court proposed by Joe Biden, which include introduction of term limits for justices and a constitutional amendment to remove immunity for crimes committed by a president while in office.

The reforms include a “No One Is Above the Law Amendment”, in which Biden calls for a constitutional amendment that “makes clear no president is above the law or immune from prosecution for crimes committed while in office”.

The amendment would state that the US constitution “does not confer any immunity from federal criminal indictment, trial, conviction, or sentencing by virtue of previously serving as president”.

If approved, the amendment would in effect reverse a supreme court decision in July granting former presidents broad immunity from prosecution for actions taken while in office, a decision Donald Trump hailed as a “BIG WIN” amid his legal travails.

Updated at 4.56pm BST

4.43pm BST

The news that Donald Trump has agreed to a victim interview with the FBI comes after the agency confirmed a bullet or a fragment of a bullet struck the former president’s ear.

In a statement on Friday, the FBI said:

What struck former President Trump in the ear was a bullet, whether whole or fragmented into smaller pieces, fired from the deceased subject’s rifle.

The statement marked the most definitive law enforcement account of Trump’s injuries and followed ambiguous comments earlier in the week from the agency’s director, Christopher Wray, that appeared to cast doubt on whether Trump had been hit by a bullet or whether he was instead struck by shrapnel.

Related: FBI director questions whether Trump was hit by bullet or shrapnel in shooting

4.32pm BST

Kamala Harris raised $200m in the week since she was endorsed by Joe Biden, her team said, as the vice-president appears to be drawing increased enthusiasm to her campaign.

Harris for President said about 66% of the total came from first-time donors, as the campaign said it had seen “unprecedented grassroots support”.

On Sunday Al Gore, the former vice-president and a climate activist, endorsed Harris, while more than 170,000 volunteers have signed up to help the Harris campaign with phone banking, canvassing and other get-out-the-vote efforts, said Michael Tyler, the campaign’s communications director.

It comes after Harris raised $81m in the 24 hours after she was endorsed by Biden, a record sum. The donation news comes after Harris attended a fundraiser in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, on Saturday. The event had been organized when the president was still the presumptive nominee, and had originally been expected to raise $400,000, but ended up bringing in about $1.4m, according to the Harris campaign.

Future Forward, the largest Super Pac in Democratic politics, announced last week it had secured $150m in donations over the first 24 hours after Biden dropped out of the race.

4.22pm BST

Trump gunman searched for information on shooting of Slovakian leader - FBI

Donald Trump ’s interview with the FBI “will be consistent with any victim interview we do”, an agency official said.

Kevin Rojek, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Pittsburgh field office, said a local police identified the gunman about an hour before Trump spoke that day and took a photo.

The FBI official also revealed new details about the gunman, 20-year-old Thomas Crooks.

Crooks conducted Internet searches into previous mass shooting events, improvised explosive devices and the attempted assassination of the Slovakian prime minister, Robert Fico , earlier this year.

Despite hundreds of interviews, the FBI said it has yet to identify a motive for the shooting.

The gunman’s parents, described as having been “extremely cooperative” with investigators, said they had no knowledge of Crooks’s plans, Rojek said.

Updated at 4.37pm BST

4.11pm BST

Biden's supreme court reform proposals 'dead on arrival in the House', says Mike Johnson

Mike Johnson, the Republican House speaker, has warned that Joe Biden ’s proposals to reform the supreme court will be “dead on arrival” in the House.

Biden’s proposed reforms include introducing term limits for supreme court justices, a binding code of conduct and a constitutional amendment to remove immunity for crimes committed by a president while in office.

Johnson, in a statement, said:

President Biden’s proposal to radically overhaul the US supreme court would tilt the balance of power and erode not only the rule of law, but the American people’s faith in our system of justice.

This proposal is the logical conclusion to the Biden-Harris administration and congressional Democrats’ ongoing efforts to delegitimize the supreme court. Their calls to expand and pack the court will soon resume.

It is telling that Democrats want to change the system that has guided our nation since its founding simply because they disagree with some of the court’s recent decisions. This dangerous gambit of the Biden-Harris administration is dead on arrival in the House.

Updated at 4.18pm BST

3.57pm BST

Trump agrees to FBI interview after assassination attempt

Donald Trump has agreed to participate in a victim interview with the FBI as part of an investigation into his attempted assassination, an agency official said.

The interview is part of the FBI’s standard protocol to speak with victims of federal crimes during the course of their investigations.

Kevin Rojek, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Pittsburgh field office, told reporters:

We want to get his perspective on what he observed.

Updated at 4.01pm BST

3.43pm BST

Harris backs Biden's supreme court reforms

Kamala Harris has endorsed Joe Biden ’s push for supreme court reforms that include term limits for justices, a binding code of conduct and a constitutional amendment to remove immunity for crimes committed by a president while in office.

“President Biden and I strongly believe that the American people must have confidence in the supreme court,” she said in a statement.

Yet today, there is a clear crisis of confidence facing the supreme court as its fairness has been called into question after numerous ethics scandals and decision after decision overturning long-standing precedent.

Harris added:

These popular reforms will help to restore confidence in the court, strengthen our democracy and ensure no one is above the law.

3.35pm BST

Joe Biden is expected to speak about his new supreme court reform proposals at an address later today at the LBJ presidential library in Austin, Texas, to mark the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act.

The president, in a national address from the Oval Office last week, pledged that overhauling the supreme court would be a priority. Biden said:

I’m going to call for supreme court reform because this is critical to our democracy.

Updated at 3.36pm BST

3.24pm BST

Joe Biden , in an op-ed this morning, said supreme court justices should be limited to a maximum of 18 years’ service rather than the current lifetime appointment, under a system where a new justice would be appointed to the court by the serving president every two years.

The president also called for stricter, enforceable rules on conduct which would require justices to disclose gifts, refrain from political activity, and recuse themselves from cases in which they or their spouses have financial interest.

Last week Justice Elena Kagan called for the court to strengthen the ethics code it introduced in 2023 by adding a way to enforce it.

That code was introduced after a spate of scandals involving rightwing justices on the court: Clarence Thomas was found to have accepted vacations and travel from a Republican mega-donor, while Samuel Alito flew on a private jet owned by an influential billionaire on the way to a fishing trip.

3.11pm BST

'No one is above the law': Biden calls for supreme court reform plans

Joe Biden has called for a series of reforms to to the supreme court, including the introduction of 18-year term limits and a binding code of conduct for justices.

Biden, in an op-ed for the Washington Post, also called for a constitutional amendment to remove immunity for crimes committed by a president while in office.

The proposed amendment, titled the “No One Is Above the Law Amendment”, comes after the supreme court’s ruling earlier this month that Donald Trump is immune from criminal prosecution for “official acts” he committed as president.

In the op-ed published today, Biden wrote:

This nation was founded on a simple yet profound principle: No one is above the law. Not the president of the United States. Not a justice on the Supreme Court of the United States. No one.

Updated at 3.13pm BST

2.59pm BST

Trump's remarks a 'promise to end American democracy', says Harris campaign

The Harris campaign responded by saying that Donald Trump ’s remarks to Christian supporters were a “promise to end democracy”.

A statement from the Harris campaign read:

When Vice President Harris says this election is about freedom she means it. Our democracy is under assault by criminal Donald Trump.

Trump “has promised violence if he loses, the end of our elections if he wins, and the termination of the Constitution to empower him to be a dictator to enact his dangerous Project 2025 agenda on America”, the campaign warns.

Donald Trump wants to take America backward, to a politics of hate, chaos, and fear – this November America will unite around Vice President Kamala Harris to stop him.

Updated at 3.13pm BST

2.48pm BST

Cardi B, the New York rap superstar, posted a clip of Donald Trump ’s rally speech asking if the former president was “whistleblowing a dictatorship?”

Cardi has previously suggested she will not be voting for Trump or Joe Biden, telling Rolling Stone that she saw Trump’s presidency as a major threat but felt “layers and layers of disappointment” during the Biden administration.

The rapper revoked her support for Biden last November over US military aid to Ukraine and Israel.

Updated at 2.52pm BST

2.32pm BST

Republicans dismiss comments as 'classic Trumpism'

Asked to clarify Donald Trump ’s remarks, Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung said the former Republican president “was talking about uniting this country”.

Chris Sununu, the governor of New Hampshire, dismissed Trump’s comments in an interview with ABC.

“I think it was a classic Trumpism if you will,” Sununu said, adding:

Obviously we want everybody to vote in all elections, but I think he was just trying to make a hyperbolic point that it can be fixed as long as he gets back into office and all that.

Tom Cotton, a senator from Arkansas, said Trump was “obviously making a joke”. Cotton told CNN:

I think he’s obviously making a joke about how bad things have been under Joe Biden and how good they will be if we send President Trump back to the White House, so we can turn the country around again.

Lindsey Graham, a senator for South Carolina, told CBS that Trump was telling supporters that “the nightmare that we’re experiencing will soon be over. Give me four more years, and I’m gonna right this ship called America and pass it on to the next generation.” Graham added:

We will have democracy, God willing, for a very long time in this country. But what President Trump is trying to tell people – ‘I did it once, I can do it again.

Updated at 2.42pm BST

2.20pm BST

Dan Goldman, a Democratic congressman for New York, posted to X that “the only way ‘you won’t have to vote anymore’ is if Donald Trump becomes a dictator.”

Updated at 2.22pm BST

2.14pm BST

Donald Trump ’s remarks to Christian supporters came months after he said he would be “a dictator on day one” if he is re-elected to the White House.

The former president, during a December town hall event in Iowa hosted by the Fox News host Sean Hannity, was asked repeatedly to deny that he would abuse power to seek revenge on political opponents if given a second term.

“Under no circumstances, you are promising America tonight, you would never abuse power as retribution against anybody?” Hannity asked Trump in the interview.

“Except for day one,” Trump responded. He said that on the “day one” he referred to, he would use his presidential powers to close the southern border with Mexico and expand oil drilling.

Trump then repeated his assertion. “I love this guy,” he said of Hannity.

He says, ‘You’re not going to be a dictator, are you?’ I said: ‘No, no, no, other than day one. We’re closing the border and we’re drilling, drilling, drilling. After that, I’m not a dictator.’

Updated at 2.21pm BST

2.02pm BST

Adam Schiff, the high-profile California Democrat and Senate candidate, posted to X a clip of Donald Trump’ s speech, writing:

“This year democracy is on the ballot, and if we are to save it, we must vote against authoritarianism. Here Trump helpfully reminds us that the alternative is never having the chance to vote again.

1.55pm BST

Donald Trump ’s remarks that supporters won’t “have to vote again” if he is re-elected in November were immediately met with consternation in some political quarters.

The constitutional and civil rights attorney Andrew Seidel, for instance, replied to video of Trump’s comments circulating on X by writing :

This is not subtle Christian nationalism. He’s talking about ending our democracy and installing a Christian nation.

The actor Morgan Fairchild added in a separate X post :

But … what if I want to vote again?? I was always raised that we get to vote again! That is America.

And the NBC legal commentator Katie Phang said :

In other words, Trump won’t ever leave the White House if he gets re-elected.

Updated at 1.57pm BST

1.47pm BST

Here’s a clip from Donald Trump ’s speech at the rally on Friday night hosted in West Palm Beach, Florida, by the far-right Christian advocacy group Turning Point Action.

The former president and Republican presidential nominee told supporters:

Christians, get out and vote! Just this time – you won’t have to do it any more … You know what? It’ll be fixed! It’ll be fine. You won’t have to vote any more, my beautiful Christians.

He added:

I love you. Get out – you gotta get out and vote. In four years, you don’t have to vote again. We’ll have it fixed so good, you’re not gonna have to vote.

1.44pm BST

Trump faces backlash after telling supporters they 'won't have to vote again' if he wins

Democratic lawmakers and Kamala Harris ’s campaign joined a chorus of critics sounding the alarm over recent remarks by Donald Trump telling a crowd of supporters they won’t “have to vote again” if they return him to the presidency in November’s election.

Trump, at a Friday night rally hosted in Florida by a far-right Christian advocacy group, said:

Christians, get out and vote! Just this time – you won’t have to do it any more … You gotta get out and vote. In four years, you don’t have to vote again. We’ll have it fixed so good, you’re not gonna have to vote.

Trump’s remarks were immediately met with consternation in some political quarters, with some arguing that the Republican presidential nominee had implied that that he would end elections in the country if he returns to the White House.

The Harris campaign called Trump’s remarks “a vow to end democracy”, while the Democratic California congressman Adam Schiff, posted to X:

This year democracy is on the ballot, and if we are to save it, we must vote against authoritarianism.

Here’s what else we’re watching:

• The Senate is in this week. The House is out.

• Joe Biden will head to Austin, Texas, to mark the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act. He will then travel to Houston to pay his respects to Sheila Jackson Lee, the Democratic Texas congresswoman who died from pancreatic cancer last week.

Updated at 3.12pm BST