The Guardian

Harris says campaign ‘is about two different visions for our nation’; Trump faces criticism from Republicans for VP race comments – as it happened

By Abené Clayton (now); Maya Yang and Léonie Chao-Fong (earlier),

1 day ago

https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=24GIxb_0ukIaNwC00 — Kamala Harris campaigns in Atlanta, Georgia, on 31 July 2024. Donald Trump speaks at the National Association of Black Journalists convention in Chicago, Illinois, on 31 July 2024. Composite: Getty Images

1.40am BST

That’s it from us tonight. Thanks for reading. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are due to meet the US prisoners released from Russia shortly – you can follow that and more in our special live blog:

10.39pm BST

We’re now pausing our live coverage of the US election campaign. You can read all our latest US elections coverage here :

And if you want to stay up to date via your email inbox, you can sign up to our free election newsletter, The Stakes, here:

Updated at 10.44pm BST

10.02pm BST

Joe Biden has declared the prisoner swap between Russia and the US a “feat of diplomacy” . His statement followed the releases of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former US marine Paul Whelan. Both are US citizens accused of espionage by Russian authorities. Gershkovich and Whelan were freed in exchange for people held across seven different countries.

The president said:

This is a powerful example of why it’s vital to have friends in this world whom you can trust and depend upon. Our alliances make Americans safer .

As my colleague Anna Betts reported: “The swap is likely to be considered a political coup for Biden in the waning months of his presidency, and a blow to Donald Trump, who has claimed on the 2024 campaign trail that he would free Gershkovich if re-elected.”

Read more of Anna’s story on Biden’s reaction to the release and what it took to get this deal done here .

Updated at 10.06pm BST

9.38pm BST

Away from the US election campaign, Kamala Harris ’s office has released a readout of her call with Yulia Navalnaya , widow of Alexei Navalny, after Russia released 16 people in a prisoner exchange.

Harris told Navalnaya she welcomed the release and would continue to stand with people fighting for freedom in Russia and elsewhere in the world. She also praised the courage of Navalnaya, who has vowed to continue her husband’s work after he died in a Russian penal colony in February .

Russia recently issued an arrest warrant for Navalnaya, imposing a two-month detention order on grounds that she participated in an “extremist” group.

Earlier today, Navalnaya welcomed the prisoner exchange and said “every released political prisoner is a huge victory and a reason to celebrate”.

But, she stressed: “We still have to fight for: Daniel Kholodny, Vadim Kobzev, Alexei Liptser, Igor Sergunin. We will do everything we can to secure their release. Freedom for all political prisoners!”

You can read about the latest developments on that story here:

9.17pm BST

Summary

Here’s a wrap-up of the day’s key events so far:

Kamala Harris’s campaign team has met with six potential vice-president contenders, NBC reports. On Thursday, the outlet reported that according to two sources familiar with the matter, the six contenders are Minnesota governor Tim Walz, Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro, Illinois governor JB Pritzker, Kentucky governor Andy Beshear, Arizona senator Mark Kelly and rransportation secretary Pete Buttigieg.
The Senate will vote on Joe Biden’s judicial nominations once senators return from recess in September, C-Span’s Craig Caplan reports. The nominations include those of Jeannette Vargas for the US district court judge position of southern New York, as well as Adam Abelson for the US district court judge seat for Maryland.
Pennsylvania’s Democratic governor Josh Shapiro has cancelled his weekend fundraisers in the Hamptons, according to reports. In a post on X, NBC reporter Allan Smith cited spokesperson Manuel Boder saying, Shapiro’s “trip was planned several weeks ago and included several fundraisers for his own campaign committee”.
In a new tweet on Thursday, Kamala Harris wrote: “This campaign is about two different visions for our nation.” She went on to add, “Ours if focused on the future. Donald Trump’s is focused on the past. We’re not going back.”
Chuck Schumer introduced a bill in the Senate today to declare explicitly that presidents do not have immunity from criminal conduct, overriding last month’s supreme court ruling that Donald Trump has some immunity for his actions as president. The No Kings Act, which would apply to presidents and vice-presidents, has more than two dozen Democratic co-sponsors.
A New York appeals court has denied Donald Trump’s challenge to a gag order in his hush-money criminal case. The state’s mid-level appellate court rejected Trump’s argument that his conviction “constitutes a change in circumstances” that warrants lifting the restrictions.
New Hampshire’s Republican governor, Christopher Sununu, has called on fellow Republicans to “stop the trash talk” in a new New York Times op-ed . Sununu, who has won four elections in New Hampshire, wrote on Thursday: “The path to victory in November is not won through character attacks or personal insults.”

Updated at 9.29pm BST

9.03pm BST

Kentucky’s governor Andy Beshear has canceled a stop in western Kentucky, according to his office, KFVS reports.

According to his office, Beshear was supposed to visit the Jackson Purchase Distillery on Friday. With the cancellation, lieutenant governor Jacqueline Coleman will visit the distillery instead.

No official reason for the cancellation was given.

Beshear is widely speculated to be among the finalists for Kamala Harris’s vice-president pick.

Harris is set to announce her running mate by next Tuesday.

Updated at 9.15pm BST

8.46pm BST

Harris's campaign team met with six potential VP picks – report

Kamala Harris’s campaign team has met with six potential vice-president contenders, NBC reports.

On Thursday, the outlet reported that according to two sources familiar with the matter, the six contenders are Minnesota governor Tim Walz, Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro, Illinois governor JB Pritzker, Kentucky governor Andy Beshear, Arizona senator Mark Kelly and transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg.

According to a source speaking to NBC, Shapiro met with Harris’s vetting team on Wednesday. Harris herself was not present, the source said.

NBC further reports that two sources said Kelly met with Harris’s vetting team on Tuesday afternoon and that according to his aide, Kelly was “off campus” from the Senate floor.

Updated at 9.03pm BST

8.20pm BST

The Senate will vote on Joe Biden’s judicial nominations once senators return from recess in September, C-Span’s Craig Caplan reports.

The nominations include those of Jeannette Vargas for the US district court judge position of southern New York, as well as Adam Abelson for the US district court judge seat for Maryland.

8.03pm BST

The uncommitted movement is demanding the Democratic national convention allow a representative to speak on Israel’s deadly war on Gaza.

The Guardian’s Melissa Hellman reports:

The Uncommitted National Movement has announced a number of demands in the run-up to the Democratic national convention later this month, part of an effort to use its voting power to influence Kamala Harris and the Democratic party’s stance on Israel’s war in Gaza.

In a press call on Thursday, movement leaders demanded that the DNC allow Dr Tanya Haj-Hassan, an American physician who’s worked in Gaza, to speak at the convention about the humanitarian crisis that she witnessed firsthand. They have also requested that an uncommitted delegate be given five minutes to speak at the convention, and for Kamala Harris to meet with movement leaders about their concerns.

Uncommitted leaders say that hearing from Haj-Hassan will help the Democratic party and Harris make informed policy decisions on Gaza, where more than 39,000 Palestinians have been killed since the 7 October attack on Israel by Hamas, according to health officials.

For the full story, click here:

Updated at 8.08pm BST

7.35pm BST

Pennsylvania’s Democratic governor Josh Shapiro has cancelled his weekend fundraisers in the Hamptons, according to reports.

In a post on X, NBC reporter Allan Smith cited spokesperson Manuel Boder saying, Shapiro’s “trip was planned several weeks ago and included several fundraisers for his own campaign committee”.

“His schedule has changed and he is no longer travelling to the Hamptons this weekend,” Bonder added.

Shapiro is widely speculated to be among the finalists of Kamala Harris’s vice-president picks. Harris is expected to announce her running mate by Tuesday and is set to hold a rally in Philadelphia next week.

Updated at 7.41pm BST

7.04pm BST

Harris: 'This campaign is about two different visions for our nation'

In a new tweet on Thursday, Kamala Harris wrote:

“This campaign is about two different visions for our nation.
Ours if focused on the future. Donald Trump’s is focused on the past.
We’re not going back.”

Harris’s tweet comes after the vice-president remained unfazed following Donald Trump’s comments at the NABJ conference on Wednesday in which he questioned her racial identity.

Responding to Trump, Harris called his behavior the “same old show”, adding that “America deserves better.”

Updated at 7.19pm BST

6.45pm BST

The late singer and songwriter Johnny Cash will get a statue in the Capitol, congressional leaders announced.

In an announcement posted by Punchbowl News’s Jake Sherman, House speaker Mike Johnson, Senate majority leader Charles Schumer, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said:

“Please join us at a ceremony commemorating the dedication of a National Statuary Hall Collection Statue in honor of Johnny Cash of Arkansas.”

The ceremony will take place on Tuesday 24 September 2024 at 11am ET in Emancipation Hall on Capitol Hill.

Updated at 6.52pm BST

6.11pm BST

Republican senator sidesteps question on whether Vance is a good VP pick

Thom Tillis, the Republican senator for North Carolina, would not say if JD Vance was the right pick to be Donald Trump ’s running mate.

Tillis told CNN:

I’ve never been in a selection pool for VP, so I don’t necessarily – I’m not going to opine on that.

Pressed on whether the Ohio senator would make a good candidate, Tillis replied:

I know JD well. I’ve gotten to know him pretty well over the past couple of years. I think he’s a smart guy. I think that the Biden – or the Trump campaign picked him for a reason. I’m behind the ticket.

Updated at 6.44pm BST

6.04pm BST

JD Vance, the Ohio senator and Donald Trump’s running mate, visited the Mexico-Arizona border on Thursday, during which he criticized the immigration policies of the Biden administration, which he repeatedly referred to as the “Harris administration”.

Vance said Harris had been a “border tsar” who had failed to curb the increased rates of migrants crossing the border. He said:

It’s unbelievable what we’re letting happen at the southern border, and it’s because Kamala Harris refuses to do her job.

Updated at 6.29pm BST

5.55pm BST

Schumer introduces No Kings Act bill in wake of supreme court immunity ruling

Chuck Schumer introduced a bill in the Senate today to declare explicitly that presidents do not have immunity from criminal conduct, overriding last month’s supreme court ruling that Donald Trump has some immunity for his actions as president.

The No Kings Act, which would apply to presidents and vice-presidents, has more than two dozen Democratic co-sponsors.

“Given the dangerous and consequential implications of the court’s ruling, legislation would be the fastest and most efficient method to correcting the grave precedent the Trump ruling presented,” the Senate majority leader said in a statement.

With this glaring and partisan overreach, Congress has an obligation – and a constitutional authority – to act as a check and balance to the judicial branch.

The bill would stipulate that Congress, rather than the supreme court, has the authority to determine to whom federal criminal laws are applied.

Updated at 6.43pm BST

5.41pm BST

Maxwell Frost , the Democratic congressman from Florida, has criticized Donald Trump ’s questioning of Kamala Harris ’s racial identity.

Frost, in a post on X, said “some folks said similar things about me” during his own primary race. He added:

We need to fiercely call out this type of bigotry and ignorance.

5.28pm BST

Joe Biden is currently speaking from the White House following the release of the Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and the former US marine Paul Whelan from Russian custody as part of a major prisoner exchange.

You can watch the news conference live below:

Updated at 5.37pm BST

5.23pm BST

Trump loses gag order appeal in hush-money case

A New York appeals court has denied Donald Trump ’s challenge to a gag order in his hush-money criminal case.

The state’s mid-level appellate court rejected Trump’s argument that his conviction “constitutes a change in circumstances” that warrants lifting the restrictions.

Justice Juan Merchan, who presided over the former president’s trial, imposed the gag order in March, a few weeks before the trial started, after prosecutors raised concerns about Trump’s habit of attacking people involved in his cases.

During the trial, he held Trump in contempt of court and fined him $10,000 for violations, and threatened to jail him if he did it again.

The judge lifted some restrictions in June, freeing Trump to comment about witnesses and jurors but keeping trial prosecutors, court staffers and their families – including his own daughter – off limits until he is sentenced.

In a ruling on Thursday, the state’s mid-level appellate court ruled that Merchan was correct in extending parts of the gag order until Trump is sentenced, writing that “the fair administration of justice necessarily includes sentencing”.

Updated at 5.24pm BST

4.57pm BST

With Kamala Harris on the campaign trail in hopes of winning the 2024 presidential election, her job as vice -president continues.

In an statement on Thursday, Harris announced that her and Joe Biden’s administration had proposed a ban on airlines charging fees for families wishing to sit together on flights.

“Families should be able to sit together on a flight without paying more,” Harris wrote.

In a separate statement, the transportation department announced that proposing the ban on the so-called junk fees would in turn “require airlines to seat parents next to their young children for free when adjacent seating is available at booking”.

“Mandating fee-free family seating would lower the cost of flying with young children – saving a family of four as much as $200 per roundtrip if seat fees are $25,” it added.

Updated at 4.59pm BST

4.34pm BST

Profile: Who is Mark Kelly?

Among the top contenders for Kamala Harris’s vice-president pick is Mark Kelly, a former astronaut, US navy pilot and Arizona senator.

The Guardian’s Rachel Leingang explores Kelly’s background ahead of Harris’s vice-president announcement next week:

Mark Kelly’s r ésum é stands out in the sea of lawyers that dominate Washington.

The Arizona senator was a US navy pilot who served multiple deployments. He was on Celebrity Jeopardy . He is a steadfast partner to his wife, former US representative Gabrielle Giffords, who survived an assassination attempt at a public event in Tucson in 2011 and has worked alongside Kelly to limit guns since.

Oh, and he’s been to space multiple times because he was an astronaut, along with his twin brother, Scott. He even wrote a children’s book about it, called Mousetronaut .

“An astronaut! Who doesn’t like astronauts, except for Flat Earthers, right? But they’re very small in quantity,” Arizona pollster Mike Noble said. “So, outside of Flat Earthers, I’m trying to think of what’s more American than astronauts. Astronaut takes everybody. I’ve been to space, what have you done?”

Kelly is on Kamala Harris’s shortlist for vice-president, and his background certainly helps make his case.

For the full story, click here:

Updated at 6.43pm BST

4.11pm BST

New Hampshire Republican governor calls on fellow Republicans to 'stop the trash talk'

New Hampshire’s Republican governor, Christopher Sununu, has called on fellow Republicans to “stop the trash talk” in a new New York Times op-ed .

Sununu, who has won four elections in New Hampshire, wrote on Thursday:

“The path to victory in November is not won through character attacks or personal insults.
In fact, those attacks are unlikely to bring a single new voter onboard. Catchy one-liners — calling vice-president Harris a ‘bum,’ ‘not a serious person’ and ‘bottom of the barrel’ — might rile up the base, but they do little to connect with independent voters needed to close the deal in November.

He went on to add:

“Attacks like those waged against vice-president Kamala Harris are unserious and don’t meet the moment that American families find themselves in. You have to connect with voters on their issues and their concerns.”

Updated at 4.16pm BST

3.56pm BST

Russia has freed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and other others in the largest prisoner swap since the cold war .

We are covering the live developments in a separate blog which can be found here:

Updated at 4.01pm BST

3.30pm BST

In her new book, Nancy Pelosi revealed that doctors voiced their concerns to her over Donald Trump’s mental health.

Martin Pengelly reports for the Guardian:

In early 2019, at a memorial service for a prominent psychiatrist, a succession of “doctors and other mental health professionals” told Nancy Pelosi they were “deeply concerned that there was something seriously wrong” with Donald Trump , “and that his mental and psychological health was in decline”.

“I’m not a doctor,” the former speaker writes in an eagerly awaited memoir, “but I did find his behaviors difficult to understand.”

Pelosi’s book, The Art of Power: My Story as America’s First Woman Speaker of the House , will be published next week. The Guardian obtained a copy.

For the ful story, click here:

3.08pm BST

In an apparently sarcastic post on Truth Social, Donald Trump seems to be doubling down on his questioning of Kamala Harris’s racial identity, despite swift criticisms from Republicans and Democrats.

Posting a photo of a young Harris – who was born to an Indian mother and a Black father - dressed in traditional Indian garb alongside her family, Trump wrote:

“Thank you Kamala for the nice picture you sent from many years ago! Your warm, friendship, and love of your Indian heritage are very much appreciated.”

Trump’s post follows comments he made at the NABJ conference on Wednesday in which he said Harris was of Indian heritage until she “happened to turn Black”.

Over the years, Trump has also espoused birtherism and false claims about Barack Obama, Ted Cruz and Nikki Haley.

Updated at 3.17pm BST

2.45pm BST

Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are neck and neck in five swing states, according to a new survey from Public Opinion Strategies, Politico reports .

In Pennsylvania, Harris leads Trump 48% to 45% while in Wisconsin, she leads him 48% to 46%.

In Arizona, Trump leads Harris 48% to 43% while in Nevada, Trump leads her 46% to 45%.

The two opponents are tied in Michigan at 45%.

According to the survey, 4% of the voters back third-party candidates and 4% are undecided. Additionally, the undecided voters lean Republican, with 47% of undecideds identifying as Republicans, compared with 19% who say they are Democrats.

Updated at 3.06pm BST

2.26pm BST

In his interview with CNN following Donald Trump’s appearance at the NABJ conference, Arizona senator Mark Kelly hit back at the ex-president over his comments on Kamala Harris’s racial identity.

Speaking to CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, Kelly, who is widely considered to be a top contender among Harris’s vice-president picks, said:

[It is] very obvious to me watching him and just what I’ve seen over the last week while she’s been across the country just kicking his butt that he’s afraid. He’s probably afraid to debate her, he is certainly afraid to lose an election to her in November and he’s afraid about his own future.

He went on to add:

She’s got great momentum. She’s a fantastic historic candidate and who is he? He just convicted felon.

Updated at 2.33pm BST

2.02pm BST

Trump's NABJ comments on Harris's racial identity trigger bipartisan criticism

Donald Trump’s questioning of Kamala Harris’s racial identity during his NABJ appearance yesterday has triggered criticism from both Republicans and Democrats alike.

Larry Hogan, the former Republican governor of Maryland, took to X and wrote: “It’s unacceptable and abhorrent to attack vice president Harris or anyone’s racial identity. The American people deserve better.”

Alaska’s Republican senator Lisa Murkowski said, “Maybe they don’t know how to handle the campaign, and so you default to issues that just should simply not be an issue,” Axios reports.

South Dakota’s John Thune, the Senate Republican whip, echoed similar sentiments, saying, “The campaign … needs to be about the issues … I just think that’s where the focus needs to be,” the Hill reports .

Meanwhile, Michael Steele, the former chairman of the Republican National Committee, described the interview as a “hot mess”.

From the Democrat side, Senator Raphael Warnock told CNN, “This is who Donald Trump is. And he reminds us time and time again the only thing he knows is the politics of division and hatred.”

Illinois’s governor, JB Pritzker, widely considered as one of Harris’s top VP contenders, told the network that Trump’s comments “showed the racism coming through him”.

Arizona senator Mark Kelly, another top contender, said that Trump’s words were “overtly racist”, adding, “My first reaction was this is the reaction of a desperate and scared old man.”

Updated at 2.17pm BST

1.57pm BST

Unfazed Harris describes Trump's questioning of her race as 'divisiveness' and 'disrespect'

Good morning,

Following Donald Trump’s combative appearance at the National Association of Black Journalists conference on Wednesday where he questioned Kamala Harris’s racial identity, the vice-president called Trump’s behavior “the same old show”.

Speaking at a rally in Houston, Harris appeared unfazed, saying: “It was the same old show: the divisiveness and the disrespect. And let me just say, the American people deserve better.”

Harris’s husband, the second gentleman, Douglas Emhoff, has also responded to Trump’s comments, saying : “We’ve got to focus on what they’re really trying to do, which is to destroy our country.”

As Trump ramps up his attack on the vice-president, Harris is expected to announce her running mate by next Tuesday. Speculation over her finalists include the swing state Pennsylvania governor, Josh Shapiro, and the Arizona senator Mark Kelly.

Here are other developments in US politics:

Harris is set to deliver a eulogy for the late Texas Democratic representative Sheila Jackson Lee in Houston at 2.20pm ET.
The former House speaker Nancy Pelosi said doctors voiced their concern for Trump’s mental health to her in 2019, saying there was something “seriously wrong”, according to her new book.
The supreme court is set to take on several major education issues including Joe Biden’s student debt program and transgender policies in its next term, the Hill reports.