Election Live Updates: Trump Suggests He Might Back Out of ABC Debate With Harris
The tussling over the Sept. 10 debate continues. Donald J. Trump accused the network of being biased against him, and Kamala Harris’s campaign doesn’t want microphones to be muted, a change from the Trump-Biden debate.
Pinned
The Trump and Harris campaigns are again at odds over the presidential debate scheduled for Sept. 10 on ABC, with former President Donald J. Trump questioning on social media why he would participate in the debate. And Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign asked that both candidates’ microphones be live throughout the full broadcast, a change from the rules that the Biden campaign had agreed to for the June debate.
Mr. Trump held two campaign events with military themes on Monday, starting the day with a wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia and then addressing a gathering of the National Guard Association in Detroit.
An administrative law judge in Georgia has kicked Robert F. Kennedy Jr. off the state’s ballot, on the grounds that the New York address listed on his petitions was invalid. He had used the same Katonah, N.Y. address for ballot petitions in many states, and earlier this month a New York judge ruled that it was a “sham.” Of course, Kennedy says he is in the process of withdrawing from the ballot in swing states, so this may be a moot point.
Trump, speaking to the National Guard Association of the United States, vowed to push for a “Space National Guard” if he is elected in November. Trump signed the bill that created Space Force, the sixth and newest branch of the U.S. military, in 2019. The association has advocated for a separate Space National Guard, arguing against incorporating existing members of the Air National Guard into Space Force.
Tulsi Gabbard, a former Democratic congresswoman who served two combat tours in the Middle East, just formally endorsed Donald Trump in Detroit. Her endorsement is not as a surprise: Gabbard left the Democratic Party after her 2020 presidential run and has been helping Trump with debate prep.
Speaking to an association of members of the National Guard, Donald Trump accused his political opponents of having “waged war” on the rights and liberties that soldiers of the National Guard “risked your lives to defend.” Trump has repeatedly tried to portray his political opponents as antidemocratic in a bid to blunt criticism over his actions in spurring a mob of his supporters to attack the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Today in Detroit, he said this election was “a fight between communism and freedom, a very serious fight.”
Kid Rock, the pro-Trump musician from Michigan, just took the stage ahead of Donald Trump at an annual conference of the National Guard Association happening in Detroit. The musician, whose real name is Robert James Ritchie, performed shortly before Trump’s speech at the Republican National Convention and has become one of the leading entertainers to back the former president.
The Foo Fighters have joined the list of artists saying they don’t want Donald Trump to use their music: “No,” they said on X when asked if they had authorized Trump’s use of the song “My Hero” to welcome Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to a rally stage. Celine Dion issued a similar statement earlier this month, and the estate of Isaac Hayes is suing Trump for using one of his songs.
When a reporter asked if he would consider Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for the post of health and human services secretary if he were re-elected, Trump said they had not talked about it. But he added that Kennedy “knows a lot about the subject,” and that he had made a good impression within the Republican Party.
Trump told members of the news media during a campaign event in Northern Virginia that he thought ABC should be “shut out” of hosting a debate, but then added that he and his team were still “thinking about” whether he should participate in the one scheduled for Sept. 10, adding that Harris and her team “also want to change the rules.”
transcript
Trump Still ‘Thinking About’ Participating in Presidential Debate
During a campaign stop in northern Virginia, Donald Trump raised the possibility of not participating in the presidential debate with Vice President Kamala Harris on ABC News, claiming that the network’s executives and anchors were biased against him.
I think ABC is really — should be shut out. I’d much rather do it on NBC. I’d much rather do it on CBS, frankly. I think CBS is very unfair. But the best of the group — and certainly I’d do it on Fox, I’d even do it on CNN. I thought CNN treated us very fairly the last time. I think Jake Tapper was very fair and Dana Bash was very fair. They also want to change the rules. You know, the deal was we keep the same rules. Now all of a sudden, they want to make a change in the rules because she can’t answer questions. Why doesn’t she do a couple of question-answer? Why doesn’t she do something like I’m doing right now? The agreement was that it would be the same as it was last time. In that case, it was muted. I didn’t like it the last time, but it worked out fine. I mean, ask Biden how it worked out. It was fine. And I think it should be the same. We agreed to the same rules, same rules and same specifications, and I think that’s probably what it should be. But they’re trying to change it.
Trump also said it didn’t matter to him if the microphones were muted at times during his debate with Harris.
“I’d rather have it probably on,” Trump said. “But the agreement was that it would be the same as it was last time.”
JD Vance is keeping up his aggressive fund-raising schedule on behalf of Trump, who himself doesn’t headline that many finance events. Vance had two events this weekend in the Hamptons, one a Sunday dinner hosted by Woody Johnson, owner of the New York Jets. Tomorrow he’s headed to a fund-raiser in Nashville, and on Thursday he has one in Dade City, Fla. After Labor Day, he’ll hit fund-raisers in Phoenix (Sept. 5) and Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., (Sept. 6); an event hosted by the tech investor David Sacks in Los Angeles (Sept. 8); and an event in Manhattan hosted by another tech investor, Keith Rabois, and his husband, Jacob Helberg (Sept. 12).
For the wreath laying at Arlington National Cemetery, Trump was accompanied by two marines who were injured in the Abbey Gate bombing in Afghanistan: Cpl. Kelsee Lainhart, who was paralyzed in the attack and now uses a wheelchair, and Sgt. Tyler Vargas-Andrews, who lost his right arm and left leg.
Trump has just laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery in honor of Staff Sgt. Taylor Hoover, a marine killed in the Abbey Gate bombing three years ago during the withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Among those present at this wreath ceremony is Tulsi Gabbard, a former congresswoman and Democrat who has rebranded herself as a celebrity among Trump’s supporters. She is also helping Trump prepare for his debate against Vice President Kamala Harris.
Trump laid three wreaths at the tomb, two honoring Staff Sgt. Taylor Hoover and Sgt. Nicole Gee — two marines killed in the Abbey Gate bombing — and another wreath dedicated to all 13 service members who were killed in the attack.
transcript
Trump Still ‘Thinking About’ Participating in Presidential Debate
During a campaign stop in northern Virginia, Donald Trump raised the possibility of not participating in the presidential debate with Vice President Kamala Harris on ABC News, claiming that the network’s executives and anchors were biased against him.
I think ABC is really — should be shut out. I’d much rather do it on NBC. I’d much rather do it on CBS, frankly. I think CBS is very unfair. But the best of the group — and certainly I’d do it on Fox, I’d even do it on CNN. I thought CNN treated us very fairly the last time. I think Jake Tapper was very fair and Dana Bash was very fair. They also want to change the rules. You know, the deal was we keep the same rules. Now all of a sudden, they want to make a change in the rules because she can’t answer questions. Why doesn’t she do a couple of question-answer? Why doesn’t she do something like I’m doing right now? The agreement was that it would be the same as it was last time. In that case, it was muted. I didn’t like it the last time, but it worked out fine. I mean, ask Biden how it worked out. It was fine. And I think it should be the same. We agreed to the same rules, same rules and same specifications, and I think that’s probably what it should be. But they’re trying to change it.
At the weigh-in before a big bout, prizefighters often taunt their opponents in an effort to try to psych them out.
So it goes with the presidential pugilists set to meet next month in the city of Rocky Balboa.
Former President Donald Trump will attend a wreath-laying ceremony this morning at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia to honor 13 American troops who were killed in the Abbey Gate bombing during the withdrawal from Afghanistan three years ago. Trump has frequently cited the bombing and the death toll to criticize President Biden and his handling of the withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Senator JD Vance of Ohio, former President Donald J. Trump’s running mate, denied in an interview with NBC News on Sunday that tariffs had caused higher costs for Americans, as economists have documented, and said he believed Mr. Trump would veto a federal abortion ban, trying to blunt two potent lines of attack from Democrats.
Mr. Vance also equivocated when asked repeatedly whether the mass deportations of undocumented migrants Mr. Trump has called for would involve separating families.
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