Vice President Kamala Harris was making her first visit to the U.S.-Mexico border on Friday since becoming the Democratic presidential nominee and former President Donald Trump met in New York with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Harris was scheduled to appear in Douglas, Arizona, as Trump and his fellow Republicans pound her relentlessly over the Biden administration’s record on migration.
Zelenskyy’s visit with Trump came as public tensions have been rising between the two over Ukraine’s defense against Russia’s invasion.
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Here’s the latest:
Harris arrives in Arizona
Harris has arrived in an Arizona border town, where she’ll make her first visit to the international boundary since becoming the Democratic presidential nominee as she confronts one of her biggest vulnerabilities ahead of the November election.
Harris met in Douglas with Mayor Donald Huish, Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels and County Supervisor Ann English, along with Sen. Mark Kelly and Attorney General Kris Mayes.
America Ferrera enlists college students in evangelizing the Harris-Walz ticket
Actress America Ferrera, known for her roles in “Ugly Betty” and “Barbie,” urged college students to press their peers to vote for the Harris-Walz ticket during an appearance at Arizona State University.
Ferrera, sporting a “Pro-Roe” T-shirt underneath a suit jacket, spoke Friday to about 100 students, some involved in campus Democratic clubs, ahead of Harris’ visit to the state’s border with Mexico. The Harris campaign has leaned on celebrities like Ferrera and social media influencers to court younger voters.
“Your job for the next 39 days is to talk to every single person you know — your roommates, your friends, your enemies, your aunts, your uncles, your cousin — and explain to them what matters to you because you have more power to get the people in your family, in your life to the polls than Ugly Betty does,” Ferrera said.
Trump boasts about plans to cut regulation
More than 25 minutes into his speech in Kent County, Michigan, Trump turned to the intended focus of the event: the economy.
He boasted about plans to cut regulations and offer other benefits to companies that make their products in the U.S. He said he would issue sweeping tariffs on cars and other products built outside the country.
The former president claimed the auto industry is being taken from Americans “like candy from a baby” and will disappear if he doesn’t win. There’s no evidence the auto industry is disappearing. Auto parts jobs have risen under Biden and auto sales were up 2.4% in the first half of this year. Foreign automakers already have multiple U.S. factories, mainly in southern states.
Trump also touted his endorsement from Tesla CEO Elon Musk and suggested the billionaire entrepreneur could have a role in his administration.
“We’re going to get Elon Musk to be our cost cutter,” he said. ” I don’t think I can get him full time because he’s a little bit busy, sending rockets up and all the things he does.”
Trump says Harris has blood on her hands when it comes to immigration
Trump at a campaign stop in Michigan is issuing a scathing screed against Harris on immigration, saying “blood is on her hands” as he points to purported data about criminals entering the U.S. illegally.
“What Kamala Harris has done is unforgivable,” he told more than a thousand supporters from the loading dock of a Michigan manufacturing plant. “It’s a crime what she did. There’s no greater act of disloyalty than to extinguish the sovereignty of your own nation.”
Trump also repeated his unfounded claims that Democrats are trying to sign noncitizens up to vote, which is a felony. He claimed the only way he will lose the election is if his opponents cheat.
Trump’s comments come as Harris is scheduled to visit Douglas, Arizona, in her first visit to the U.S.-Mexico border since becoming the Democratic presidential nominee.
Justice Department sues 2 Wisconsin towns for not having voting machines for people with disabilities
MADISON, Wis. — The U.S. Department of Justice has sued two small Wisconsin towns for not having voting machines accessible to people with disabilities.
The department reached an agreement with Lawrence to resolve its complaint, but the one against Thornapple is pending. The lawsuits were filed Sept. 20.
The complaints allege that neither town had accessible voting systems, as required under federal law, for the April 2 presidential primary. The Justice Department also alleges that Thornapple did not have accessible voting system in the Aug. 13 primary.
Both towns’ boards voted in 2023 to stop using the accessible voting machines they previously used, according to the complaint.
The agreement with Lawrence calls for the town to make an accessible voting machine available at every polling place it operates in future federal elections. The town must also train staff on how to operate the equipment.
Trump is headed to Michigan to discuss the economy
WALKER, Michigan — Donald Trump is expected to headline a campaign event at a manufacturing plant in Kent County, a Democratic leaning county in western Michigan surrounded by more conservative rural areas.
Awaiting Trump, hundreds, decked in the campaign’s red “Make America Great” hats, T-shirts and other items promoting Trump.
The event is billed as being aimed at the economy, where Trump and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris have focused in the past week. It will be held in the loading dock of Falk Production in Walker, Michigan, outside of Grand Rapids, a plant that produces prefabricated walls and partitions.
Trump’s and Harris’ campaign have been focusing heavily on Michigan, where Trump won in 2016 but Biden won back in 2020. Trump is scheduled to campaign in Warren, Michigan, near Detroit later Friday.
Iranian operatives charged with hacking Trump campaign
The Justice Department has announced criminal charges against Iranian operatives suspected of hacking Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and disseminating stolen information to media organizations.
The indictment comes at a time of heightened tensions between Washington and Tehran as Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel escalate attacks against each other, raising concerns about the prospect of an all-out war, and as U.S. officials say they continue to track physical threats by Iran against a number of officials including Trump.
The Trump campaign disclosed on Aug. 10 that it had been hacked and said Iranian actors had stolen and distributed sensitive internal documents.
Senate Democrats make a late push in red-leaning states
Democrats looking to stay in the Senate majority are going on the offense in two U.S. Senate races in the Republican-leaning states of Texas and Florida.
Sen. Gary Peters, chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, says the group is making a “multi-million dollar investment” in television advertising in the two states and that he’s “very confident there’s going to be more coming.”
Republicans are portraying the investments as a sign that Democrats are worried that incumbent Sen. Jon Tester is in trouble in his bid to win reelection in Montana.
Jews and Catholics warn against Trump’s latest loyalty test for voters
Former President Donald Trump recently reissued his loyalty test to religious Americans, declaring that he can best protect their freedoms while preemptively blaming some if he loses the presidential election in November.
He said Jews and Catholics can vote for him and ace the test, but those who don’t — in his words — “need their head examined.” If he’s defeated, Trump added, Jewish people would bear blame for that result.
Among the Jewish leaders appalled at Trump’s remarks was Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of the Union for Reform Judaism. Jacobs said: “It puts a target on American Jews. … Stop.”
