Presidential campaigning remained in full swing Thursday in battleground states across the country as Florida grapples with the effects of Hurricane Milton.
Vice President Kamala Harris attended Univision City Hall in Las Vegas on Thursday afternoon. She will then head to an evening rally in Phoenix, her campaign said, while staying in close contact with the White House and monitoring the federal government’s disaster response efforts.
Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump spoke at the Detroit Economic Club, complaining about the federal government’s response to Hurricane Helen, which sought to exploit the tropical climate to gain political advantage.
But even in the midst of the hurricane, both Harris and Trump’s campaigns are using travel strategically to drum up support among key voters who could decide what is expected to be a close election.
Former President Barack Obama was also on the campaign trail Thursday night, making Harris’ first appearance at a rally in Pittsburgh. According to the Harris campaign, this marks the beginning of a series of campaign stops for Obama on behalf of the vice president.
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Harris slams Trump for criticizing federal storm response measures
Vice President Kamala Harris criticized President Donald Trump for attacking the federal government’s response to Hurricanes Helen and Milton, suggesting he was wrong to try to exploit the deadly storms for his own political gain. did.
Harris, who appeared at a town hall hosted by Univision in Las Vegas, was asked about complaints that federal authorities had botched disaster recovery efforts. She responded, “In this crisis, as in many issues that affect the people of our country, I think it’s very important that our leaders recognize the dignity that people are entitled to.”
“I have to emphasize that this is not the time for people to play politics,” Harris added.
These comments came after the former president spoke at the Detroit Economic Club and expressed sympathy for those affected by Hurricanes Helen and Milton, which made landfall in Florida on Wednesday night.
Hundreds of people wait for Harris to attend Obama’s first rally
PITTSBURGH — Hundreds of people began lining the University of Pittsburgh athletic field Thursday night, where former President Barack Obama was scheduled to attend Harris’ first campaign rally. Many in the crowd wore Harris’ campaign T-shirts, but others also wore shirts reminiscent of Obama’s past campaigns, including the iconic “HOPE” image associated with the 2008 presidential race. There were people too.
President Obama’s famous campaign rally cry, “Yes, We Can,” was remade for Tuesday night’s event, with “Yes, She Can” flashing on the screen above the crowd. A man wearing a papier-mâché mask representing Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, greeted attendees.
Sherry Warner, 60, who works at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, was among those dressed to support Harris, buttoning up her sweater.
“Who doesn’t love Obama?” Werner asked. She pointed to the long line of people pouring in.
“What Allegheny County needs is a push for Ms. Harris and Ms. Walz to really accelerate momentum and get blue votes, which is why I’m excited,” she said.
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Glenda Ellison, 71, a former school teacher and Democrat from Pittsburgh, said she was “a little nervous” about the election, but “hopefully it goes in our favor.”
Mr. Ellison said Mr. Obama is a press secretary with a large following and hopes he can sway voters who are undecided about voting for Ms. Harris.
“As a former president and as a black president, I think the fact that a black president is supporting another black candidate may connect with the African American community,” said Ellison, who is black.
President Trump confuses budget deficit with trade imbalance
DETROIT — President Donald Trump doesn’t seem to understand the difference between a budget deficit and a trade imbalance, conflating the two different economic measures as if they were essentially the same thing.
Speaking at the Detroit Economic Club on Thursday afternoon, President Trump said the federal government has a total debt of nearly $36 trillion, a byproduct of the annual borrowing needed to make up the difference between tax revenues and government spending. pointed out. But the former president seemed to suggest that this debt was a byproduct of the trade deficit with China, which is a separate issue that reflects the difference between the value of a country’s exports and imports.
“We have $36 trillion in debt,” Trump said. “For years and years and years, we’ve been accumulating. We’re going to have a tremendous deficit with China. There was a deficit of $5,6,7,800 billion.
President Trump falsely claims his administration had the ‘highest number of jobs’
DETROIT — Former President Donald Trump said Thursday that “employment numbers were the highest in my administration,” but that’s no longer true.
The unemployment rate has fallen slightly under President Joe Biden, to 3.4% early last year, below the pre-pandemic 3.5% under Trump and the lowest in half a century.
The Department of Labor also measures the percentage of Americans who have jobs, and for Americans in their prime working years, this percentage is the highest in more than 20 years. Economists focus on that age group, from 25 to 54, because it excludes students and retirees.
Biden wants Congress to approve disaster relief funds as soon as possible
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden says he wants Congress to act as soon as possible to approve additional disaster relief funding, but says he will order lawmakers to return from recess early. It didn’t work out.
Speaking to reporters at the White House about the federal government’s response to the damage caused by Hurricane Milton, Biden specifically emphasized emergency funding needed by the Small Business Administration, which provides low-cost loans to businesses damaged by the storm. did.
“I think we’re on the brink right now when it comes to the SBA,” Biden said. “And I think Congress should immediately come back and respond to the emergency situation.”
However, when directly asked whether he would order Congress to return to the House as soon as possible, Biden did not make his stance clear, saying only, “I think Congress should move as quickly as possible.”
The president also said at the press conference that four deaths have been confirmed in connection with Milton. This appears to contradict what Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a virtual White House briefing that “there are reports that at least 10 people have lost their lives.”
Asked for clarification, Mayorkas said the situation is still fluid, but “our understanding is that these deaths were caused by the tornado associated with Milton.”
President Trump dissatisfied with federal government’s response to natural disasters
DETROIT — Donald Trump again complained about the federal government’s response to a natural disaster that has devastated much of the Southeast as he seeks to exploit the tropical climate to political advantage.
On Thursday, President Trump spoke at the Detroit Economic Club and sent a message to those affected by Hurricanes Milton and Helen. He praised the Republican governors of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina, but suggested that the federal government had not done enough in North Carolina in particular, saying after Herren that the government “did what it had to do.” “I didn’t do it,” he claimed.
President Trump has spent several days promoting falsehoods about the response of President Joe Biden and emergency management officials, saying, “They are causing people to suffer unjustly.”
Biden slams President Trump for spreading misinformation about hurricane preparedness
WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden once again criticized his predecessor, Donald Trump, for spreading misinformation about the federal government’s hurricane preparedness efforts, vowing to “save lives.”
Biden addressed reporters Thursday about the devastation caused by Hurricane Milton and said he had no intention of calling Trump directly. But when asked what his message was for Trump, Biden squared his shoulders and faced the camera more directly.
“Mr. Trump, I want former President Trump to be sentenced to life in prison,” Biden said. “Please help these people.”
The White House and Biden personally have made false claims regarding the disaster response, including that federal funds are being diverted for illegal use to people within the country and that such assistance is capped at $750. I have been criticizing this for several days.
President Trump announces daughter Tiffany’s pregnancy
DETROIT — President Donald Trump announced Thursday that one of his two daughters, Tiffany Trump, is pregnant with her first child with husband Michael Boulos.
The former president broke the news in a speech at the Detroit Economic Club, where he thanked Tiffany Trump’s father-in-law, Massad Boulos.
Tiffany Trump, 30, is the daughter of Donald Trump and actor Marla Maples.
Massad Boulos is a Lebanese-born businessman who has supported President Trump in the swing state of Michigan, which has a strong Arab-American community.
Harris agrees to appear at CNN City Council meeting after Trump rules out another debate
Vice President Kamala Harris has agreed to appear before a CNN City Council meeting in Pennsylvania on October 23, her campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon said in a statement Thursday.
This comes after former President Donald Trump ruled out another debate with Harris after their first head-to-head meeting last month. Harris had called for another showdown with Trump before voting closed.
“Donald Trump’s refusal to once again join Vice President Harris in debate is a disservice to the American people,” O’Malley Dillon said in a statement. “They deserve to see the candidates side by side one last time before voting to take one last look at their vastly different visions of America.” Unfortunately, it is clear that President Trump would rather seclude himself in a safe haven and avoid real questions about his harmful agenda and divisive leadership failures. ”
President Trump says CBS should have its broadcasting license revoked over “60 Minutes” editing issues
President Donald Trump has argued that CBS should lose its broadcast license over the way “60 Minutes” edited an interview with Vice President Kamala Harris earlier this week.
President Trump criticized Harris after posts on his social media sites depicted Harris giving different answers on various CBS shows, “60 Minutes” and “Face the Nation.” accused it of running a “huge fake news scam”, which was clearly the result of editing. .
“Revoke CBS’s license. It’s election interference,” Trump raged. “She is an idiot and the fake news media wants to cover up that fact.”
CBS did not respond to questions about the apparent discrepancy.
This is not the first time President Trump has threatened to go after a network’s license.
He has argued that ABC deserved its downfall after hosting the debate with Harris, and has previously threatened NBC and CNN with reporting he doesn’t like.
UAW chief calls Trump ‘job killer in chief’
Harris’ campaign publicly challenged Trump’s economic record ahead of the Republican nominee’s speech Thursday in Detroit, part of a broader effort to discredit the former president.
Sean Fein, president of the United Auto Workers union, called President Trump a “job killer in chief” during a call with reporters hosted by his campaign. Despite President Trump’s pledge to bring back factory jobs, “the reality is that President Trump never brought back illegal labor,” Fein said.
In 2000, Michigan had approximately 900,000 factory jobs. That number nearly halved after the 2008 financial crisis, but in 2018 it slowly recovered to 633,900 jobs. But factory work in Michigan began to decline in 2019 and then plummeted during the pandemic, all during President Trump’s term. Manufacturing employment in the state has not yet fully recovered, with the sector employing 604,800 people as of August, according to Department of Labor data.
