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Trump formally accepts Republican presidential nomination at RNC

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Donald Trump has slammed Joe Biden after the president announced he will drop out of the 2024 race for the White House on Sunday and already pivoted to criticising Vice President Kamala Harris in his latest attack ad after Biden nominated her as his successor.

The storm around the president had been brewing ever since his disastrous performance at the first presidential debate in Atlanta a month ago, which sent his party into panic mode and prompted a wave of Democratic lawmakers, strategists, donors and pundits to call on the 81-year-old to bow out and make way for a younger nominee.

Now that he has done, the Republican presidential contender wrote in a post on Truth Social that Biden “was not fit to run for president, and is certainly not fit to serve.”

He added: “We will suffer greatly because of his presidency, but we will remedy the damage he has done very quickly.”

Trump’s running mate JD Vance called on Biden to resign from the White House too.

Meanwhile, Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle will appear before the House Oversight Committee to answer questions about the security failings that led to Trump’s shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania, nine days ago.

Key Points

  • Trump pivots to attacking Kamala Harris in latest ads
  • Secret Service Director to be grilled by House Oversight Committee over Trump shooting
  • Read Trump’s full statement on Joe Biden’s decision to drop out of 2024 race
  • Trump makes wild claims on immigration and boasts about Elon Musk donations in first rally since shooting
  • Republican says he knows nothing about ‘seriously extreme’ Project 2025
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Trump and Ivanka gave thousands to previous Kamala Harris campaigns

Uh oh. How’s he going to spin this one?

Here’s Josh Marcus on the Trumps’ past admiration for “Kackling Kamala”.

Trump and Ivanka gave thousands to previous Kamala Harris campaigns

‘I’ve given to everybody’ Trump once admitted

Joe Sommerlad22 July 2024 14:00 1721651423

JD Vance shows off his new Merle Haggard walk-on music

Keen listeners at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee and at the Trump rally in Michigan last week may have noticed a subtle development on the campaign trail: JD Vance officially has a walk-on song.

Here’s Josh Marcus on why 2005’s “America First” by country legend Merle Haggard may not be such a solid fit for this ticket after all.

JD Vance shows off new walk-on music – a Merle Haggard song on ‘liberating’ America

The song’s origins make it an odd fit for the Trump campaign

Joe Sommerlad22 July 2024 13:30 1721649623

Trump takes a big lead over Harris in betting odds for November

The former president has taken the lead in the presidential betting odds against Kamala Harris.

Trump is currently -200 favorite to win the presidential race while Harris is roughly a 2/1 underdog at +185, according to BetOnline. The newest results come as President Joe Biden announced he would no longer seek re-election in November.

But third on the list is none other than former first lady Michelle Obama, who left the White House in 2017, with odds at +2000.

Tied behind Obama is Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and former secretary of state and 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. All of them are listed at +2500 or greater.

Gustaf Kilander has more.

Trump takes a big lead over Harris in betting odds for November

Third on the list is none other than former First Lady Michelle Obama, who left the White House in 2017

Joe Sommerlad22 July 2024 13:00 1721647800

Watch: Asparagus fortune teller predicted Biden quitting presidential race – and it’s not good news for Trump either

Here’s a strange one.

An “asparagus fortune teller” correctly predicted Joe Biden would step down from the 2024 US presidential race – but also forecast bad luck for Donald Trump.

Jemima Packington, the world’s only “asparamancer”, who also foresaw Queen Elizabeth II’s death and Brexit, appeared on Jeremy Vine’s BBC Radio 2 show just four days ago to make her prediction.

Bathford, who makes political predictions by reading the way asparagus falls on the floor, was asked to use the ingredient to say whether Biden or Trump would be elected in November by Vine on July 17.

“I can tell you it’s neither of them,” she said.

“It’s a lady. Now, I keep on getting this. The next president of the United States is going to be a lady.”

Asparagus fortune teller predicted Biden quitting presidential race

An asparagus fortune teller predicted Joe Biden would step down from the 2024 US presidential race, but also predicted bad luck for Donald Trump. Jemima Packington, the world’s only “asparamancer” and who foresaw Queen Elizabeth’s death and Brexit, appeared on Jeremy Vine’s Radio 2 show just four days ago. Ms Bathford, who makes political predictions by reading the way asparagus falls on the floor, was asked to use the ingredient to say whether Biden or Trump would be elected in November by Vine on 17 July. She said: “I can tell you it’s neither of them. It’s a lady. Now, I keep on getting this. The next president of the United States is going to be a lady.”

Joe Sommerlad22 July 2024 12:30 1721646000

Trump rally shooter ‘flew drone to scope out event site' hours before opening fire

The man who attempted to assassinate Trump last week flew a drone over the Butler, Pennsylvania, rally site hours before the former president took the stage, according to a new report.

Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, sent the drone over the site the morning of July 13, The Wall Street Journal reports, citing law enforcement officials briefed on the shooting.

He used a pre-programmed flight path, which officials said may mean he used the drone more than once to scope out the area, according to the Journal.

Crooks also received several packages labeled as containing “hazardous materials” and performed Google searches for Trump rally dates as well as for President Joe Biden and next month’s Democratic National Convention, the Journal reports.

Katie Hawkinson reports.

Trump rally shooter flew drone to scope out site hours before opening fire: report

The 20-year-old may have flown the drone near the event site multiple times

Joe Sommerlad22 July 2024 12:00 1721644200

Does Kamala Harris have what it takes to beat Trump?

With Joe Biden’s stunning announcement that he would not seek re-election nearly one month after his troubling debate performance against Donald Trump, Vice President Kamala Harris has emerged as a surprisingly strong potential challenger to the ex-president.

“I am honored to have the President’s endorsement and my intention is to earn and win this nomination,” she wrote Sunday in a statement shortly after Biden announced he was passing the torch.

“Over the past year, I have traveled across the country, talking with Americans about the clear choice in this momentous election. And that is what I will continue to do in the days and weeks ahead. I will do everything in my power to unite the Democratic Party—and unite our nation—to defeat Donald Trump and his extreme Project 2025 agenda.”

Harris — the first woman, the first African-American and the first person of Asian descent to serve in the nation’s second-highest office — has been dogged by dismal approval ratings and a policy portfolio that has seen her take on politically tricky issues, like the root causes of an immigration crisis that’s brought hundreds of thousands to the US in recent years.

But she has also spent the last three years building a profile on the world stage, most recently at last month’s Ukraine peace talks in Switzerland.

She’s also become the administration’s most prominent messenger on reproductive freedom in the wake of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs ruling, which marked the end of a half-century-old federal right to an abortion.

Harris’s “reproductive freedom tour” has taken her to events across the country where she has barnstormed events packed with female and minority voters.

Andrew Feinberg reports.

Does Kamala Harris have what it takes to beat Trump?

The vice president, who announced Sunday that she will seek the nomination for president, has become the obvious choice to replace Biden, writes Andrew Feinberg

Joe Sommerlad22 July 2024 11:30 1721642423

Secret Service Director to be grilled by House Oversight Committee over Trump shooting

Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle will appear before the House Oversight Committee today to answer questions about the security failings that led to Trump’s shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania, nine days ago.

Expect lots of grandstanding from hysterical Republicans.

Meanwhile, here’s Trump saying he was not briefed by the service about the suspect in advance of the attack during an interview he and JD Vance conducted with Jesse Watters of Fox over the weekend.

Trump says Secret Service did not warn him about gunman

Donald Trump said he was not warned about shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks by the Secret Service, despite reports from rally-goers an hour before he got on stage. The Republican presidential candidate told Fox News host Jesse Watters: “Nobody mentioned it. Nobody said it was a problem. “[They] could've said, "Let's wait for 15, 20 minutes, 5 minutes. “Nobody said…I think that was a mistake.” Trump later questioned how Crooks made it onto the roof at the Butler rally last Saturday (13 July). Trump said: “How did somebody get on that roof? And why wasn't he reported, because people saw he was on that roof.” The full interview airs on Fox News on Monday (22 July).

Joe Sommerlad22 July 2024 11:00 1721640623

Trump pivots to attacking Harris in latest ads

Donald Trump has slammed Joe Biden after the president announced he will drop out of the 2024 race for the White House on Sunday and already pivoted to criticising Vice President Kamala Harris in his latest attack ad after Biden nominated her as his successor.

The storm around the president had been brewing ever since his disastrous performance at the first presidential debate in Atlanta a month ago, which sent his party into panic mode and prompted a wave of Democratic lawmakers, strategists, donors and pundits to call on the 81-year-old to bow out and make way for a younger nominee.

Now that he has done, the Republican persidential contender wrote in a post on Truth Social that Biden “was not fit to run for president, and is certainly not fit to serve.”

He added: “We will suffer greatly because of his presidency, but we will remedy the damage he has done very quickly.”

Trump’s running mate JD Vance called on Biden to resign from the White House too.

The Trump campaign’s first anti-Kamala attack ad, entitled “Paid the Price”, accuses Harris of being “in on” the alleged cover-up of the president’s apparent cognitive decline, the Veep having claimed that Biden was “tireless” and in “good shape” in interviews.

“Look what she got done: a border invasion, runaway inflation, the American Dream dead,” the ad states.

It is set to run in the key swing states of Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, and Pennsylvania, according to the campaign.

You can see it here, if you must.

Joe Sommerlad22 July 2024 10:30 1721637000

Mark Zuckerberg praises Trump but avoids endorsement

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has made his endorsement decision for the 2024 election – declining to endorse anyone at all.

Zuckerberg, 40, said he doesn’t plan on playing a major role in the 2024 election, in an interview with Bloomberg.

He noted that he has “done some stuff personally in the past,” adding that “I’m not planning on doing that this time, and that includes not endorsing either of the candidates.”

While declining to endorse Trump, Zuckerberg told Bloomberg that “seeing Donald Trump get up after getting shot in the face and pump his fist in the air with the American flag is one of the most badass things I’ve ever seen in my life.”

Gustaf Kilander reports.

Zuckerberg reveals his endorsement decision for the 2024 election

Other tech leaders like Elon Musk have officially backed Trump

Josh Marcus22 July 2024 09:30 1721633400

ICYMI: Why a second Trump presidency would mean turmoil for Taiwan

Fresh from his election victory in 2016, then president-elect Donald Trump broke decades of US protocol by speaking directly with Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen. It was the first call of its kind since the 1979 diplomatic shift when Washington formally recognised the Chinese government and severed official ties with Taiwan.

Trump hinted at the time that the US might reconsider its commitment to the One-China Policy, through which it accepts that the administration in Beijing is the only official Chinese government, and acknowledges China’s claim of sovereignty over Taiwan.

But just as quickly as this call rattled the international community and the geopolitical balance of the Pacific region, there came an abrupt backtrack. In a subsequent call with Xi Jinping, Trump reassured the Chinese president that he was committed to maintaining the existing US policy after all.

This kind of inconsistency on thorny foreign policy issues characterised much of Trump’s first presidency, and Taiwan was given a worrying reminder of the episode this week when the Republican, pitching to be voted back into the White House this November, was asked whether he would defend the island in the event of an invasion from Beijing.

Shweta Sharma has the story.

Why a second Trump presidency would mean turmoil for Taiwan

After four years in which the Biden administration has strengthened its defensive assurances for Taiwan, experts tell Shweta Sharma that Trump would almost certainly take a more transactional approach

Josh Marcus22 July 2024 08:30 Newer1 / 6Older

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