The Latest: Both presidential candidates making appearances to fire up core supporters
Both major presidential candidates are making appearances Thursday meant to fire up their core supporters. Vice President Kamala Harris is participating in a livestream with Oprah Winfrey, who has endorsed Harris and spoke at the Democratic convention in August. Donald Trump will be in Washington to address a “Fighting Anti-Semitism in America” evening event with Miriam Adelson, a co-owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks and widow of billionaire casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, who founded the Las Vegas Sands casino and was one of the Republican Party’s largest donors.
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Here’s the latest:
Trump’s campaign argues its case to Hispanic voters
Trump’s campaign is making its argument that Hispanic voters are better suited to pick the GOP nominee over Harris this November.
During a call held with reporters Thursday to mark National Hispanic Heritage Month, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida said Harris “has tried to undo” Trump’s achievements that benefit Hispanic Americans and that the “world was just a safer and more stable place” under the Republican president’s administration.
Rubio cited Harris’ co-sponsorship while in the U.S. Senate of a bill aimed at making it easier for the Cuban military to benefit and profit from American tourism and “making all kinds of concessions to Venezuela.”
Trump’s campaign held the call to mark National Hispanic Heritage Month, an annual tradition that showcases the diversity and culture of Hispanic people. The month is celebrated each year from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15.
Rubio and former California Lt. Gov. Abel Maldonado gave remarks on the call in both English and Spanish.
Immigration wasn’t a focus of Thursday’s call, but it has been a major line of contrast between Harris and Trump. Speaking at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute’s annual leadership conference on Wednesday, Harris criticized Trump’s promise to deport millions of people who are in the United States illegally, questioning whether he would rely on massive raids and detention camps to carry it out.
Trump has promised to carry out “the largest deportation operation in the history of our country” if he’s elected in November but has offered no details on how such an operation would work.
Kamala Harris steps up outreach to Mormon voters in battleground Arizona
Vice President Kamala Harris is stepping up her efforts to win over voters who belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, enlisting prominent members of the faith to make the case in pivotal Arizona that Donald Trump does not align with the church’s values.
Her state campaign announced on Thursday an advisory committee to formalize the outreach to current and former members of the church, widely known as the Mormon church.
With nearly 450,000 church members in Arizona, about 6% of the state’s population, Latter-day Saints and former church members could prove critical in what will likely be an extremely close race.
Latter-day Saints have traditionally voted Republican and are likely to remain part of the GOP coalition. Clustered in solidly Republican states, they have long been a major force in GOP primaries and local politics across the West, but they have not held much sway in national elections. In 2020, about 7 in 10 Mormon voters nationally supported Trump, according to AP VoteCast, while about one-quarter backed Democrat Joe Biden.
Leaders of Democratic protest of Israel-Hamas war won’t endorse Harris but warn against Trump
Leaders of a Democratic protest vote movement against the Israel-Hamas war said Thursday that they would not endorse Vice President Kamala Harris ’ presidential bid but strongly urged their supporters to vote against Donald Trump in November.
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The “Uncommitted” movement drew hundreds of thousands of votes in Democratic primaries earlier this year in protest of President Joe Biden ’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war. The group’s leaders urged the administration to change its policy on the conflict, warning that some Democratic voters might otherwise abstain from voting in November, particularly in swing state Michigan.
Despite months of discussions with top Democratic officials, discontent within the protest-vote ranks only grew after the Democratic National Convention when they were denied a speaker on stage and other demands weren’t met.
Harris’ “unwillingness to shift on unconditional weapons policy or to even make a clear campaign statement in support of upholding existing U.S. and international human rights law has made it impossible for us to endorse her,” movement leaders said in a statement.
Group leaders also made clear in their statement that they strongly opposed supporters voting for Trump or a third-party candidate who “could help inadvertently deliver a Trump presidency.” Instead, they urged voters to register “anti-Trump votes and vote up and down the ballot.”
