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Trump concludes MSG rally with anti-immigrant rhetoric

PHOTO: Former President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a rally at Madison Square Garden in New York, New York City, Oct. 27, 2024.
4:22
Sarah Yenesel/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Trump rallies supporters at Madison Square Garden
By Alexandra Hutzler, Ivan Pereira, Tal Axelrod, Meredith Deliso, Emily Chang, David Brennan, Julia Reinstein
Last Updated: October 28, 2024, 10:39 AM

The race for the White House remained essentially a dead heat on Sunday -- with nine days to go until Election Day.

Former President Donald Trump delivered a speech Sunday afternoon at New York's Madison Square Garden. After making several stops in Philadelphia on Sunday, Vice President Kamala Harris held a rally there Sunday afternoon.

Key Headlines

  • Trump campaign distances from comic who disparaged Puerto Rico at MSG rally
  • Giuliani defends Trump’s rhetoric: ‘He’s a New Yorker’
  • Comic at Trump’s MSG rally calls Puerto Rico 'a floating island of garbage'
  • Harris introduces 'Opportunity Task Force' for Puerto Rico
  • Walz likens Trump MSG rally to Nazi one there in 1939
Here's how the news developed:

Pinned
Oct 28, 2024 10:03 AM

Almost 42 million voters have cast a vote

Almost 42 million Americans have cast a vote through early voting methods, as of Sunday afternoon, according to data from the University of Florida's Election Lab.

The about 41.9 million recorded mail and early in-person votes were evenly split with about 21 million mail ballots returned nationally and about the same cast at in-person early voting polling sites across the country, the data showed.

Early voting options are now open to voters in 50 states and the District of Columbia. Many early voting periods will last until the weekend before Election Day.


Pinned
Oct 27, 2024 2:16 AM

Vance asked by pastor to keep things 'respectful' when talking about Harris during town hall

Vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance was invited to a town hall by Harrisburg pastor Rev. Joshua C. Robertson, who wrote an op-ed titled " I’m a black pastor. Here’s why I’m not endorsing Kamala Harris."

Speaking at the "Black Pastors United for Education" town hall, Vance engaged in an in-depth conversation about education issues and how Black children are particularly impacted.

Although the conversation focused mostly on education, and Vance mentioned the use of school vouchers and choice, he did not provide any other specific policy on how to better address the academic gaps that are being seen in schools and impacting Black children.

"The evidence that I've seen, again, I'm not an expert, but the evidence that I've seen suggests that school choice actually improves the quality of both the private schools and the public schools," Vance said to a room of mostly Black voters.

"I think school choice is part of but not the whole solution, but I think the rest of the solution is going to come from a combination of, hopefully, federal, state and local policymakers trying to solve this problem."

Vance said it’s important for people to remember not to take the Black vote for granted.

"And again, I know I'm speaking to a lot of Black voters in the room, I think it's important for people to know that they can't take your vote for granted," Vance said. "And that is the way I think that we're going to get school choice, is the people who support school choice start withholding their votes from politicians who refuse to do what the people want to do."

Toward the end of the town hall, Rev. Robertson and Vance exchanged awkward words when the Ohio senator criticized President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. Vance’s comments led Robertson to check him.

Vance falsely claimed that under the Biden administration, a federal program emerged where if school districts didn’t allow transgender females to participate in girls' sports, the school would see a reduction of their free and reduced lunch money.

“But even if you disagree with me, I think that it is such a terrible thing to take food out of the mouths of poor children because they don't do what the Biden-Harris administration wants them to do. We got to do better. We've got to be willing to say, you live your conscience,” Vance said.

This led Rev. Robertson to ask Vance to keep things "respectful."

"I live my conscience, but can we all agree that poor kids ought to go to school with full bellies? That is simple, common sense that I'd like to get back to. But here's the here's one thing I will say, though, Senator Vance, with all due respect, please, Harris and Biden are striving to make America the best country that they possibly can,” Robertson said.

“And up until this point, we haven't said anything about the opposing. And I think we should keep it respectful because I believe that those people are doing the very best they can to serve the American people."

-ABC News' Hannah Demissie


Oct 28, 2024 10:39 AM

Harris says Trump is 'full time focused on himself'

Vice President Kamala Harris appeared on Monday's episode of NFL player and TV host Shannon Sharpe's "Club Shay Shay" podcast to criticize former President Donald Trump as "full time focused on himself."

PHOTO: Republican presidential nominee and former President Donald Trump gestures at a campaign rally at Madison Square Garden on Oct. 27, 2024, in New York.
Evan Vucci/AP
Republican presidential nominee and former President Donald Trump gestures at a campaign rally at Madison Square Garden on Oct. 27, 2024, in New York.
Evan Vucci/AP

Trump, Harris said, is "somebody who has never been understanding of the issues that affect the community about disparities," accusing the former president of having "denied rent to Black families" when he was a landlord and noting his "full page ad in the New York Times against the Central Park Five."

"Don't think you're in Donald Trump's club," Harris continued. "He's not gonna be thinking about you."

"He'll spend full time talking about his grievances, about what everyone has done to him," Harris said of Trump's rallies. "He'll talk about himself, but he does not talk about the American people."

-ABC News' Gabriella Abdul-Hakim, Fritz Farrow and Will McDuffie


Oct 28, 2024 4:25 AM

Obama makes case for Black men to vote Harris on Win With Black Men call

Former President Barack Obama appeared on a Zoom call with the group Win With Black Men on Sunday.

The group -- which raised $1.3 million in four hours for the grassroots platform on behalf of the Harris campaign -- warned of the dangers of being apathetic as Black men and the importance of staying engaged in politics.

"Donald Trump has shown utter disrespect and disregard for our communities, and for Black men specifically, throughout his career,” Obama said.

Drawing from former First Lady Michelle Obama’s Saturday Harris campaign speech, Obama expressed disbelief that the race is neck and neck.

PHOTO: Former President Barack Obama speaks during a campaign rally supporting Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris on Oct. 24, 2024, in Clarkston, Ga.
Mike Stewart/AP
Former President Barack Obama speaks during a campaign rally supporting Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris on Oct. 24, 2024, in Clarkston, Ga.
Mike Stewart/AP

"As my wife said yesterday, some of you I'm sure, caught her speech in Kalamazoo. It shouldn't be this close, because the candidates are not comparable. You have on the one hand, Donald Trump, somebody who, as president of the United States, showed contempt for huge sections of the country, who did not show the capacity to move legislation that actually helped ordinary people,” Obama said.

“And on the other side, you've got Kamala Harris, who at every stage, has shown herself to be a champion of ordinary people, who works to provide a voice for folks who need it," Obama continued.

"Who has displayed consistent excellence at every level, from being a district attorney to being an attorney general of California to being a U.S. senator and now to being vice president, she is as qualified as any presidential nominee that we've ever seen, and her message is directly focused on the challenges that we face as black men, and that our communities face and that America faces," Obama said of Harris.

Obama also debunked the notion that Trump is worth voting for because of the stimulus checks sent out during the pandemic.

“Well, during the pandemic, Trump sent us a check. You know what? First of all, it was Congress and Democrats and Republicans who sent you a check, just like Joe Biden, working with Congress, sent you a check during the pandemic emergency relief, just like I sent emergency relief to people during the Great Recession when I first came into office -- the difference is that Joe Biden and I did not put our names on the check," Obama said.

"So do not think that somehow, because you got a check from Donald Trump, quote, unquote, during the pandemic, that somehow that's something special that he did, and that justifies you giving him his vote," Obama said.

-ABC News' Gabriella Abdul-Hakim


Oct 28, 2024 4:00 AM

Virginia to appeal voter purge block to Supreme Court after 4th Circuit ruling

Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares announced on Sunday that "Virginia will be filing an appeal in the U.S. Supreme Court immediately," after the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a Friday ruling halting Virginia's voter purge.

For the second time in a week, the law was found to be in violation of the 90-day quiet period in the National Voting Rights Act of 1993. Since Aug. 1, 600 voters have been removed from the rolls.

The 4th Circuit judges concluded that Gov. Glenn Youngkin's executive order to purge voters from the voter roll on a daily basis was systematic and therefore in violation of the NVRA.

Ryan Snow, one of the lawyers in the case, told ABC News on Sunday, "It should be crystal clear to Governor Youngkin that it is illegal to remove eligible citizens from the rolls just days before the election. We urge the Supreme Court to stop this madness and make it clear that it is unacceptable to block eligible citizens from voting."

-ABC News' Beatrice Peterson



Oct 28, 2024 2:15 AM

Trump advisers propose bypassing FBI security clearance for appointees: Memo

Some of former President Donald Trump's advisers have proposed a plan, should he win the election, that would allow Trump to grant security clearances to a large number of his appointees without using the traditional background check process by the FBI, according to a memo described to ABC News that has circulated among his top aides.

The proposal in the memo -- which has circulated among a small group and is being promoted in part by Trump's top legal adviser Boris Epshteyn -- would essentially allow Trump to quickly install a group of loyalists without them being subject to the typical FBI background checks, according to sources.

The New York Times first reported the news.

It proposes using investigators in the private sector to conduct background checks instead of the FBI, and would clear the way for Trump to essentially install a large number of his political appointees on Day 1 on the basis they'd been approved to receive classified briefings, sources said.

The approach would raise significant questions about safeguards that could be bypassed as a result of such an approach, which runs contrary to how typical presidential transition operations have sought to prepare personnel for higher-level posts in an administration.

Some of Trump's advisers have a complicated history with background checks and therefore distrust the vetting process typically undertaken by the FBI. It's unclear how many people the alleged proposal in the memo would apply to, but people familiar with it say it would cover a huge portion of Trump's political appointees.

-ABC News' Katherine Faulders, Will Steakin and John Santucci


Oct 27, 2024 2:16 AM

Vance asked by pastor to keep things 'respectful' when talking about Harris during town hall

Vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance was invited to a town hall by Harrisburg pastor Rev. Joshua C. Robertson, who wrote an op-ed titled " I’m a black pastor. Here’s why I’m not endorsing Kamala Harris."

Speaking at the "Black Pastors United for Education" town hall, Vance engaged in an in-depth conversation about education issues and how Black children are particularly impacted.

Although the conversation focused mostly on education, and Vance mentioned the use of school vouchers and choice, he did not provide any other specific policy on how to better address the academic gaps that are being seen in schools and impacting Black children.

"The evidence that I've seen, again, I'm not an expert, but the evidence that I've seen suggests that school choice actually improves the quality of both the private schools and the public schools," Vance said to a room of mostly Black voters.

"I think school choice is part of but not the whole solution, but I think the rest of the solution is going to come from a combination of, hopefully, federal, state and local policymakers trying to solve this problem."

Vance said it’s important for people to remember not to take the Black vote for granted.

"And again, I know I'm speaking to a lot of Black voters in the room, I think it's important for people to know that they can't take your vote for granted," Vance said. "And that is the way I think that we're going to get school choice, is the people who support school choice start withholding their votes from politicians who refuse to do what the people want to do."

Toward the end of the town hall, Rev. Robertson and Vance exchanged awkward words when the Ohio senator criticized President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. Vance’s comments led Robertson to check him.

Vance falsely claimed that under the Biden administration, a federal program emerged where if school districts didn’t allow transgender females to participate in girls' sports, the school would see a reduction of their free and reduced lunch money.

“But even if you disagree with me, I think that it is such a terrible thing to take food out of the mouths of poor children because they don't do what the Biden-Harris administration wants them to do. We got to do better. We've got to be willing to say, you live your conscience,” Vance said.

This led Rev. Robertson to ask Vance to keep things "respectful."

"I live my conscience, but can we all agree that poor kids ought to go to school with full bellies? That is simple, common sense that I'd like to get back to. But here's the here's one thing I will say, though, Senator Vance, with all due respect, please, Harris and Biden are striving to make America the best country that they possibly can,” Robertson said.

“And up until this point, we haven't said anything about the opposing. And I think we should keep it respectful because I believe that those people are doing the very best they can to serve the American people."

-ABC News' Hannah Demissie


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