2024 Election Latest: Biden contracts COVID-19, Vance speaks at RNC

By The Associated Press

The third day of the Republican National Convention shifted its focus to issues of national security and foreign policy.

Republicans are focusing on Democratic President Joe Biden’s handling of the ongoing crises in Europe and the Middle East. Former Trump administration officials have also taken the stage to express their foreign policy hopes should Trump return to the White House for a second term.

Vice presidential candidate JD Vance introduced himself to a national audience Wednesday evening when he delivered his first speech as the Republican vice-presidential nominee.

As the RNC’s evening session was about to begin, the Biden campaign announced that the president had contracted COVID-19 and would be flying to Deleware to quarantine.

Follow the AP’s Election-2024 coverage at: https://apnews.com/hub/election-2024

Here’s the Latest:

Vance is contrasting Biden and Trump

“Joe Biden has been a politician in Washington as long as I’ve been alive,” Vance, 39, said. “For half a century he’s been a champion of every single policy initiative to make America weaker and poorer.”

In contrast, Vance said, Trump in four years was able to reverse all those negative trends. “Just imagine what he’s going to do when we give him four more years,” Vance said, sparking chants of “four more years.”

Vance, still a relative unknown, familiarizes the crowd with his autobiography

The crowd inside the convention hall welcomed Vance warmly, but they were somewhat quiet during his remarks — at least compared to other more fiery speakers from earlier in the night.

In winning the nomination, Vance has leap-frogged a deep bench of aspiring Republican politicians in Ohio, where the GOP controls every statewide executive office, both legislative chambers and the state Supreme Court.

The muted reception was a reminder that Vance is still not well known, even among Republicans. And he was not the most talented orator among the list of veep finalists. Perhaps that’s why Vance has closely followed the script for much of his speech, according to the teleprompters in the room.

It’s also worth noting that the speech is more focused on Vance’s biography than the red-meat conservative issues that most excite Republican activists.

Vance pays homage to his ‘Mamaw’

Vance drew upon his bestselling memoir to talk about growing up in a faded Ohio town. He credited his success to his grandmother, who he refers to as “Mamaw.”

He recounted how she was “tough as nails.” Once, when Vance recalled that he was spending too much time hanging out with a local kid who dealt drugs, his grandmother said she’d run the boy over with her car if Vance didn’t stop.

“She said, ‘JD, no one will ever find out about it,’” Vance recalled.

The crowd roared and began chanting “Mamaw! Mamaw!”

Vance pays respect to his running mate before detailing his own life story

Vance’s autobiographical speech is supposed to introduce the 39-year-old freshman senator to the nation, but he seemed to have little choice but to immediately address Saturday’s assassination attempt on his running mate.

“For the last eight years, President Trump has given everything he has to fight for his country. He didn’t need politics but the country needed him,” Vance said.

“They said he was a tyrant. They said he had to be stopped at all costs. But what did he call for?” Vance asked. “He called for national unity.”

He also shared an unexpected private detail — two nights ago, he said, Trump gave each of his two adult sons a kiss on the cheek. “Sorry guys,” Vance joked about the moment, noting the two Trump sons “squirmed” like Vance’s own 4-year-old son when the Ohio Senator tries to kiss him.

JD Vance takes the stage

With a kiss to his wife, he walked out to Merle Haggard’s “America First,” which has played several times during the convention.

Bowing his head and waving to the crowd, the 39-year-old Ohio senator, elected just 20 months ago, proclaimed, “Wow, wow!” as the crowd briefly chanted “JD, JD.”

“My name is JD Vance, from the great state of Ohio,” he said.

To the chance of OH-IO, he said, “We gotta chill with the Ohio love, we have to win Michigan too.”

Usha Vance introduces her husband

Usha Vance, JD Vance’s wife and political unknown, arrived on the RNC stage for her prime-time debut.

“When I was asked to introduce my husband JD Vance to all of you, I was at a loss,” she said. “What can I say that hasn’t already been said. I mean the man was a subject of a Ron Howard movie.”

Usha Vance laid out the stark differences between how she and her husband grew up. The senator is from a low-income Appalachian family and she came from a middle-class immigrant home in San Diego. “When JD met me, he approached our differences with curiosity and enthusiasm,” she said.

Biden: ‘I am doing well’ after testing positive for COVID-19

Biden commented after Air Force One brought him back to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. The president was in Las Vegas to speak to members of a Latino civil rights organization but canceled the appearance after learning he was positive for the virus.

The White House said the president was experiencing mild symptoms, had begun treatment and will isolate at his home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.

Trump Jr. calls for unity, attacks enemies

Donald Trump Jr. spoke movingly about his father’s bravery on Saturday after a would-be assassin opened fire, saying he showed “for all the world” that “the next American president has the heart of a lion.” But he toggled back and forth between talking about his father as a symbol of national unity and slamming his enemies.

“When he stood up with blood on his face and the flag at his back, the world saw a spirit that could never be broken,” Trump Jr said. “And that is the true spirit of America. America knows what it’s like to be down. We know what it’s like to be confused and afraid.”

He quickly segued to slamming the media’s “lies.”

“They lied about Russia collusion, they lied about Hunter’s laptop. They lied about Joe Biden’s fitness for office, they lied about the border being secure,” Trump Jr said. Eventually, he said, “all hell has broken loose in America.”

Trump Jr. concluded by referencing his father again on Saturday. “He may have moved to the ground but he stood back up,” he said. “He raised his fist in the air and what did he say?” The crowd echoed back “Fight! Fight! Fight!”

The speech shows the challenge facing the convention — to give voice to the fear and frustration of their conservative base while also trying to promote Donald Trump as a symbol of hope for all voters.

Unauthorized aircraft escorted out of airspace surrounding RNC

An aircraft entered the restricted airspace surrounding the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on Wednesday and was escorted out of the area by a North American Aerospace Defense Command F-35 jet.

The aircraft was not in communication with air traffic control when flying about 24 miles southwest of Milwaukee around 3:30 p.m., NORAD said. The F-35 jet was flying at about 4,000 feet and would have been visible from the ground, NORAD said.

NORAD did not provide any details about the type of aircraft it intercepted, where it was headed or if it knew it was violating the restricted airspace.

The Federal Aviation Administration has implemented temporary flight restrictions in and around Milwaukee throughout the convention which concludes Thursday.

JD Vance to highlight his Appalachian upbringing in RNC speech

Vice presidential nominee JD Vance will draw upon his poor upbringing in Appalachia in his keynote address while promising voters that he won’t forget the small Midwestern town where he comes from.

“Never in my wildest imagination would I have believed that I could be standing here tonight,” Vance, a 39-year-old first-term senator, will say, according to excerpts of his remarks released by the campaign.

He grew up in Middletown, Ohio, “a small town where people spoke their minds, built with their hands, and loved their God, family, community and country with their whole hearts.”

In the speech, he uses his youth to help draw a contrast with Biden, 81, who is more than twice his age.

Vance notes he was in fourth grade when “a career politician by the name of Joe Biden supported NAFTA, a bad trade deal that sent countless good American manufacturing jobs to Mexico.”

“In small towns like mine in Ohio, or next door in Pennsylvania, or in Michigan and other states across our country, jobs were sent overseas and children were sent to war.”

He’ll also reference his mother, a single mom “who struggled with money and addiction but never gave up. And I am proud to say that tonight my mom is here, 10 years clean and sober.”

Vance will conclude his remarks with a promise to the American people:

“The people of Middletown, Ohio, and all the forgotten communities in Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and every corner of our Nation, I promise you this: I will never forget where I came from.”

A 98-year-old World War 2 veteran took the stage to criticize the country’s 81-year-old Democratic president

William Pekrul, who said he’s the father of 11 children, fought on D-Day and at the Battle of the Bulge. “There were many of us left, there aren’t many of us left today,” Pekrul said, standing on his own on stage.

“But for those of us who are here, America’s still worth fighting for.”

Pekrul continued that “it hurts my heart” to see how Biden and Harris have taken care of the country. “If President Trump were the commander-in-chief, I’d go back and reenlist today,” Pekrul said, as Trump smiled and clapped.

Trump has a history of controversial statements about veterans, including being accused by his former chief of staff, a one-time Marine General, that he scoffed at the sacrifice of those buried in Normandy who died during the D-Day invasion. Trump has denied he made the statement.

Biden has remained supportive of Israel despite protests within his own party

As the issues from the stage turn to the Israeli-Hamas war, signs saying “We are Jews for Trump” are emerging from the crowd on the floor.

An Israeli flag is being waved near a woman holding a sign that says, “Free hostages, Support Israel and Fight Antisemitism.”

The Biden administration has steadfastly supported Israel despite major protests from within the Democratic party’s own ranks. Biden visited Israel shortly after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks and hugged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Biden has rejected demands to halt all weapons shipments to Israel, although it did suspend the transfer of 2,000-pound bombs over fears they might be used in heavily populated areas in Gaza.

At the same time, US officials have been working since October to try and arrange a cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas that would see the release of hostages and at least a temporary end to hostilities.

Top Biden aides, including national security adviser Jake Sullivan and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, have met repeatedly with the families of American and other hostages still held by Hamas and pledged to work for their release.

Convention speakers turn to condemning activists on college campuses

Country singer Brian Kelley played his song “American Spirit” as a group of fraternity brothers from UNC Chapel Hill strode to the stage, carrying American flags.

The group was honored for taking down a Palestinian flag that activists raised in place of an American flag on their camps. The fraternity brothers then again raised the American flag.

Next up was Shabbos Kestenbaum, a Jewish Harvard student suing his school for alleged antisemitism. “After Oct. 7, the world finally saw what I and so many Jewish students across this country experience every day,” Kestenbaum said.

The parents of an American man captured by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, and held hostage ever since also spoke.

Gold Star families say Biden ‘refused to recognize’ the sacrifice of their loved ones

The families of the 13 U.S. service members who were killed by a suicide bombing in August 2021 appeared on stage as Trump and Republicans look to further highlight one of the most difficult moments of Biden’s tenure. “Joe Biden has refused to recognize their sacrifice,” Christy Shamblin, the mother of Sgt. Nicole Gee, told the crowd. “Donald Trump knew all of our children’s names. He knew all of their stories.”

The crowd at the RNC chanted “Never forget!” and “U.S.A!”

The parents and loved ones of those service members have been thrown into the political spotlight, appearing before congressional hearings and doing various news interviews.

Republicans have claimed that Biden’s decision to remove U.S. soldiers after the two-decade war in Afghanistan was a strictly political move. But the agreement for the U.S. to withdraw from Afghanistan was signed by Trump’s administration in February 2020. The deal called for American troops to be out by May 2021, but Trump left office that January without leaving a plan in place for the actual withdrawal of forces.

The families have blasted Biden for never publicly naming their loved ones. On stage Wednesday, one of the family members named each of the 13 members, with the crowd echoing back each lost soldier’s name as it was read out loud.

The Republican criticism of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan resonates with voters across party lines. Former Biden supporters, such as former New Hampshire House Speaker Steve Shurtleff, have cited the botched withdrawal as one reason why they want Biden to step aside.

Rep. Waltz describes Trump’s relationship with the families of military service members

Rep. Michael Waltz of Florida said Trump has helped Gold Star families heal following the deaths of their relatives in combat.

Waltz talked about how Trump has hosted such families at his clubs for dinners and events as a way to thank them for their families’ service and sacrifice.

The former Green Beret also opened his Wednesday night comments with a crack on Biden, asking attendees, “Has anyone seen charging stations in the Middle East for Biden’s electric tanks?”

Waltz, co-chairman of the Platform Committee, also spoke at the convention on Monday. His name has been mentioned as a possible secretary of state contender in a second Trump administration.

Kellyanne Conway highlights the women from Trump’s administration

Kellyanne Conway reminded RNC attendees how many women served at top levels in Trump’s White House.

The former senior presidential adviser said Tuesday that she was one of five women, along with others including former press secretary-turned-Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, in top jobs during Trump’s administration.

Conway noted that among them, they had 19 children in total. Party officials and strategists have noted that Trump has struggled in the past two elections — and again may in 2024 — to attract suburban, college-educated women.

In 2016, Conway became the first woman to successfully head up a Republican presidential campaign.

Her comments at the 2020 RNC served as a farewell of sorts, as she had announced she’d be leaving the administration.

Gov. Abbott wants to ‘take back our land and wire it shut’

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is receiving a warm welcome from the entire delegation, led by Texans waving their white cowboy hats.

“I can tell you America needs a president that will secure our border,” says Abbott, governor of the state with the largest section of the U.S.-Mexican border.

Abbott criticized the Biden administration for objecting to his administration’s effort to secure more of its section of the border, “to take back our land and wire it shut.”

Abbott’s remarks prompted thousands in Fiserv Forum to chant, “Send them back, send them back.”

GOP showcases ‘everyday Americans’

Throughout the convention, the party has been been highlighting nonpoliticians they’ve dubbed ‘everyday Americans’ to make the case for Trump — or against President Biden.

“It looks like and it feels like an invasion because it is,” Jim Chilton, an Arizona rancher, said of immigration issues he’s observed near his property.

Chilton’s wife, Sue, said a U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agent was shot near their home, and she often worries for her husband’s safety when he goes out on their property.

“Under President Donald Trump, it wasn’t like this,” Sue Chilton said.

The shooting of the U.S. border agent occurred in 2018 when Trump was president.

Schumer spokesperson pushes back on ABC News report

After an ABC News report that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer made the case to President Joe Biden on Saturday that it would be best for him to drop his reelection bid, a spokesperson for the lawmaker is not denying the report.

“Unless ABC’s source is Senator Chuck Schumer or President Joe Biden the reporting is idle speculation,” the Schumer spokesperson said. “Leader Schumer conveyed the views of his caucus directly to President Biden on Saturday.”

Ex-White House official speaks at RNC after being released from prison

The packed convention hall gave former Trump White House official Peter Navarro an ovation that spanned over a full minute when he took the stage. He was released from a Florida prison earlier today.

“If they can come for me, if they can come for Donald Trump, be careful, they can come for you,” Navarro told convention goers and delegates. Navarro was released from custody after completing a four-month sentence for refusing to cooperate with a congressional investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by a mob of Trump supporters, according to the federal Bureau of Prisons.

Navarro’s defiant speech was a rare mention of Jan. 6 on the convention floor. He spoke for more than 10 minutes — one of the longest speeches yet — about what he called the “lawfare jackals” he blamed for locking him up. Navarro embraced his fiancée onstage to wild cheers. It was a striking reception for one of Trump’s longest-standing advisors, though one who had not had a particularly high profile before his defiance of the Jan. 6 committee.

The scene was the sort of spectacle common at Trump rallies, where the presidential nominee routinely plays a recording made by those convicted of crimes on Jan. 6, who he refers to as “hostages.” But there hasn’t been a similar moment at the convention, which has so far avoided talking about Trump’s push to overturn his 2020 loss.

RFK Jr. supporters gather outside RNC entrance

A handful of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. supporters waved flags near an entrance in support of the independent candidate who they say is a strong alternative to a two-party system where they increasingly feel out of place.

Patrick Clerkin, 31, who lives outside of Boston, said he was in Milwaukee trying to energize young voters. “They really do have a third choice this time,” Clerkin said, as an AI-generated pop version of a John F. Kennedy campaign jingle blared on a speaker in the background.

Clerkin described the apparent leaked video of Kennedy’s phone call with Trump as “encouraging.”

“It wouldn’t be happening if they didn’t consider him worthy of the attention,” Clerkin said.

Republicans lay the groundwork for their potential fight against Harris

Trump’s former White House physician, Rep. Ronny Jackson of Texas, is the latest to attack Harris.

Jackson is hammering Biden’s physical and mental capabilities to perform his presidential duties and blaming the president’s “staff and family” for not pushing him to abandon his reelection campaign. But Jackson said, “Perhaps the greatest blame lies with his own vice president. … She has lied to us. She has put party above country. She is as unfit in character as Joe Biden is in body and mind.”

In case it’s not obvious, Republicans are doing everything they can to lay the groundwork for a campaign against Harris if that becomes necessary.

Rep. Nancy Mace has been on Trump’s bad side before, but now she’s backing him

The South Carolina Republican took the stage at the RNC on Tuesday night, talking about her origins as a high school dropout and Waffle House waitress before becoming the first woman to graduate from The Citadel military college.

She also referenced the assassination attempt on Trump’s life, saying that, “just as Trump quickly rose to his feet” after the shooting, “America will soon be back on hers” with him back in the White House.

Mace worked for Trump’s 2016 campaign and won South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District in 2020. But after she criticized Trump following the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, the former president supported a Republican who primaried her in 2022.

Mace won that contest, has gotten back in Trump’s good graces and now has his support as she seeks a third term.

Wednesday session is underway, promises sweeping attacks on Biden

The third night of the RNC promises sweeping critiques of President Biden as a weak commander-in-chief and head of state. There has been plenty of Biden bashing already this week — expected at a Republican convention ahead of challenging an incumbent Democrat.

The question is whether the attacks land beyond conservatives already inclined to vote for Trump.

Republican Chairman Michael Whatley previewed the line of argument in his introductory remarks, talking of a porous Southern border and asserting that Russia and China were “in check” when Trump was president. But the latter, in particular, is a simplified view of the realities behind Moscow’s and Beijing’s ambitions and aggressive posturing in their respective regions.

Trump spent much of his presidency making friendly overtures toward Vladimir Putin. Biden, meanwhile, has largely tracked Trump’s approach on trade policy with China.

But those details and nuances won’t find airtime tonight in Milwaukee.

Russian diplomat praises Vance on Russia-Ukraine War stance

Russia’s top diplomat is welcoming Republican vice-presidential nominee JD Vance’s support for ending U.S. aid to Ukraine and says Moscow will work with any American leader “willing to engage in equitable, mutually respectful dialogue.”

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told a U.N. news conference that Vance is in favor of peace and “that’s what we need — to stop pumping Ukraine full of weapons.”

“Then, the war will end and then we can look for solutions,” he said.

Vance wants the United States to attend to its own problems — not necessarily a war thousands of miles away on a different continent, even though he has said Putin was wrong to invade. That view dovetails with presidential nominee Trump who has claimed that if elected he would end the conflict before Inauguration Day in January, though he has declined to say how.

The Russian minister stressed that any solution in Ukraine must take into consideration both the situation on the ground and the reality of political life. And a key feature is that the four Ukrainian regions Moscow illegally annexed in 2022 are now part of Russia, enshrined in the constitution, “and there’s no use discussing that any further — it’s nonnegotiable.”

Biden boards Air Force One unmasked, returns to Deleware

Biden boarded Air Force One and told reporters traveling with him that, “I feel good.” The president was not wearing a mask as he walked onto Air Force One.

Shortly before the White House announced Biden’s condition, the president had stopped at the Original Lindo Michoácan Restaurant, mingling with customers, making small talk and taking selfies as he went table to table before participating in an interview with Univision.

President Biden tests positive for COVID-19 while campaigning in Las Vegas

President Biden has tested positive for the coronavirus, according to a speaker at the UnidosUS annual conference broadcast on the White House’s YouTube channel.

Biden was slated to speak at the event in Las Vegas Wednesday afternoon as part of an effort to rally Hispanic voters ahead of the November election. Unidos US President and CEO Janet Murguía told the guests that the president had sent his regrets and could not appear because he tested positive for the virus.

The president had previously been at the Original Lindo Michoacan restaurant in Las Vegas, where he was greeting diners and was scheduled to have an interview with Univision.

Milwaukee police chief defends use of outside law enforcement at RNC

The role of police from outside Milwaukee has been under scrutiny after officers from Columbus, Ohio, shot and killed a man wielding two knives near the convention.

Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman told The Associated Press today, a day after the shooting, that the officers took it upon themselves to intervene in an “active imminent threat situation.” He says it should restore people’s faith that law enforcement has the community’s back, no matter where they are from.

The shooting angered area residents because the police were from elsewhere. It’s also reignited activists’ concerns about police use of deadly force.

JD Vance won’t commit to VP debate until Democrats formally choose their nominee

Newly minted Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance’s team says it’s too soon to discuss the vice presidential debate because Democrats don’t formally have their nominees and President Biden could still drop out of the race.

After Vice Harris accepted a third debate date offered by CBS News and encouraged Vance to accept, Brian Hughes, a spokesperson for the Trump campaign said, “We don’t know who the Democrat nominee for Vice President is going to be, so we can’t lock in a date before their convention. To do so would be unfair to Gavin Newsom, JB Pritzker, Gretchen Whitmer, or whoever Kamala Harris picks as her running mate.”

President Biden is the presumptive Democrat nominee but is facing pressure from party leaders to step aside after his disastrous debate with Trump. Biden has insisted he’s not leaving the race.

Former White House official Peter Navarro arrives following prison release

A black SUV dropped off Peter Navarro at a Hyatt Hotel just outside the security perimeter surrounding the Republican National Convention. He is set to speak tonight night.

Navarro, who served as a White House trade adviser under Trump, was freed from a Florida prison earlier today after serving four months for refusing to cooperate with a congressional investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by a mob of the Republican president’s supporters, according to the federal Bureau of Prisons.

Navarro carried his own luggage into the hotel after his release from prison earlier in the day.

“I’m enjoying the freedom,” he told the AP.

Vance lashes out at press, says Trump delivered on toning down ‘the temperature’ of rhetoric

Ohio Sen. JD Vance lashed out at the press at his first fundraiser since becoming Trump’s running mate Thursday, saying they “really miss what the man is made of.”

Speaking to donors in Milwaukee not far from the convention site, Vance said the truth about Trump was put on display Saturday, after he survived a failed assassination attempt and Trump stood up, raised his hand in the air, and said “Fight! Fight! Fight!”

Trump, he said, “literally got shot — came within millimeters of losing his life in the service of this country.”

But instead of being mad and angry, Vance said, Trump “called for national unity. He called for calm. He showed leadership, my friends.”

“The media keeps on saying they want somebody to tone down the temperature. Well, Donald Trump got shot and he toned down the temperature. That’s what a real leader does,” he added.

Vance quips that he told Trump that he’s ‘very excited’ for RNC address

Trump’s running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, is attending his first fundraiser since becoming the official Republican vice presidential nominee.

Vance said he would use his speech Wednesday night to make the case about the importance of reelecting Trump.

Speaking to a room of several hundred donors at Discovery World, a lakefront museum and aquarium in Milwaukee, he quipped that he’s told Trump he’s “very excited about this evening” and doesn’t plan to screw it up, but that it’s too late for Trump to change his mind.

Vance was introduced by Ohio Congressman Jim Banks, who called him the “future of the Republican Party” and the America First movement.

He applauded Trump for his choice, saying Vance was the best candidate to connect with working class men and women in critical states like Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania.

Can anyone say 2028?

Fresh off his convention floor speech marching behind Donald Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was back on the GOP circuit.

One of his first stops Wednesday: the Iowa Republican luncheon. Yes, the state that will cast the first votes of the 2028 Republican presidential nominating contest.

DeSantis finished a disappointing distant second in the Iowa caucuses in January and dropped out afterward to endorse Trump. He did not mention 2028 during his time with Iowa delegates, but he certainly sounded like a governor who was still trying to sell his record to a collection of influential Republican activists.

He ticked off several conservative policy achievements and, as he did Tuesday night, bragged about how dominant Republicans now are in what was once a coin-flip state.

The reason, according to DeSantis: “We had good leadership.”

New York congressional candidate says Vance is unfamiliar, but Trump’s pick is ‘my pick’

Menachem M. Raitport, a delegate from New York state and a candidate for the 9th Congressional District seat there, says he doesn’t know much about JD Vance or any of the other people Trump considered as a running mate.

“I trust that our president did a thorough evaluation of his candidates,” Raitport said Wednesday outside the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee. “And if Donald Trump decided this is his pick, then he’s my pick because I put full faith in the president that he is going to lead our country back to prosperity, safety, security, secure borders and repairing our economy and repairing our nation as a whole and bringing us all together.”

If Vance and Vice President Kamala Harris face off in a debate, Raitport said he would watch it “with a big bucket of popcorn and laugh.”

“JD Vance, I’m sure, has a lot to say and he’ll be articulate,” Raitport said. “On the other hand, Kamala Harris — it’s gonna be a comedy show.”

Gingrich: JD Vance pick part of Trump’s mission to transform the party and country

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is billing Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance as part of Donald Trump’s ongoing process of remaking the Republican Party and the nation.

Gingrich, a Trump ally who speaks with the former president, told Iowa Republicans on Wednesday that the former president could have made a historically conventional pick to “consolidate” the party — a marriage like the conservative insurgent Ronald Reagan and the establishment figure George H.W. Bush who ran against him for the nomination in 1980.

“He had time to think it through, and his answer is, ‘No, people aren’t for me so I can compromise. People are for me so we can get things done and I need somebody who believes in what we’re doing,’” Gingrich said.

That cuts against some of the talk of party unity that has dominated the RNC’s first two days. Or, perhaps more accurately, it reflects that the definition of Republican unity in 2024 is to accept Trump’s vision and imprint on the party.

That influence runs so deep, Gingrich added, that “every word” of the Republican platform was “personally written or edited” by Trump.

Huckabee Sanders says the November election is her focus for now — not 2028

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who served as former President Donald Trump’s press secretary, was asked about 2028 possibilities and whether she was intrigued by the prospects of becoming the first female president.

“Right now, frankly, the only election I am focused on is November of this year. As soon as that’s over, I would transition into really focusing on 2026 and getting reelected as governor in my home state,” she said in a conversation with Politico at an event hall across the street from the convention venue in Milwaukee.

She was also asked about waiting to endorse Trump and whether he gave her a hard time.

“I have a great relationship with the president,” she said. “I have maintained a great back and forth, and I’m really proud to stand with him both in 2016 and 2020.”

Harris calls assassination attempt on Trump a ‘heinous, horrible and cowardly act’

Vice President Kamala Harris spoke during a moderated conversation on abortion access in Kalamazoo, Michigan, about the attempted assassination of Donald Trump.

“As we all know it was a heinous, horrible and cowardly act,” Harris said. “My husband and I are thankful he was not seriously injured that day. As soon as we saw what was happening, we said a prayer for his well-being,” she continued.

Harris also offered condolences to the family of Corey Comperatore, the former fire chief killed while, authorities have said, defending his family from gunfire during the Saturday Trump rally in Pennsylvania.

US Sen. Stabenow lavishes VP Harris with praise while criticizing Vance as Trump ‘clone’

Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow praised Vice President Kamala Harris’ time in the U.S. Senate and her role as a consistent tie-breaking vote for Democrats’ legislative agenda during a campaign rally in Kalamazoo, MI.

Stabenow said the Biden administration has done “an incredible job rebuilding our country” and “has been able to get more done for Michigan than in my lifetime.”

“We watched her masterfully question Trump’s Supreme Court nominees and the other people in the administration,” Stabenow said. “I can’t wait for her to debate JD Vance. He should be shaking in his boots right now.”

Stabenow then focused her attention on Vance, who she criticized as a “clone” of Trump while critiquing his record on abortion issues, Medicare and the results of the 2020 election.

“Tonight when he makes his speech, and when he moves out across the country. The truth of the matter is JD Vance, and certainly Donald Trump, are wrong for America,” she said to applause.

House Oversight panel subpoenas the Secret Service director to appear Monday

U.S. Rep. James Comer, the Republican chairman of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, has issued a subpoena to Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle compelling her to appear before the committee on Monday for what is scheduled to be the first congressional hearing on the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.

Comer said initially that the Secret Service committed to her attendance but that Homeland Security officials appear to have intervened and there has been no “meaningful updates or information” shared with the committee.

Comer said the “lack of transparency and failure to cooperate” with the committee called into question Cheatle’s ability to lead the Secret Service and necessitates the subpoena.

Cheatle has said the agency understands the importance of a review ordered by Democratic President Joe Biden and would fully participate in it as well as with congressional committees looking into the shooting.

House Oversight panel subpoenas Secret Service director to appear

The House Oversight panel has subpoenaed the Secret Service director to appear Monday at the first hearing on the attempted assassination of Donald Trump.

Former national security adviser: TikTok is ‘best espionage operation’ ever created

Former National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien says the hugely popular TikTok app is “the best espionage operation that’s ever been created in the history of espionage.”

Speaking to reporters at a forum hosted by Bloomberg News at the Republican National Convention Wednesday, O’Brien said the app gives China unprecedented access to American users’ personal information, posing an immediate national security threat.

Trump, however, has backed off on TikTok, which he once tried to ban. O’Brien noted the former president has amassed a huge following on the app, with significantly more followers than President Biden.

“I think he likes that metric,” O’Brien joked.

O’Brien is widely expected to have a role in the administration if Trump wins a second term and has said he’d “certainly be willing to serve,” if asked.

O’Brien also entertained the idea of a return for former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, who ran a bitter primary campaign against Trump but spoke his praises on the convention stage Tuesday night.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if she came back,” he said. “President Trump’s always very generous, I think, especially when people say nice things about him. And she said very nice things about him last night.”

TikTok has long rejected allegations that authorities in Beijing have access to user data.

US Rep. Schiff calls on Biden to ‘pass the torch’

California Rep. Adam Schiff says he believes it is time for President Joe Biden to “pass the torch” and withdraw from the election.

Schiff said Wednesday that Biden has been “one of the most consequential presidents” but that the nation is at a crossroads and a second Trump presidency would undermine U.S. democracy.

“While the choice to withdraw from the campaign is President Biden’s alone, I believe it is time for him to pass the torch,” Schiff said in a statement. “And in doing so, secure his legacy of leadership by allowing us to defeat Donald Trump in the upcoming election.”

Schiff, who is running for Senate this year, is a former chairman of the House Intelligence Committee who led the first House impeachment against Trump in 2019.

U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst says she’ll be ready with popcorn for Democrats’ convention

U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst says she’s enjoying the unified vibe of the Republican convention but tells her fellow Iowans that she’s excited for a different reason about Democrats’ gathering next month in Chicago.

“How many of you are going to watch the Democratic National Convention?” Ernst asked at an Iowa Republican Party lunch on Wednesday.

Delegates laughed as she continued: “Get the popcorn ready because this is going to be the most hilarious exercise that we have ever seen.”

Ernst said proudly that she is a “conspiracy theorist” who for “well over a year now” has told people privately that President Joe Biden would not be the nominee. “He is on a nosedive, and the sad thing is they’ve dug in so deep at this point, how on earth do they get rid of him?”

US Rep Adam Schiff,

calls for Biden to withdraw from race

U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff, a prominent California Democrat who is running for Senate, has called for President Biden to withdraw from the presidential election.

Man charged with carrying concealed firearm near RNC

Prosecutors have charged a 21-year-old Milwaukee man with carrying a concealed firearm near the Republican National Convention’s security perimeter.

The Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office filed one misdemeanor count of carrying a concealed weapon without a permit against the man on Tuesday.

According to the criminal complaint, federal agents patrolling the convention’s security zone spotted the man walking on Monday morning. The agents noticed the man was wearing black pants, black gloves and a ski mask and was carrying what the complaint described as a “large black tactical backpack.”

The agents stopped him and noticed a bulge in his waistband, prompting them to ask if he had a gun. The man allowed the agents to search him, according to the complaint. They found an AK-47-style pistol in his backpack. The agents also found a “Scream” movie mask, a flashlight and other materials.

The man told the agents he didn’t have a concealed carry permit, the complaint said.

Online court records indicated the man was scheduled to make his initial court appearance Thursday morning.

Court records did not indicate if the man had an attorney who could speak on his behalf and the district attorney’s office said it had no information on who might be representing him. Attempts to find a telephone number for the man were also unsuccessful.

VP Harris agrees to another date for a debate against Vance

Vice President Kamala Harris has agreed to another date for a debate against Ohio Sen. JD Vance, the GOP vice-presidential nominee.

That date is Tuesday, Aug. 13, which CBS News had offered and Harris accepted, according to an official from the Biden-Harris campaign granted anonymity to discuss debate negotiations.

She had initially accepted two other dates — July 23 or Aug. 13. But the Biden campaign has only agreed to a vice presidential debate hosted by CBS News, while the Trump campaign has insisted on one from Fox News.

___

Associated Press writer Seung Min Kim contributed to this report.

Trump campaign adviser: Vance ‘absolutely’ will help in Rust Belt states

Tony Fabrizio, Trump’s pollster and a senior adviser to his campaign, said Wednesday that Vance will “absolutely” help in pivotal Rust Belt states such as Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, where the senator’s blue collar roots and populist views are popular.

“His story is a compelling story,” Fabrizio said while speaking at an event hosted by the University of Chicago Institute of Politics and The Cook Political Report.

“You will see JD Vance planted in the Rust Belt states very heavily between now and Election Day,” Fabrizio said. “Which leaves, by the way, the president the opportunity to go to other states that might expand the electoral map.”

Delegate: People can ‘feel happy and confident’ that Vance ‘will understand them’

Kathy Broghammer, a delegate from Wisconsin, said Wednesday that she had hoped JD Vance would be chosen as Trump’s running mate.

“No matter what level you are in your life, he can relate to you because he’s been there,” she said outside the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee. “I think that people can feel happy and confident that he will understand them.”

Broghammer also said it doesn’t bother her that a woman or person of color was not selected for the role.

“I don’t really see any negativity with any of them,” she said. “I do not see things as far as race. I do not see things as far as gender. If you’re a woman great. If you’re not a woman, that’s fine, too. Whatever color you are, I don’t really care. It’s what’s inside and what can you bring to the country, how can you help us.”

“I love this country,” she added. “We need everything back. Everything is upside down. Everything is lost. I’ve got two kids. They’re young, one’s 29, one’s 30. I mean, the fact that anybody would try to take the American dream from my kids, I’m not having it.”

‘JD is the perfect guy for Trump,’ says New York delegate

Delegate and Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman of New York expects U.S. Sen. JD Vance to bring more excitement to the ticket than former Vice President Mike Pence did.

“I like Mike Pence,” Blakeman said Wednesday outside the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee. “Mike Pence is a good man, but Mike was the kind of guy that you probably would want to be a professor or someone like that.”

“JD is a doer. He’s an action guy,” Blakeman continued. “He’s a man of principle. He really really cares about this country in a very deep way. I think JD is the perfect guy for Trump because he’s strong, and together they will project the strength that the American people want.”

But that doesn’t mean the two always will agree or should agree on everything, Blakeman added.

“When you accept the nomination for vice president, your job is to give counsel to the president, but to do it in private,” he said.

Vance ‘speaks to a different demographic,’ New York congressman says

U.S. Rep. Anthony D’Esposito, a Republican from New York State, said Wednesday that the selection of U.S. Sen. JD Vance as Donald Trump’s running mate is part of their party’s embrace of youth.

“We’ve often been criticized for being the older party,” D’Esposito said outside the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee. “I think he speaks to a different demographic in this country that has far too long been left out.”

“I think he’s exactly what this country is looking for and what we’ve been lacking,” D’Esposito added. “He’s someone who’s a leader. He’s someone who’s fought for this country. He’s someone who’s been an experienced level-headed legislator.”

D’Esposito also said that Vance’s nomination shows that the Republican party “can put our differences aside,” noting that the senator was previously a critic of Trump.

House Speaker to seek the resignation of the Secret Service director

House Speaker Mike Johnson says he will be calling on the Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle to resign in the aftermath of the assassination attempt on Donald Trump.

Johnson said Wednesday on Fox News that “it’s inexcusable” what happened and that the House will be launching a task force to investigate the security at the Trump rally last weekend.

“We need answers,” he said in a social media post. Cheatle was scheduled to appear before a House committee next Monday, but Johnson said he’s been told she may not appear.

Most Americans — and Republicans — don’t know much about JD Vance

President Donald Trump’s running mate, U.S. Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, is unknown to most Americans.

According to a new poll from the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, which was conducted before Trump selected the freshman senator as his vice presidential choice, 6 in 10 Americans don’t know enough about Vance to form an opinion.

About 2 in 10 U.S. adults have a favorable view of him, and 22% view him negatively.

Among Republicans, 61% don’t know enough to have an opinion of Vance. About one-quarter have a positive view of him, and roughly 1 in 10 have a negative view.

Democrats have doubts that Biden is better positioned than Trump to win in November

Democrats are relatively dour about their party’s prospects come November, according to a new poll from the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

Only about a third of Democrats believe Biden is more capable of winning than Trump is come November. About 3 in 10 Democrats think the two are equally capable of winning and 16% say victory is more likely to go to Trump.

By contrast, Republicans are overwhelmingly convinced that Trump is in the best position to win.

Trump also has the edge on Biden when Americans consider who is most capable of handling a crisis — 38% to 28%. And people are about equally divided on which candidate has the better vision for the country, with 35% saying Biden and 34% Trump.

The poll did offer a bright spot for Biden: 40% of adults say he’s more honest than Trump, while about 2 in 10 think the opposite.

Solid majority of Democrats want Biden to bow out, undercutting his claims average party members back him

About two-thirds of Democrats say President Joe Biden should withdraw from the presidential race and let his party select a different candidate, according to a new poll from the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

The poll was conducted two weeks after Biden’s debate flop and undercuts his claims since then that Democrats nationwide support his candidacy.

Democrats are slightly more likely to say they’re dissatisfied with Biden as their nominee now than they were before his halting performance. About half are dissatisfied, an uptick from about 4 in 10 in an AP-NORC poll from June.

Younger Democrats are especially likely to want to see him bow out — and to say they’re dissatisfied with him. Three-quarters of Democrats under the age of 45 want Biden to drop out, compared to about 6 in 10 of those who are older.

If there’s a glimmer of optimism for the Biden campaign, the poll does provide some evidence that Black Democrats are among Biden’s strongest supporters, with roughly half in the survey saying he should continue running, compared to about 3 in 10 white and Hispanic Democrats.

Overall, seven in 10 Americans think Biden should drop out, with Democrats only slightly less likely than Republicans and independents to say that he should make way for a new nominee.

Abortion remains top of mind for many Dems gathered in Milwaukee

Abortion was a central theme as Democratic leaders and women with harrowing personal stories of struggling to access reproductive care gathered in Milwaukee the week of the Republican National Convention.

Texas Rep. Veronica Escobar blamed Trump for abortion bans after the overturning of Roe vs. Wade. Trump frequently takes credit for appointing three U.S. Supreme Court justices who helped overturn the landmark 1973 decision that established a constitutional right to abortion.

“I want to speak directly to American women to tell you there’s only one team on that ballot that cares about you and that’s the Biden-Harris team,” she said. “The Trump-Vance ticket does not care about women.”

Amanda Zurawski, a woman from Austin who went into premature labor, developed sepsis and nearly died, said her story “was only made possible because of Donald Trump, and if it is up to Trump and his new running mate JD Vance, it could become a reality for far too many other Americans.”

Zurawski called Vance’s abortion agenda “extreme,” pointing out that he previously argued against the need for rape and incest exceptions in abortion restrictions.

Nearly two-thirds of Democrats want Biden to withdraw, new AP-NORC poll finds

Nearly two-thirds of Democrats say President Joe Biden should withdraw from the presidential race and let his party nominate a different candidate, according to a new poll, sharply undercutting his post-debate claim that “average Democrats” are still with him even if some “big names” are turning on him.

The new survey by the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, conducted as Biden works to salvage his candidacy two weeks after his debate flop, also found that only about 3 in 10 Democrats are extremely or very confident that he has the mental capability to serve effectively as president, down slightly from 40% in an AP-NORC poll in February.

The findings underscore the challenges the 81-year-old president faces as he tries to silence calls from within his own party to leave the race and tries to convince Democrats that he’s the best candidate to defeat Donald Trump. The poll was conducted mostly before Saturday’s assassination attempt on Trump at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.

It’s unclear whether the shooting influenced people’s views of Biden, but the small number of poll interviews completed after the shooting provided no early indication that his prospects improved.

Read more here.

Democrats aim to nominate Biden in first week of August, as some push him to quit the race

Democrats will look to hold a virtual vote to make President Joe Biden their party’s nominee in the first week of August, as Biden has rebuffed calls from some in his party to quit the race after his disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump.

The Democratic National Convention’s rules committee will meet on Friday to discuss its plans, according to a letter sent to members obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press, and will finalize them next week. The letter from co-chairs Bishop Leah D. Daughtry and Gov. Tim Walz states that the virtual vote won’t take place before Aug. 1 but that the party is still committed to holding a vote before Aug. 7, which had been Ohio’s filing deadline.

“We will not be implementing a rushed virtual voting process,” Daughtry and Walz wrote, “though we will begin our important consideration of how a virtual voting process would work.”

Surgeon general: ‘Thank God’ Trump is OK

U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy told The Associated Press he was “horrified” to learn that former President Donald Trump was injured in a shooting on Saturday.

“Thank God that former President Trump survived and is OK,” Murthy said in an interview.

A 20-year-old man’s assassination attempt on Trump using an AR-style rifle happened just weeks after Murthy declared gun violence a public health crisis in America.

Republicans have roundly rejected Murthy’s calls for gun restrictions. Trump fired Murthy, an Obama appointee, from the Surgeon General post in 2017. Murthy is serving a second term with the Biden administration.

Murthy said he was also thinking of Trump rallygoers on Saturday, who feared for their lives.

“That kind of fear, by the way, is what millions of people experience every day in our country,” Murthy said of gun violence across the U.S.

House Dems’ c

ampaign committee says it raised a record $44M the past quarter

The House Democrats’ campaign committee says it raised a record $44 million this past quarter.

Despite the turmoil roiling the party over Biden’s reelection, strategists have said donors are stepping up to give to congressional Democrats as a firewall against a potential second Trump White House.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee said Wednesday the total includes $19.7 million raised in June. Biden’s halting debate against Trump was at the end of the month.

3 days after attempted assassination, Trump shooter remains an elusive enigma

After three days, an enigmatic portrait emerged of the 20-year-old man who came close to killing former President Donald Trump with a high-velocity bullet: He was an intelligent loner with few friends, an apparently thin social media footprint and no hints of strong political beliefs that would suggest a motive for an attempted assassination.

Even after the FBI cracked into Thomas Matthew Crooks’ cellphone, scoured his computer, home and car, and interviewed more than 100 people, the mystery of why he opened fire on Trump’s rally Saturday, a bullet grazing the GOP nominee’s ear, remained as elusive as the moment it happened.

▶ Read more about the investigation

Former White House official Peter Navarro expected to speak at RNC, AP source says

Former White House official Peter Navarro was released Wednesday from prison and was expected to speak just hours later at the Republican National Convention, according to a person familiar with the schedule who spoke on condition of anonymity before its official release.

Navarro was released from custody after completing his four-month sentence for refusing to cooperate with a congressional investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, according to the federal Bureau of Prisons.

Navarro will be heading straight to Milwaukee to speak at the third night of the Republican National Convention.

He is scheduled to speak in the 6 p.m. hour.

___

Associated Press writers Alanna Durkin Richer and Jill Colvin contributed to this report.

Vance ‘will only be loyal to Trump,’ VP Harris says in new video

Vice President Kamala Harris is criticizing Republican Donald Trump’s new running mate ahead of the speech he’s making Wednesday night at the Republican National Convention.

In a video released by President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign, Harris dismissed the choice of Ohio Sen. JD Vance as Trump looking “for someone he knew would be a rubber stamp for his extreme agenda.”

“Make no mistake: JD Vance will be loyal only to Trump, not to our country,” Harris says in the 45-second video.

Trump and other top Republicans have recently intensified their criticism of Harris. That comes amid speculation she could replace Biden at the top of the Democratic presidential ticket if he were to heed intensifying calls for him to leave the race.

Congressman calls for open process to pick new Democratic presidential nominee

U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett of Texas, the first House Democrat to publicly call on President Joe Biden to drop out of the 2024 presidential race, says the Democratic National Committee should not “fast-forward” the nominating process for his reelection bid.

Doggett said in a statement Wednesday that plans for a quick nomination — which the DNC is considering with a virtual roll call before the August convention — would jeopardize their chances of winning. He called instead for an open process to select a new Democratic presidential nominee.

“Fast-forwarding the nomination process is no way to convince the many unconvinced voters in the growing number of battleground states,” he said. “The risk of Trump tyranny is so great that we must put forward our strongest nominee.”

“Short-circuiting the normal Convention process jeopardizes the White House, Senate and House,” he added.

Homeland Security inspector general investigates Secret Service handling of security at Trump rally

WASHINGTON — The Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general says it’s investigating the U.S. Secret Service’s handling of security for former President Donald Trump on the day a gunman tried to assassinate him at a Pennsylvania rally.

The agency says in a brief notice on its website the objective is to evaluate the Secret Service’s “process for securing former President Trump’s July 13, 2024 campaign event.”

▶ Read more about the Department of Homeland Security’s investigation

FACT FOCUS: A look at ominous claims around illegal immigration made at the RNC

After Donald Trump triumphantly entered the hall on the second night of the Republican National Convention, the program turned to one of his signature issues: illegal immigration. An ominous video of chaos at the U.S.-Mexico border led into to a speech by U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, who declared, “We are facing an invasion on our southern border.”

▶ Here’s a look at some of the claims made Tuesday

‘A pleasant conversation’

The mayor of Milwaukee says former President Donald Trump called him Tuesday, and the two had “a pleasant conversation.”

“Mr. Trump had positive things to say about his experience so far here in Milwaukee,” Mayor Cavalier Johnson said at an early-morning briefing. “He shared his gratitude for the security and for law enforcement preparations.”

The mayor said he wished Trump a speedy recovery during the phone call, which Johnson said lasted two to three minutes.

Police saved the life of ‘an unarmed man’ in Tuesday shooting, Milwaukee mayor says

Milwaukee’s mayor says he was saddened by the death of a man shot by a group of bicycle police from Columbus, Ohio, who were in town to help with convention security.

The officers were briefing each other on the day’s activities Tuesday when they witnessed a man with two knives lunge at an unarmed man, Mayor Cavalier Johnson said at an early-morning briefing.

Police body camera footage of the encounter was released Tuesday.

“The information we have leaves a clear impression that these Columbus officers, they saved the life of an unarmed man from death or perhaps serious injury,” Johnson said.

The shooting occurred about three-quarters of a mile (1.2 kilometers) from the convention arena, near a park where demonstrators have been protesting this week.

JD Vance, Trump’s pick for vice president, will introduce himself to a national audience at the RNC

Donald Trump ’s running mate JD Vance will introduce himself to a national audience Wednesday as he addresses the Republican National Convention.

The Ohio senator’s headlining address will be his first speech as the Republican vice-presidential nominee. He’s a relative political unknown who rapidly morphed in recent years from a severe critic of Trump to an aggressive defender.

Vance, 39, is positioned to become the next potential leader of the former president’s political movement, which has reshaped the Republican Party and busted many longtime political norms. The first millennial to join a major party ticket, he joins the race when questions about the age of the men at the top of the tickets — 78-year-old Trump and 81-year-old President Joe Biden — have been high on the list of voters’ concerns.

▶ Read more about JD Vance’s expected appearance

Senate candidates feature prominently during second night of RNC

The presidential race was top of mind for everyone in Milwaukee. But Republicans also want to flip the Senate, and they highlighted on Tuesday night seven of their candidates hoping to nab seats from Democrats.

Only one of them was greeted with significant applause. That was Kari Lake of Arizona — a strong Trump supporter who became a conservative celebrity when she denied that Trump had lost his 2020 race or that she’d been defeated in her bid for governor.

All the Senate hopefuls had a common approach: slam Biden for his stewardship of the country and then link their opponent to the president.

Overall, the Senate candidates didn’t sketch out much of an individual agenda, instead hoping to tie their races to the presidential one. With most Senate elections going to the winner of the state’s presidential election, and Republicans bullish on Trump’s odds, it’s not an unreasonable calculation.

DNC offers up some political counterprogramming with investment announcement

Democrats are trying to offer political counterprogramming to the RNC, announcing $15 million to fund campaign operations in seven key swing states — even as some in the party have urged President Joe Biden to bow out of November’s election.

The Democratic National Committee announced Tuesday that it is investing $15 million in state parties, meant to help them open more field offices and bolster staffing. The funding will let them add to the 217 existing coordinated campaign offices working jointly for Biden’s reelection bid and state parties that already employ 1,100-plus staffers in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, the DNC said.

The investments will pump nearly $3 million into Wisconsin; nearly $2 million each into Pennsylvania, Michigan and Nevada; almost $1.5 million in Arizona; more than $1.2 million in North Carolina; and more than $1 million in Georgia.

Who is Usha Vance?

Usha Chilukuri Vance, wife of JD Vance, is a Yale law graduate and attorney.

She stood next to her husband on Monday as he was named the Republican vice presidential nominee at the Republican National Convention.

The 38-year-old Chilukuri Vance was raised in San Diego, by Indian immigrants. Her mother is a biologist and provost at the University of California at San Diego; her father is an engineer, according to JD Vance’s campaign.

She received an undergraduate degree at Yale University and a master of philosophy at the University of Cambridge through the Gates Cambridge scholarship.

▶ Read more about Usha Vance

There’s growing anticipation for Trump’s speech

Trump and Vance were expected to appear in the hall each night of the convention. Vance is slated to speak Wednesday and Trump will speak Thursday.

Trump, who has long decried rivals with harsh language and talked about prosecuting opponents if he wins a second term, seemed poised to deliver a more toned-down speech. His eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., said in an Axios interview outside the RNC that he spent three or four hours going through his father’s convention speech with him, “trying to de-escalate some of that rhetoric.”

But there were hints in Tuesday’s programming of some of Trump’s old grievances, including several references to Trump’s disproven theories of election fraud. One of the primetime speakers, Madeline Brame, railed against Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, whose office prosecuted Trump for illegally orchestrating a hush money scheme to influence the 2016 election. That made Trump the first former president convicted of a felony crime.

Brame accused Bragg of having mishandled the cases against the people accused of killing her son. Of Trump, she said, “He’s been a victim of the same corrupt system that I have been and my family has been.”

The recent attempt on Trump’s life lingers over convention

Trump’s survival of an attempted assassination Saturday at a rally in Pennsylvania was on the minds of many inside the convention hall. One of the delegates in the crowd could be seen with a folded white piece of paper over his ear — an apparent tribute to the bandage Trump wore when he entered the hall Monday to a roaring crowd.

He was wearing it again when he arrived Tuesday night, appearing even earlier than he did the night before. Trump entered a few minutes after his newly chosen running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance.

Many of the speakers so far have referenced the assassination attempt on Trump’s life, and that’s something we can expect to hear more of as speeches go on.

Unity at the RNC, and other takeaways from day 2

With Trump’s primary rivals speaking, Day 2 at the RNC was an occasion for the GOP to demonstrate its unity, a sharp contrast to the Democratic party’s mounting concerns over the viability of Biden.

▶Read the AP’s takeaways from night 2

Mother of crime victim brings RNC focus to NY district attorney Alvin Bragg

Madeline Brame, whose veteran son was stabbed to death in Harlem in 2018, brought the crowd’s focus Tuesday night to one of right’s biggest boogeymen: New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

Brame has publicly criticized Bragg for being soft on crime, including in the case of her son’s alleged killer. The crowd responded with roaring applause as Bragg is one of the officials involved in Trump’s various legal battles. “They betrayed us and stab us in the back,” Brame said about Democrats. “Trump was right when he said they’re after us, he’s just standing in the way.”

Family members of victims of fentanyl overdose make forceful case for Trump

As part of the convention’s ‘Make America Safe Again’ session, family members of those who have lost loved ones to fentanyl overdose appeared back-to-back on the RNC stage to make the forceful and at time emotional case for why Trump would fix the epidemic.

Michael Morin, the brother of a woman who was killed by a man who was allegedly in the country illegally, said that Trump would take more action on the drug crisis than Biden and Harris have in the past three and a half years. Another speaker, Anne Funder, lost her 15-year-old son Austin to an overdose two years ago. As she got choked up on stage, the crowd began to chat “Joe must go!” to which she responded, “Yes, he must.”

Pennsylvania delegate recalls speaking to Trump minutes before shooting

Tom King, a Pennsylvania delegate from Butler, Pennsylvania, said he spoke to Trump at the rally 10 minutes before the shooting erupted on Saturday. He says he sat about 20 feet in front of Corey Comperatore, the former fire chief who was killed.

“It was a great day to see the president,” said King, who is general counsel for the Pennsylvania Republican Party. “He was in a great mood. He was energetic, but he was very serious about what we need to do in Pennsylvania to win the election.” When an AP reporter asked him to specify what he said needed to be done in Pennsylvania, King said, “I won’t say what he said.”

“We pledged to do everything we could to help him,” he said. “He’s a great guy.”