Biden and Harris to visit communities hit by hurricane
On Thursday, Joe Biden will visit communities in Florida and Georgia that have been hit by Hurricane Helene, the White House has announced.
Biden’s upcoming visits will follow his stops in North and South Carolina on Wednesday where he is set to survey the damage caused by the storm.
More than $10m has been provided directly to those who have been affected by the storm, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, Reuters reports.
Kamala Harris will be in neighboring Georgia. Helene was one of the deadliest storms in recent US history and knocked out power and cellular service for millions. The death toll is nearing 180 people.
Key events
Vance at first rally since debate praises own performance
The Republican nominee for vice-president, JD Vance, is in Auburn Hills, Michigan, and has just taken the stage for a rally in this crucial battleground state, the day after his debate last night against his Democratic rival, Tim Walz.
After his relatively amiable presentation last night in what has been dubbed a “midwest nice” debate between the US senator from Ohio and the governor from Michigan, Vance returned to the sharper tone that’s more his norm on the campaign trail.
First, he nodded to the debate last night and said: “I thought it went pretty well,” as the crowd at a manufacturing facility he’s visiting began chanting “JD, JD, JD.”
Vance said he talked to the man at the top of the GOP ticket, Donald Trump, after the debate and Trump seized on Walz’s presumed slip of the tongue that he is friends with school shooters – when it’s widely understood he meant the victims of school shooters, having been talking at the debate about meeting with parents who’d lost their children to the school shooting at Sandy Hook, Connecticut in 2012.
“That’s probably the third or fourth dumbest comment he made that night,” Vance said, adding that he feels “a bit bad” for Walz because he has to defend Kamala Harris. That’s something of a contrast to his relatively convivial style with Walz last night, when he was critical of Harris but less so about and to Walz.
Security for America’s election systems has become so robust that Russia, Iran or any other foreign adversary will not be able to alter the outcome of this year’s presidential race, the head of the nation’s cybersecurity agency said today.
Jen Easterly told the Associated Press in an interview that voting, ballot-counting and other election infrastructure is more secure today than it’s ever been.
Malicious actors, even if they tried, could not have an impact at scale such that there would be a material effect on the outcome of the election,” said Easterly, director of the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.
Federal agencies have warned of growing attempts by Russia and Iran in particular to influence voters before the November 5 election and election conspiracy theories have left millions of Americans doubting the validity of election results.
Easterly said those efforts are primarily aimed at sowing discord among Americans and undermining faith in the security of the nation’s elections.
Interim summary
Hello again, US politics live blog readers, Joe Biden is en route to the Carolinas to survey and be briefed on the appalling damage and death toll from the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. Kamala Harris is en route to Georgia for the same reason.
Fresh from last night’s debate, JD Vance is about to speak at a rally in Michigan and Tim Walz is joining John Fetterman in Pennsylvania and will appear at a rally in about an hour.
So much news to come and we’ll keep you posted as it happens. Here’s where things stand:
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Joe Biden plans to visit communities in Florida and Georgia tomorrow that have been hit by Hurricane Helene, the White House has announced. That follows his visit to the Carolinas today.
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Implementing Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign could cost the federal government as much as $88b per year on average, according to a new analysis released on Wednesday. If elected, Trump has vowed to carry out the “largest deportation operation” in US history, but he has offered few concrete details about how he would achieve a campaign of such scale – and at what cost.
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Biden has approved a major disaster declaration for the state of Virginia amid the devastating impacts of Hurricane Helene. The White House said the president ordered federal aid to supplement commonwealth and local recovery efforts in the areas affected by Helene.
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The vice-presidential hopefuls debated for 90 minutes on Tuesday night, but the Harris campaign wants Americans to remember one moment, a split-second reply that Tim Walz called a “damning non-answer”. Just hours after the primetime event concluded, with viewers split over a winner and analysts praising JD Vance for the more polished performance, the Harris campaign has launched an ad highlighting the moment the Republican refused to say whether Trump lost the 2020 election. (He did.)
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Monday’s 60 Minutes show on CBS will feature an interview solely with Harris, after the network said Trump accepted an invitation and then backed out. “A 60 Minutes candidate hour will feature only Kamala Harris after former President Donald Trump, who’d previously agreed to be on the show, decided not to participate in the Monday, October 7 special,” CBS reported.
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There was no clear winner of last night’s vice-presidential debate among registered voters quizzed in another snap poll last night, this one conducted for CNN by polling firm SSRS. After Walz and Vance had a constructive debate, CNN reported that their viewers who were polled thought better of both candidates after the debate than they had before.
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White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan called Iran’s missile attack on Israel yesterday a “significant escalation” in the Middle East conflict, although he said it was ultimately “defeated and ineffective”, in part because of assistance from the US military in shooting down some of the inbound missiles. Biden said his administration is “fully supportive” of Israel and that he’s in “active discussion” with aides about what the appropriate response should be.
Biden and Harris to visit communities hit by hurricane
On Thursday, Joe Biden will visit communities in Florida and Georgia that have been hit by Hurricane Helene, the White House has announced.
Biden’s upcoming visits will follow his stops in North and South Carolina on Wednesday where he is set to survey the damage caused by the storm.
More than $10m has been provided directly to those who have been affected by the storm, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, Reuters reports.
Kamala Harris will be in neighboring Georgia. Helene was one of the deadliest storms in recent US history and knocked out power and cellular service for millions. The death toll is nearing 180 people.
GOP leaders are vexed as Republican Senate challengers are falling behind Donald Trump in voter polling.
Victoria Bekiempis reports for the Guardian:
In Ohio, Trump is polling at an average of 8.7 percentage points above the Republican Senate nominee Bernie Moreno, RealClear Politics averages suggest. In Wisconsin, Trump has polled 2.2 points ahead of the Senate candidate Eric Hovde; they also both remain under 50% in the polls.
In Arizona, Trump is at 49.3% compared with Kari Lake’s 43.4%. In Nevada, Sam Brown is at 40.7% while Trump has 47.6%.
Meanwhile, Democratic Senate contenders are still besting Republican candidates in “every key battleground” in the presidential race, per the Cook Political report. But the site noted that their leads were tighter than in August, and that Wisconsin and Michigan Senate races could be prime opportunities for Republicans.
For the full story, click here:
Joe Biden has ordered the defense department to approve the deployment of up to 1,000 active-duty soldiers to reinforce the North Carolina National Guard amid the deadly impacts of Hurricane Helene.
In an announcement issued on Wednesday, Biden said:
“These soldiers will speed up the delivery of life-saving supplies of food, water, and medicine to isolated communities in North Carolina – they have the manpower and logistical capabilities to get this vital job done, and fast. They will join hundreds of North Carolina National Guard members deployed under state authorities in support of the response.
Hurricane Helene has been a storm of historic proportion. My heart goes out to everyone who has experienced unthinkable loss. We are here for you – and we will stay here for as long as it takes.”
Kamala Harris has released the following statement on the International Longshoremen’s Association port workers’ strike:
“This strike is about fairness. Foreign-owned shipping companies have made record profits and executive compensation has grown. The Longshoremen, who play a vital role transporting essential goods across America, deserve a fair share of these record profits.
Donald Trump, on the other hand, wants to pull us back to a time before workers had the freedom to organize. As president, he blocked overtime benefits for millions of workers, he appointed union busters to the NLRB – and just recently, he said striking workers should be fired.
Donald Trump makes empty promise after empty promise to American workers, but never delivers. He thinks our economy should only work for those who own the big skyscrapers, not those who actually build them.
As president, I will have workers’ backs and finally pass the PRO [Protecting the Right to Organize] Act. And I will fight for an opportunity economy – where every person has the chance not just to get by but to get ahead.”
Following last night’s vice-presidential debate, JD Vance is continuing his talking point of “common sense” by tweeting on Wednesday:
“Last night was fun!
Remember: Kamala Harris has been in power for the last 3.5 years. She opened the border. She cast the deciding vote on trillions in new spending. The border and affordability crisis is on her.
Donald Trump, by contrast, governed with common sense.”
With only five weeks left till Election Day, the repeated messaging of “common sense” by Vance appears to be in contrast to the Harris-Walz strategy of framing their own campaign as “joy.”
Joan E Greve
After JD Vance refused to acknowledge Donald Trump’s loss in the 2020 election during the VP debate last night, one of the former president’s senior advisers doubled down on that stance this morning.
When CNN anchor Jim Acosta asked Trump campaign adviser Corey Lewandowski whether Trump lost the 2020 race, Lewandowski sidestepped the question in much the same manner that Vance did last night.
“Why is this so difficult for the Trump campaign to answer?” Acosta asked. “I mean it’s 2024. Did Donald Trump lose the 2020 election? Can you answer that?”
“Jim, I think it’s very simple. The American people are past the 2020 election,” Lewandowski replied. “We can go back and relitigate the 2020 election, or we can look at what we can do to make America better for the everyday Americans who are struggling under Bidenomics.”
Acosta interjected, “But, Corey, it’s not relitigating. It’s just a simple question: did Donald Trump lose the 2020 election?”
Lewandowski replied, “Why are we talking about 2020 anymore? [Do] the American people care about the 2020 election more, or do they care about being able to put food on their table?”
Acosta and Lewandowski then sparred over the definition of “widespread fraud”, as Trump has presented no evidence of widespread fraud in the 2020 race. Ammar Moussa, a spokesperson for Kamala Harris’ campaign, said of the exchange: “Donald Trump lost the 2020 election. It shouldn’t be this hard to say.”
In a tweet on Wednesday following JD Vance’s refusal to acknowledge that Donald Trump lost the 2020 presidential election during last night’s vice-presidential debate, Kamala Harris wrote:
“On January 6, the former president incited an attack on our nation’s democracy because he didn’t like the outcome of the election.
If you stand for country, democracy, and the rule of law—our campaign has a place for you.”
On January 6, the former president incited an attack on our nation’s democracy because he didn’t like the outcome of the election.
If you stand for country, democracy, and the rule of law—our campaign has a place for you.
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) October 2, 2024
Trump’s mass deportations could cost up to $88bn a year, analysis suggests
Lauren Gambino
Implementing Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign could cost the federal government as much as $88b per year on average, according to a new analysis released on Wednesday.
If elected, Trump has vowed to carry out the “largest deportation operation” in US history, but he has offered few concrete details about how he would achieve a campaign of such scale – and at what cost.
New! 🚨 We @immcouncil published new estimates of the costs of mass deportations. We find:
– Mass deportations would cause GDP to drop by 4.2-6.8%, more than the Great Recession.
– The annual cost to arrest, detain, process, and remove 1 million people would be $88 billion. pic.twitter.com/xeU0Nvn9df— Aaron Reichlin-Melnick (@ReichlinMelnick) October 2, 2024
“Given that in the modern immigration enforcement era the United States has never deported more than half a million immigrants per year – and many of those have been migrants apprehended trying to enter the US, not just those already living here–any mass deportation proposal raises obvious questions: how, exactly, would the United States possibly carry out the largest law enforcement operation in world history? And at what cost?” ask the authors of the analysis, published by the American Immigration Council, an advocacy group for immigrant rights.
The analysis estimates the costs based on Trump’s pledge to deport the roughly 11 million people living in the US who as of 2022 lacked permanent legal status and faced the possibility of removal. (Trump has suggested the eligible population is as high as 20 million people.)
The largest share of the cost would be spent on building detention camps to arrest, detain, process, and remove immigrants from the US. It would also likely require the government to hire additional law enforcement officers and immigration judges.
In addition to the logistical challenges, the analysis also highlights the impact it would have on the economy, especially sectors like construction and hospitality that employ large numbers of undocumented workers.
“Due to the loss of workers across US industries, we found that mass deportation would reduce the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) by 4.2 to 6.8%,” it states. “It would also result in significant reduction in tax revenues for the US government.”
Vance and Walz to return to campaign trail following VP debate
Following last night’s vice-presidential debate where both candidates kept things fairly civil, JD Vance and Tim Walz are set to return to the campaign trail today.
On Wednesday, Vance is set to deliver remarks at a campaign event in Auburn Hills, Michigan at around 1:30pm ET before delivering another set of remarks in Marne, Michigan at 5:30pm ET.
Meanwhile, Vance will kick off a bus tour through central Pennsylvania and will make stops in Harrisburg, Reading, and York where he will be joined by York native senator John Fetterman.
Walz is set to deliver remarks in York at 3pm ET and will join a political engagement with local Latino leaders in Reading at 6pm ET.
Biden approves major disaster declaration for Virginia
Joe Biden has approved a major disaster declaration for the state of Virginia amid the devastating impacts of Hurricane Helene.
On Wednesday, the White House released a statement, saying:
Yesterday, President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. declared that a major disaster exists in the Commonwealth of Virginia and ordered Federal aid to supplement Commonwealth and local recovery efforts in the areas affected by Tropical Storm Helene beginning on September 25, 2024, and continuing.
The President’s action makes Federal funding available to affected individuals in the counties of Giles, Grayson, Smyth, Tazewell, Washington, and Wythe and the independent city of Galax.
Assistance can include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses, and other programs to help individuals and business owners recover from the effects of the disaster.
Federal funding also is available to State and eligible local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations on a cost-sharing basis for emergency work in the counties of Bedford, Bland, Buchanan, Carroll, Craig, Dickenson, Giles, Grayson, Montgomery, Pittsylvania, Pulaski, Russell, Scott, Smyth, Tazewell, Washington, Wise, and Wythe and the independent cities of Bristol, Covington, Danville, Galax, Norton, and Radford.”