2024 elections live updates: Latest news from presidential and congressional contests

On a Wednesday night appearance on CNN’s The Source with Kaitlin Collins, Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) said former President Donald Trump’s comments about Harris’s race were “overtly racist.”

“My first reaction was this was a reaction of a desperate and scared old man,” Kelly said. “It’s very obvious to me watching him, and just what I’ve seen over the last week while she’s been, you know, across the country, just kicking his butt, that he’s afraid. He’s probably afraid to debate her.”

Kelly is under consideration for Harris’s vice presidential pick, and rumors are swirling that he is near the top of the list, given his role representing a swing state, a border state, and the friendship his wife and Harris share.

When asked if he thinks Trump’s remarks were racist he said, “Yeah, I mean, it’s overtly racist.”

“Donald Trump has shown the American people who he is. He’s been doing this now for a decade, if you’re paying attention. Before that, he was doing it before he was on the national stage as well. So, of course, he’s going to continue to do it. That’s all he can do. This is all he has in his playbook,” Kelly said, later remarking, “I’ve never seen a president or former president or United States senator say anything like this.”

Earlier on Wednesday, Trump said at a National Association for Black Journalists event, “I didn’t know she was black, until a number of years ago when she ran (as) black, and now she wants to be known as black. So, I don’t know, is she Indian or is she black?”

Incumbent Rep. John James (R-MI) defeated Carl Marlinga in Michigan’s 10th Congressional District.

James led Malinga for Michigan’s 10th Congressional District with 51.1% of the vote, with 98% of the ballots counted so far. The Associated Press called the race at 12:21 p.m. Eastern time.

The seat was labeled as “lean Republican” by Cook Political Report but was still seen as an opportunity for Democrats to unseat the Republican incumbent. However, after James won by 6 points, Republicans remain in control of the district.

Trump reprised his claims that Harris had stepped away from the campaign trail while participating in a Believers and Ballots Faith Town Hall with Lt. Gov. Burt Jones in Zebulon, Georgia.

“She took off yesterday,” Trump said early on. “Who takes off when you have 13, 14 days … She needed to rest.”

He criticized her yesterday as well, saying, “She’s sleeping. She took a day off. She’s got no energy at all. … Her speeches last for about 15 minutes.” 

The vice president did not campaign Tuesday, but she did sit down for two interviews with NBC News and Telemundo.

Trump and Harris have traded criticisms over which candidate is physically and mentally capable of handling a four-year term in the White House.

Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-GA) introduced a bill on Tuesday that would prohibit illegal immigrants from using state-issued government IDs to purchase firearms.

The legislation, titled the No Guns for Illegal Aliens Act, would block illegal immigrants in 19 states and Washington, D.C., who are granted driver’s licenses from using those identification cards to obtain firearms. The bill would also target ID cards provided by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Secure Docket Card pilot program, which is projected to distribute around 10,000 ID cards to illegal immigrants.

“Border Czar Kamala Harris has allowed criminal illegal aliens to enter our country and roam our streets,” Clyde said in a statement. “Meanwhile, radical liberals like Minnesota Governor Tim Walz are offering driver’s licenses to illegals — creating a recipe for disaster. As we await President Trump’s historic mass deportation effort, we must ensure illegal aliens with government-issued IDs cannot obtain firearms and wreak havoc on our communities.”

PHILADELPHIA — Gov. Roy Cooper (D-NC) told reporters just before the presidential debate Tuesday evening that Harris doesn’t need his advice to face off against Trump.

“She doesn’t need my advice,” Cooper, a top Harris surrogate, said when asked about how he helped prepare the vice president for the debate.

He then went on to tout the number of visits Harris has made to North Carolina, a battleground state that Democrats are hoping to flip.

“But when she comes to North Carolina, which, yes, this will be the 18th trip that she will have made to North Carolina as vice president of the United States, and I’ve met with her every time she has come,” he said.

Several other Democratic governors are in the spin room stumping for Harris including Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA).

Former President Donald Trump welcomed former third-party presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy to the stage at this Glendale, Arizona rally to raucous applause.

“I don’t think I’ve ever introduced anyone that got applause like he just got, I must tell you, I don’t think – it’s true. I don’t think I’ve ever introduced anybody that got applause like that,” Trump said. “Amazing.”

As Kennedy walked out, the crowd cheered “USA! USA! USA!” and then “Bobby! Bobby! Bobby!”

Trump seemed shocked and the excited reaction from the crowd. After Kennedy spoke briefly to the crowd, they erupted once again. When Trump got back to the podium he said, “Wow, that was something. That was something. Fantastic guy.”

Former President Donald Trump invited Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on the stage with him at this campaign rally in Arizona, hours after the third-party candidate announced his campaign’s suspension.

As Kennedy walked on the stage, the crowd cheer and chanted “USA! USA! USA!”

“Man, woah!” Trump said, surprised by the reaction. “He deserves it.”

At Kennedy’s earlier event, he announced he would suspend his long-shot bid, and endorsed Trump.

“Three great causes drove me to enter this race in the first place, and these are the principal causes that persuaded me to leave the Democratic Party and run as an independent, and now to throw my support to President Trump,” Kennedy said. “The causes were free speech, the war in Ukraine, and the war on our children.”

At the rally with Kennedy, who’s uncle and father were assassinated, Trump announced a plan to establish a commission on presidential assassination attempts.

“This is a tribute in honor of Bobby,” Trump said. “I am announcing tonight that upon my election, I will establish a new independent presidential commission on assassination attempts, and they will be tasked with releasing all of the remaining documents pertaining to the assassination of President John F Kennedy, and they will also conduct a rigorous review of the attack last month.”

Since RFK Jr. endorsed former President Donald Trump, a few members of his campaign have slunk away from the candidate, including his runningmate Nicole Shanahan.

Another sign appears to be her rescinding some financial support. Days before Kennedy’s announcement, Shanahan received a campaign donation refund of nearly $1 million.

She previously mentioned, in a podcast episode where she laid out Kennedy’s options of dropping out and endorsing Trump or staying in, that she’s considering running for governor of California in 2026, which could explain why she’s branched off from Kennedy.

Another high-profile member of the campaign, director of content Jonathan Hiller, said he “cannot and will not support [RFK Jr.’s] decision to back President Trump” in a video posted to X. He’s appeared to have left the campaign, and but will continue to support independent candidates.

The campaign of former President Donald Trump says it will benefit from Robert F. Kennedy Jr.‘s endorsement — potentially enough to sway the outcome of the election.

Kennedy suspended his campaign and backed Trump in a Friday press conference. The next question is whether it will make a difference for Trump as he takes on Vice President Kamala Harris.

Trump pollster Tony Fabrizio says the answer is yes.

“The data speaks for itself,” he wrote in a memo released after the announcement. “In every single state RFK Jr.’s vote breaks for President Trump.”

Fabrizio holds that Kennedy’s endorsement could be worth more than 41,000 votes in Arizona — almost four times larger than President Joe Biden’s winning margin there in 2020 — and more than 19,000 votes in Georgia, which was decided by less than 12,000 votes four years ago.

“This is good news for President Trump and his campaign — plain and simple,” Fabrizio wrote.

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The Harris campaign reacted to Kennedy suspending his campaign with a statement that did not even mention his name.

“For any American out there who is tired of Donald Trump and looking for a new way forward, ours is a campaign for you,” campaign chairwoman Jen O’Malley Dillon said. “In order to deliver for working people and those who feel left behind, we need a leader who will fight for you, not just for themselves, and bring us together, not tear us apart.”

Former President Donald Trump accused Vice President Kamala Harris of copying his campaign policies by supporting an effort to eliminate taxes on tips, calling the Democratic presidential candidate a “flip-flopper” on her own voting record.

“She’s got a lot of other policies. She’s just, she’s a copycat,” Trump said at a campaign rally on Friday. “She’s a flip-flopper. She’s the greatest flip-flopper in history. She went from communism to capitalism in about two weeks.”

Trump pointed to Harris’s tiebreaking vote on the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022, which included an expansion of the Internal Revenue Service and the hiring of up to 87,000 agents who Trump claimed would “go after your tip income.”

“They’re going after it in a lot of ways,” Trump said. “So I don’t know what they’re doing now.”

Former President Donald Trump thanked Robert F. Kennedy Jr for his endorsement just moments after the independent candidate announced he would suspend his campaign, calling the support “big” for the trajectory of the 2024 election.

“That was very nice that was really – that’s big,” Trump said at a campaign event on Friday. “He’s a great guy, respected by everybody.”

The event was the first public appearance for Trump since the Democratic National Convention concluded on Thursday, marking the beginning of the nearly two-month sprint to Election Day. Kennedy suspended his campaign to endorse Trump on Friday, noting he would remove his name from the ballot in battleground states where he would be considered a “spoiler.”

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced in a Friday press conference that he will suspend his campaign, but some voters will still see him on the ballot.

“I want everyone to know that I am not terminating my campaign,” he said. “I am simply suspending it and not ending it.”

He said he will rescind his request to appear on swing-state ballots, but will remain an option on the red or blue state ballots on which he his name already appears.

“My name will remain on the ballot in most states. If you live in a blue state, you can vote for me without harming or helping President Trump or Vice President Harris,” he said.

Alaska Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom withdrew from the state’s House race on Friday after she came in third place in the primary this week, leaving Nick Begich as the leading GOP candidate to take on Rep. Mary Peltola (D-AK).

“I entered this race because Alaskans deserve better representation than what we have received from Mary Peltola in Washington,” Dahlstrom said in a statement. “At this time, the best thing I can do to see that goal realized is to withdraw my name from the general election ballot and end my campaign.”

Begich had pledged to withdraw from the race if he came in behind Dahlstrom, but the lieutenant governor, who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump, did not make a similar pledge.

Begich will take on Peltola and two other candidates in the general election in November, as the top four vote-getters in the ranked-choice primary advance to November. Peltola has defeated Begich before in the special and general elections in 2022.

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Vice President Kamala Harris called for a ceasefire in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, and a hostage deal, while saying she is working to make sure the “Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, security, freedom, and self-determination,” during her Democratic National Convention address.

The statement caused the convention center to boom in applause as Harris laid out a hint toward what her foreign policy goals may entail.

“Know this, I will never hesitate to take whatever action is necessary to defend our forces against Iran and Iran-backed terrorists. I will not cozy up to tyrants and dictators like Kim Jong-Un, who are rooting for Trump.”

Flurries of speculation that Beyoncé would make an appearance during the last evening of the Democratic National Convention proved false.

Beyoncé’s publicist confirmed in a post to Instagram that the winner of Grammy award-winner would not perform at the DNC, despite being widely rumored to make a surprise-entrance onstage before Vice President Kamala Harris’s speech to formally accept her party’s nomination.

The singer’s name had been teased as the DNC’s guest performer by the White House’s political director in a post on X and was supposedly confirmed later on Thursday by the entertainment media site TMZ.

On Thursday evening, however, Harris’s acceptance speech at the United Center in Chicago came and went with no Beyoncé.