Former president to speak in Democrat-stronghold of New York as polls show key swing states trending toward Kamala Harris

Article bookmarked

Find your bookmarks in your Independent Premium section, under my profile

Don't show me this message again

✕

Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox

Get our free Inside Washington email

Get our free Inside Washington email

Please enter a valid email address

Please enter a valid email address

I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy

Thanks for signing up to the

Inside Washington email

{{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Donald Trump will host a rally in suburban New York on Wednesday evening making a pitch to reverse a tax policy he signed into law in 2017 that has a bigger impact on higher tax states.

The former president will speak at the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, Long Island, at 7pm, just three days after a second assassination attempt against him. Earlier in the day there was a brief security scare regarding a false report of an explosive device near the site that was quickly dismissed by law enforcement as having no factual basis.

"There is no validity to the report," a Nassau County PD spokesman told The Independent.

Trump’s decision to host a rally in New York is curious given that the election will almost certainly come down to voters in a handful of swing states. New polling from Quinnipiac shows Kamala Harris leading Trump by six points in Pennsylvania and five in Michigan — outside the margin of error.

Meanwhile, the influential Teamsters Union has said it would not offer an endorsement in this year’s presidential race — the first time it has declined to do so since 1996 — even after internal polling showed 58 per cent of members backed Trump and only 31 per cent Harris.

1726697148

Watch: Crowd boo prospect of lower inflation at Vance event

Oliver O'Connell18 September 2024 23:05

1726695948

More than 100 former GOP national security officials back Harris over Trump in damning letter

A group of more than 100 prominent former officials who served in Republican administrations have endorsed Kamala Harris, in a scathing letter that claims Donald Trump is “unfit to serve again as President, or indeed in any office of public trust.”

The letter, obtained by The New York Times, counts signatories including former defense secretaries Chuck Hagel and William Cohen; former C.I.A. directors Michael Hayden and William Webster; and former Trump administration officials Miles Taylor and Olivia Troye, among others.

The signatories admit they probably disagree with Harris on a number of issues but argue that Donald Trump’s affinity for strongmen and behavior on January 6 disqualifies him from serving again.

Josh Marcus has the full story.

More than 100 former GOP officials back Harris over Trump in damning letter

Signatories include former cabinet secretaries, intelligence leaders, and members of Congress

Oliver O'Connell18 September 2024 22:45

1726695348

On the road with Tim Walz as he tests out new Trump attack lines

Comfortable in khakis and an open collar, Walz couldn’t be more different from JD Vance, the awkward man in a boxy suit and an overly long tie. Instead of talking about ‘threats to democracy’, Harris’s running-mate made a football analogy about January 6th — and it went down a storm.

Andrew Feinberg reports from the campaign trail.

I went on the road with Tim Walz as he tested out new Trump attack lines. They worked

Comfortable in khakis and an open collar, Walz couldn’t be more different from JD Vance, the awkward man in a boxy suit and an overly long tie. Instead of talking about ‘threats to democracy’, Harris’s running-mate made a football analogy about January 6th — and it went down a storm. Andrew Feinberg reports

Oliver O'Connell18 September 2024 22:35

1726694748

Secret Service currently protecting 40 people

The Secret Service is currently protecting 40 people as officials and politicians on both sides of the aisle call for more funding to help the agency carry out its duties.

The agency’s protective responsibility has grown this campaign season, NBC reports, in the wake of two assassination attempts on former president Donald Trump.

Among those with protective details are president Joe Biden, vice president Kamala Harris and their families; former presidents and first ladies; running mates and their families; and other people deemed to qualify based on threat levels, the outlet reported.

Mike Bedigan has the details.

Secret Service protecting 40 people as officials call for more agency funding

The agency’s protective responsibility has grown this campaign season in the wake of two assassination attempts on former president Donald Trump

Oliver O'Connell18 September 2024 22:25

1726694148

Government shutdown fight: Mike Johnson is about to embarrass himself and Republicans

Speaker Mike Johnson pushed forward with his doomed bid to avert a government shutdown on Wednesday, despite clear signs that the legislation was unpalatable to both conservatives in his own party as well as Democrats who control the upper chamber of Congress.

The House was set to vote early Wednesday evening on a continuing resolution to keep the government open laden with giveaways to the conservative right. Those included spending cuts and a piece of legislation stapled to the broader package aimed at preventing non-citizens from voting in federal elections — something that is already illegal.

John Bowden reports from Capitol Hill.

Mike Johnson is about to embarrass himself and Republicans in a big way

The Speaker is trying to pander to the far right of his party. In doing so, he might actually end up having to do a deal with Democrats — again

Oliver O'Connell18 September 2024 22:15

1726693548

Republicans believe second assassination attempt will give Trump a boost

Several Republican lawmakers have said they think the second assassination attempt of Donald Trump will give him a boost in the polls.

Officers arrested Ryan Wesley Routh on Sunday for allegedly aiming an SKS-style rifle through the bushes at Trump National Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, while the former president was playing a round. Officials say Routh lurked in the bushes for nearly 12 hours before he was arrested.

The attempt came two months after Thomas Crooks opened fire at a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, striking the former president in the ear.

Katie Hawkinson reports.

Republicans believe second assassination attempt will give Trump a boost

‘People are going to rally to President Trump’s side,’ Senator Lindsey Graham said

Oliver O'Connell18 September 2024 22:05

1726692348

On the Democratic side of the campaign, Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to speak at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute’s 47th Annual Leadership Conference in Washington on Wednesday, and has trips planned later in the week to Michigan and Wisconsin.

Latino voters form a critical bloc in swing states such as Arizona, Nevada and Pennsylvania. Speaking on the Nueva Network this week with the personality known as “Chiquibaby,” Harris promoted her proposed tax deductions for new small businesses, her experience prosecuting border cases as California attorney general and her support for offering a “pathway to citizenship for those who have earned it.”

On Tuesday, the vice president sat for an interview in Philadelphia with members of the National Association of Black Journalists. She decried Trump’s rhetoric and said voters should make sure he “can’t have that microphone again.”

Trump is attempting to return to his campaign cadence after Sunday’s apparent assassination attempt as he golfed in Florida. On Tuesday, he traveled to Flint, Michigan, and has not appeared to alter plans for upcoming trips to the nation’s capital and North Carolina later in the week.

His running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, is scheduled to hold an event in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Wednesday.

AP18 September 2024 21:45

1726691748

Why is Trump campaigning on Long Island?

Presidential candidates typically focus much of their travel on battleground states, but Donald Trump on Wednesday is taking his message to a somewhat unlikely place: suburban New York.

The Republican presidential nominee and former president is heading to Uniondale, on Long Island, an area that could be key to his party maintaining control of the House. His party is trying to protect 18 Republicans in Democratic-heavy congressional districts that Joe Biden carried in 2020, particularly in coastal New York and California, and going on offense to challenge Democrats elsewhere.

Long Island in particular features one of the most closely watched races, between first-term Republican Rep. Anthony D’Esposito and Democrat Laura Gillen. D’Esposito is a former New York Police detective who won in 2022 in a district that Biden won by about 15 percentage points in 2020.

Trump posted Tuesday on his Truth Social platform that the GOP has “a real chance of winning” New York “for the first time in many decades.” In that same post, Trump also pledged that he would “get SALT back,” suggesting he would eliminate a cap on state and local tax deductions that were part of tax cut legislation he signed into law in 2017.

The so-called SALT cap has led to bigger tax bills for many residents of New York, New Jersey, California and other high-cost, high-tax states, and is an important campaign issue in those states, particularly among those New York Republicans serving in districts Biden won.

Continued...

AP18 September 2024 21:35

1726691145

Registration quirk means nearly 100k Arizonans could be ineligible to vote in upcoming state and local elections

Almost 100,000 residents in Arizona may be ineligible to vote in upcoming elections, due to a flaw in the state’s voter registration system which was discovered just weeks before early ballots begin.

A state law that went into effect in 2004 requires Arizona voters to provide proof of citizenship to register to vote in state and local elections.

Mike Bedigan reports.

Nearly 100k Arizonans may be ineligible to vote in upcoming state and local elections

A state law that went into effect in 2004 requires Arizona voters to provide proof of citizenship to register to vote in state and local elections

Oliver O'Connell18 September 2024 21:25

1726690559

Watch: Speaker Johnson reacts to Fed ‘rate cut'

Oliver O'Connell18 September 2024 21:15

Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article

Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.

Already subscribed? Log in