“It would be an extreme strain on our resources. So it’d be fine with me if they decided not to make that visit,” Springfield Mayor Rob Rue said during a news conference at City Hall on Tuesday.

NBC News reported on Sunday that Trump planned to visit the city “soon,” according to a source familiar with the former president’s planning, after amplifying during a presidential debate a baseless claim that had circulated in right-wing spheres online for weeks, saying Haitian immigrants were “eating the dogs” and cats of local residents.

Officials in Springfield have said the allegations were meritless, with city police issuing a statement that said there were “no credible reports” of pets being harmed by Haitian immigrants.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, had also panned the claims as “garbage” and visited Springfield Tuesday as the city responds to dozens of bomb threats, deemed hoaxes that have led to temporary closures and evacuations of schools and city buildings.

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DeWine said that a campaign visit from a presidential candidate is “generally very, very welcomed,” but acknowledged that it would pose challenges.

“I have to state the reality though that resources are really, really stretched here,” DeWine said.

DeWine said he hasn’t spoken to Trump or Vance and hasn’t heard about the candidates potentially visiting Springfield.

A Trump campaign spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday afternoon.

Ohio Sen. JD Vance, the Republican vice presidential nominee who has also spread the false claims about pets in Springfield, told reporters on Tuesday that he hasn’t made plans to visit the city.

Asked on Tuesday whether he would be joining the former president on the trip or if he had his own travel plans, Vance said a trip had not been formalized, but safety would be a top concern.

“I haven’t made plans to go just in the last few days,” Vance said. “I know the president would like to go but also hasn’t made any explicit plans.”

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“It’s a crying shame. Literally,” Harris said in her most extensive remarks to date about her Republican opponent’s baseless claims.

“I know that people are deeply troubled by what is happening to that community in Springfield, Ohio, and it’s got to stop,” she said during a discussion hosted by the National Association of Black Journalists.

Follow live campaign coverage here

The city has been hit with dozens of bomb threats, some at elementary schools, after Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, promoted false rumors that immigrants were eating residents’ pet dogs and cats.

“I mean, my heart breaks for this community. You know there were children, elementary school children,” who had to be evacuated on what was supposed to be school picture day, Harris said.

 “A whole community put in fear,” she added.

During last week’s presidential debate, which was viewed by more than 67 million people, Trump said: “In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs. The people that came in. They’re eating the cats. They’re eating — they’re eating the pets of the people that live there.”

Harris said of Trump on Tuesday, “When you have that kind of microphone in front of you, you really ought to understand how much your words have meaning.”

“You say you care about law enforcement? Law enforcement resources being put into this because of these serious threats,” Harris said.

“The American people deserve and, I do believe, want better than this,” she added.

The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Harris’ remarks.

Vance, speaking at an event in Michigan, said he and Trump are not to blame for the threats to Springfield.

“The governor of Ohio came out yesterday and said every single one of those bomb threats was a hoax, and all of those bomb threats came from foreign countries. So the American media for three days has been lying and saying that Donald Trump and I are inciting bomb threats when, in reality, the American media has been laundering for this information. It is disgusting,” he said Tuesday.

In his statement Monday, Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, said that “many of these threats are coming from overseas,” but he did not say all of them originated abroad. He also announced he was deploying dozens of state troopers to help sweep schools.

DeWine was in Springfield on Tuesday and visited elementary school students accompanied by a therapy dog.

In an interview with ABC News on Sunday, DeWine said the immigrants in Springfield are there legally, that there is no evidence that they have been eating pets and that the conspiracy theories were “garbage.”

Springfield Mayor Rob Rue, a Republican, told reporters Tuesday that school attendance is down and that “there’s a high level of fear in our community,” which has been plagued by threats to government offices, as well.

“We did not have threats seven days ago,” Rue said, referring to the Sept. 10 presidential debate, at which Trump amplified the baseless claims.

“We need those on the national stage to stop this and tell the truth,” he said.

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In a hearing Tuesday, the Council voted to reorganize the Committee on Recreation, Libraries and Youth Affairs, which White had chaired, splitting it into two subcommittees to be overseen by other councilmembers. This now leaves White without a committee chairmanship.

White, the Ward 8 councilmember, still will be allowed to vote on legislation and other Council matters.

The council voted unanimously with White voting “present” on the matter. There was no public debate or discussion on the vote.

Tuesday’s meeting was the first time the D.C. Council has met since White was arrested and charged with taking a bribe to steer government contracts. He has pleaded not guilty to the charge.

The D.C. Council has hired a law firm to conduct an independent investigation of White, which will cost D.C. taxpayers $400,000, an official told News4.

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However, White’s colleagues on the Council voted to close their discussion of the investigation to the public. News4’s Mark Segraves was one of the reporters forced to leave the meeting.

By law, Council meetings are open to the public, but just a few minutes after starting, the members voted to close the meeting to the public while they discussed their investigation into their colleague.

“We have to close the doors to the public because we’re discussing a sensitive personnel matter and an ongoing investigation,” Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie said. “As experienced as you are, Mark, you know that it’s important to preserve the integrity of an investigation, and as it’s just beginning, there’s certain things that we have to discuss that are not yet for public domain, and we intend fully to be transparent.”

McDuffie is heading the ad hoc committee that will decide what discipline, if any, to recommend the Council impose on White, including the possibility of removing him from office.

“We have to do what’s in the best interest of the public while holding our colleague accountable,” McDuffie said. “That is exactly what I intend to do, conduct a thorough, independent investigation.”

McDuffie told reporters the Council has engaged a private law firm to conduct the investigation.

When asked about the cost of the law firm’s fee, McDuffie responded: “I can tell you it’s $400,000.”

D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson has said the independent investigation will look into both the bribery charge and also whether White actually lives in Ward 8, as required by law. White was arrested in Ward 6, where he was living, according to prosecutors.

White did not show up in person for Tuesday’s Council hearing but did participate in the Council’s breakfast meeting and hearing virtually.

The council voted unanimously to reorganize White’s committee, with White voting “present” on the matter. There was no public debate or discussion on that vote.

Mendelson says the findings of the independent investigation will determine whether the D.C. Council votes to remove White from the Council entirely. That investigation will take months, and any vote to remove White would not come until early next year, Mendelson said, meaning White can continue to vote on legislation in the meantime.

“However one feels about the indictment – and I certainly think the charges are very serious and damning – however one feels, the reality is that the voters elected him,” Mendelson said. “He is an elected member, and the only way to stop that is to expel him.”

“I’m relatively confident that the Council will dispose of this matter no later than the beginning of the new year,” he said.

The bill includes a requirement that people registering to vote must provide proof of citizenship, which has become a leading election-year priority for Republicans raising the specter of noncitizens voting in the U.S., even though it’s already illegal to do so and research has shown that such voting is rare.

“I urge all of my colleagues to do what the overwhelming majority of the people of this country rightfully demand and deserve — prevent non-American citizens from voting in American elections,” Johnson said Tuesday.

Johnson told reporters he was not ready to discuss an alternative plan to keep the government funded other than what will come before the House on Wednesday.

“I’m not having any alternative conversations. That’s the play. It’s an important one. And I’m going to work around the clock to try and get it done,” Johnson said.

The legislation faces an uphill climb in the House and has no chance in the Senate. The vast majority of Democrats oppose it, and some Republicans do, too, but for different reasons.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said the only way to prevent a government shutdown was for both sides to work together on an agreement. He said the House vote announced by Johnson was doomed to fail.

“The only thing that will accomplish is make clear that he’s running into a dead end,” Schumer said. “We must have a bipartisan plan instead.”

The legislation would fund agencies at current levels while lawmakers work out their differences on a full-year spending agreement.

Democrats, and some Republicans, are pushing for a short extension. A temporary fix would allow the current Congress to hammer out a final bill after the election and get it to President Joe Biden’s desk for his signature.

But Johnson and some of the more conservative members of his conference are pushing for a six-month extension in the hopes that Republican nominee Donald Trump will win the election and give them more leverage when crafting the full-year bill.

Schumer said a six-month measure would shortchange the Pentagon and other government agencies that need more certainty about funding levels.

“You simply cannot run the military with six-month stopgaps,” Schumer said.

Johnson said last week that he was not giving up on his proposal just yet and would be working through the weekend to build support. He said ensuring that only U.S. citizens vote in federal elections is “the most pressing issue right now and we’re going to get this job done.”

On Sunday, he traveled to Florida to meet with Trump, who had earlier seemingly encouraged a government shutdown if Republicans “don’t get assurances on Election Security.” Trump said on the social media platform Truth Social that they should not go forward with a stopgap bill without such assurances.

The House approved a bill with the proof of citizenship mandate back in July. Some Republicans who view the issue as popular with their constituents have been pushing for another chance to show their support for the measure. Still, other Republicans are expected to vote no because they view the spending in the bill as excessive.

Virginia voters will be able to cast their ballots starting that day at their local registrar’s office. You can find yours here.

Then, voter registration offices will be open for early voting from Saturday, Oct. 26 through Saturday, Nov. 2 at 5 p.m.

The 2024 general election is Tuesday, Nov. 5. Polls will be open that day from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. As long as you’re in line by 7 p.m., you will be able to vote.

2024 Virginia voter registration info:

You can register to vote or apply for an absentee ballot online using Virginia’s Citizen Portal. The deadline to register to vote or update an existing registration is Oct. 15. You may still register after this date, though, and vote using a provisional ballot.

If you think you’re already registered but want to make sure, you can do that online here.

Same-day voter registration is also available.

Requesting a mail-in ballot in Virginia:

The deadline to request a ballot by mail is Oct. 25. Your request must be received by your local voter registration office by 5 p.m. that day.

Here are your options for submitting your completed mail-in ballot:

• Bring it to your local general registrar’s office by 7 p.m. on Election Day.
• Bring it to a drop-off location. (Check the instructions provided in your absentee ballot mailing for the locations.)
• Return it by mail. Your filled-out ballot must be postmarked on or before Election Day (Tuesday, Nov. 5) and received by your general registrar’s office by noon on the third day after the election.

Virginia voter ID rules:

Voters may provide either an acceptable form of ID or sign an ID confirmation statement at the polls. Here’s a detailed list of other acceptable IDs. Note that you can use a DMV license at any time, even if it’s expired.

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Who’s on the ballot in my area?

In addition to the presidential race, Virginia voters will be selecting their choice for one U.S. Senate seat and their U.S. House representative. If you’re not sure what congressional district you live in, you can check on that here.

There are also many local races. Look up candidate lists for your jurisdiction here.

Election Day 2024:

The 2024 general election is Tuesday, Nov. 5. Polls that day will be open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. As long as you’re in line by 7 p.m., you will be able to vote.

You can find your Election Day polling place here. 

Same-day voter registration is available in Virginia. Here’s info on that.

The Senate vote was Democrats’ latest attempt to force Republicans into a defensive stance on women’s health issues and highlight policy differences between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump in the presidential race, especially as Trump has called himself a “leader on IVF.”

The 51-44 vote was short of the 60 votes needed to move forward on the bill, with only two Republicans voting in favor. Democrats say Republicans who insist they support IVF are being hypocritical because they won’t support legislation guaranteeing a right to it.

“They say they support IVF — here you go, vote on this,” said Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth, the bill’s lead sponsor and a military veteran who has used the fertility treatment to have her two children.

The Democratic push started earlier this year after the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos can be considered children under state law. Several clinics in the state suspended IVF treatments until the GOP-led legislature rushed to enact a law to provide legal protections for the clinics.

Democrats quickly capitalized, holding a vote in June on Duckworth’s bill and warning that the U.S. Supreme Court could go after the procedure next after it overturned the right to an abortion in 2022.

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The bill would establish a nationwide right for patients to access IVF and other assisted reproductive technologies and a right for doctors and insurance companies to provide it, an effort to pre-empt state efforts to limit the services. It would also require more health insurers to cover it and expand coverage for military service members and veterans.

Republicans argued that the federal government shouldn’t tell states what to do and that the bill was an unserious effort. Only Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska voted with Democrats to move forward on the bill both times.

Meanwhile, Republicans have scrambled to counter Democrats on the issue, with many making clear that they support IVF treatments. Trump last month announced plans, without additional details, to require health insurance companies or the federal government to pay for the fertility treatment.

In his debate with Harris earlier this month, Trump said he was a “leader” on the issue and talked about the “very negative” decision by the Alabama court that was later reversed by the legislature.

South Dakota Sen. John Thune, the No. 2 Senate Republican, said that Democrats are trying to create a political issue “where there isn’t one.”

“Let me remind everybody that Republicans support IVF, full stop,” Thune said just before the vote.

The issue has threatened to become a vulnerability for Republicans as some state laws passed by their party grant legal personhood not only to fetuses but to any embryos that are destroyed in the IVF process. Ahead of the its convention this summer, the Republican Party adopted a policy platform that supports states establishing fetal personhood through the Constitution’s 14th Amendment, which grants equal protection under the law to all American citizens. The platform also encourages supporting IVF but does not explain how the party plans to do so.

Republicans have tried to push alternatives on the issue, including legislation that would discourage states from enacting explicit bans on the treatment, but those bills have been blocked by Democrats who say they are not enough.

Sen. Rick Scott, a Florida Republican, said in a floor speech then that his daughter was currently receiving IVF treatment and proposed to expand the flexibility of health savings accounts. Republican Sens. Katie Britt of Alabama and Ted Cruz of Texas have tried to pass a bill that would threaten to withhold Medicaid funding for states where IVF is banned.

Cruz, who is running for reelection in Texas, said Democrats were holding the vote to “stoke baseless fears about IVF and push their broader political agenda.”

Trump did not discuss specifics about World Liberty Financial or how it would work, pivoting from questions about cryptocurrency to talking about artificial intelligence or other topics. Instead, he recounted his experience Sunday, saying he and a friend playing golf “heard shots being fired in the air, and I guess probably four or five.”

“I would have loved to have sank that last putt,” Trump said. He credited the Secret Service agent who spotted the barrel of a rifle and began firing toward it as well as law enforcement and a civilian who he said helped track down the suspect.

World Liberty Financial is expected to be a borrowing and lending service used to trade cryptocurrencies, which are forms of digital money that can be traded over the internet without relying on the global banking system. Exchanges often charge fees for withdrawals of Bitcoin and other currencies.

Other speakers after Trump, including his eldest son, Don Jr., talked about embracing cryptocurrency as an alternative to what they allege is a banking system tilted against conservatives.

Experts have said a presidential candidate launching a business venture in the midst of a campaign could create ethical conflicts.

“Taking a pro-crypto stance is not necessarily troubling; the troubling aspect is doing it while starting a way to personally benefit from it,” Jordan Libowitz, a spokesperson for the government watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said earlier this month.

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During his time in the White House, Trump said he was “not a fan” of cryptocurrency and tweeted in 2019, “Unregulated Crypto Assets can facilitate unlawful behavior, including drug trade and other illegal activity.” However, during this election cycle, he has reversed himself and taken on a favorable view of cryptocurrencies.

He announced in May that his campaign would begin accepting donations in cryptocurrency as part of an effort to build what it calls a “crypto army” leading up to Election Day. He attended a bitcoin conference in Nashville this year, promising to make the U.S. the “crypto capital of the planet” and create a bitcoin “strategic reserve” using the currency that the government currently holds.

Hilary Allen, a law professor at American University who has done research on cryptocurrencies, said she was skeptical of Trump’s change of heart on crypto.

“I think it’s fair to say that that reversal has been motivated in part by financial interests,” she said.

Crypto enthusiasts welcomed the shift, viewing the launch as a positive sign for investors if Trump retakes the White House.

Meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign has not offered policy proposals on how it would regulate digital assets like cryptocurrencies.

In an effort to appeal to crypto investors, a group of Democrats, including Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, participated in an online “Crypto 4 Harris” event in August.

Neither Harris nor members of her campaign staff attended the event.

____

Gomez Licon contributed from Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

In the presidential debate and in recent TV interviews, Trump and Sen. Vance, R-Ohio, have depicted the former president as selflessly choosing to protect the ACA, or “Obamacare,” during his four years in office as a way to put country over politics.

“Obamacare was lousy health care. Always was. It’s not very good today. … I had a choice to make when I was president: Do I save it and make it as good as it can be? Never going to be great. Or do I let it rot? And I felt I had an obligation, even though politically it would have been good to just let it rot and let it go away,” Trump said at the recent ABC News debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee. “And I saved it. I did the right thing.”

On NBC’s “Meet The Press” on Sunday, Vance echoed his remarks by saying Trump “actually protected those 20 million Americans from losing their health coverage” and “chose to build upon” the ACA when he “could’ve destroyed” it. Vance added: “It illustrates Donald Trump’s entire approach to governing, which is to fix problems.”

Both Trump and Vance are misrepresenting the facts.

As president, Trump fought to repeal and undo the ACA using executive action, legislation and lawsuits.

“Trump was not successful as president in undoing the ACA, but it was not for lack of trying,” said Larry Levitt, executive vice president for health policy at KFF, a nonpartisan research group. “Trump encouraged congressional efforts to repeal and replace the ACA, and then took administrative steps to try to weaken it when the legislative route failed.”

On his first day in office, Trump signed an executive order proclaiming: “It is the policy of my Administration to seek the prompt repeal of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.”

He ordered agencies to “exercise all authority and discretion available to them to waive, defer, grant exemptions from, or delay the implementation” of provisions they deemed burdensome.

Trump made good on his promise to pursue repeal. It was the first major item on the Republican-led Congress’ agenda in 2017. In May, the House passed the American Health Care Act, a bill to undo ACA subsidies and regulations, which was projected by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office to lead to 23 million fewer people with insurance. Trump celebrated its passage in a triumphant Rose Garden ceremony alongside House Republicans.

“Make no mistake: This is a repeal and replace of Obamacare,” Trump said at the time.

The effort fell one vote short in the Senate as three Republicans — Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine and John McCain of Arizona — joined Democrats to vote it down. Trump has since repeatedly criticized McCain for his now-iconic thumbs down on the Senate floor.

The legislative push was never revived, with one exception: Trump and Republicans succeeded at zeroing out the ACA’s tax penalty for most Americans who failed to buy insurance.

But Trump persisted in seeking other ways to take aim at the ACA.

He leaned on his executive power and his administration slashed funding for programs to advertise and promote ACA sign-ups. Enrollment dipped the following year, in 2018, with some blaming the cuts in funding.

“He cut outreach by 90% and funding for community-based navigators by 84%, making it harder for people to sign up,” Levitt said, referring to individuals who helped Americans sign up for Obamacare plans. “He expanded short-term insurance plans that do not have to follow the ACA’s rules, including coverage of pre-existing conditions.”

That fall, Democrats put a dagger in the legislative efforts to undo President Barack Obama’s signature achievement when they won control of the House, in part by campaigning on protecting the ACA.

But even as other Republicans sought to abandon what they came to see as a losing political fight, Trump was undeterred.

In 2020, he endorsed a lawsuit that would have wiped out the ACA entirely. The case made it all the way to the Supreme Court, and the Trump administration formally asked the justices to rule for the challengers and terminate the law, despite the political risks as he sought re-election.

The court upheld the ACA the following year. By then, Trump had lost the election and Joe Biden was president.

Now, as he seeks a comeback in 2024, Trump has occasionally brought up his desire to revisit the ACA battle, calling for replacing the law last fall and declaring that “Obamacare Sucks.” This year, Trump’s campaign has softened its rhetoric against the ACA while still calling for alternatives.

Trump admitted he doesn’t have a replacement plan.

“I have concepts of a plan,” Trump said at last week’s debate, adding that there are “concepts and options” for a better and cheaper system that he’ll outline “in the not-too-distant future.”

Asked when Trump will roll out his plan, campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt did not provide a timeline. “As President Trump said, he will release more details but his overall position on health care remains the same: bring down costs and increase the quality of care by improving competition in the market place,” Leavitt said. “This is a stark contrast to Kamala Harris’ support for a socialist government takeover of our health care system which would force people off their private plans and result in lower quality care.”

Harris is running on a platform of preserving the ACA, without offering specifics on how she would make good on her call for expanding coverage. She has abandoned her 2019 position of putting all Americans in Medicare. On the campaign trail, the Democratic nominee is seizing on Trump’s debate remarks.

“He has ‘concepts of a plan.’ Concepts of a plan,” she said Thursday at a rally in Greensboro, North Carolina. “Which means no actual plan.”

“And 45 million Americans are insured through the Affordable Care Act,” she said. “So, understand what that means. He’s going to end it based on a concept and take us back when folks were suffering.”

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The latest packages were sent to elections officials in Colorado, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Missouri, New York and Rhode Island. Mississippi authorities reported a package was delivered there Monday, and the Connecticut Secretary of State’s office said the FBI alerted it of a package that was intercepted.

The FBI is collecting the packages, some of which contained “an unknown substance,” agency spokesperson Kristen Setera in Boston said in a statement.

“We are also working with our partners to determine how many letters were sent, the individual or individuals responsible for the letters, and the motive behind the letters,” she said. “As this is an ongoing matter we will not be commenting further on the investigation, but the public can be assured safety is our top priority.”

It’s the second time in the past year that suspicious packages were mailed to election officials in multiple states.

The latest scare comes as early voting has begun in several states ahead of the high-stakes elections for president, Senate, Congress and key statehouse offices, causing disruption in an already tense voting season. Local election directors are beefing up security to keep workers and polling places safe while also ensuring that ballots and voting procedures won’t be tampered with.

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The National Association of Secretaries of State condemned what it described as a “disturbing trend” of threats to election workers leading up to Nov. 5, as well as the second apparent assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.

“This must stop, period,” the group said. “Our democracy has no place for political violence, threats or intimidation of any kind.”

The Colorado Secretary of State’s Office said a package containing white powder and with the sender listed as “U.S. Traitor Elimination Army” was intercepted at a mail facility. It said the package was similar to those sent to other states and that early indications suggest the powder was harmless.

On Tuesday, the FBI notified the Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth’s office that postal service investigators had identified a suspicious envelope delivered to a building housing state offices. The package was intercepted.

Packages also were sent to secretaries of state and election offices in Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Wyoming this week. The packages forced evacuations in Iowa, Oklahoma and Wyoming. Hazmat crews quickly determined the material was harmless.

The Mississippi Secretary of State’s Elections Division said it received a package similar to those sent to other states and that the state Department of Homeland Security was testing it. The division said it has notified county election officials to be on the lookout.

Oklahoma officials said the material sent to the election office there contained flour.

“We have specific protocols in place for situations such as this,” Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate said in a statement after the evacuation of the six-story Lucas State Office Building in Des Moines.

A state office building in Topeka, Kansas, was evacuated due to suspicious mail sent to both the secretary of state and attorney general, Kansas Highway Patrol spokesperson April M. McCollum said in a statement.

Topeka Fire Department crews found several pieces of mail with an unknown substance on them, though a field test found no hazardous materials, spokesperson Rosie Nichols said. Several employees were exposed to it and were being monitored.

In Oklahoma, the State Election Board received a suspicious envelope in the mail containing a multi-page document and a white, powdery substance, agency spokesperson Misha Mohr said. Testing determined the substance was flour.

State workers in an office building next to the Wyoming Capitol in Cheyenne were sent home Monday pending testing of a white substance mailed to the secretary of state’s office.

Suspicious letters were sent to election offices and government buildings in at least six states last November, including the same building in Kansas that received suspicious mail Monday. While some of the letters contained fentanyl, even the suspicious mail that was not toxic delayed the counting of ballots in some local elections.

One of the targeted offices was in Fulton County, Georgia, the largest voting jurisdiction in one of the nation’s most important swing states. Four county election offices in Washington state had to be evacuated as election workers were processing ballots cast, delaying vote-counting.

The letters caused election workers around the country to stock up the overdose reversal medication naloxone.

Election offices across the United States have taken steps to increase security amid an onslaught of harassment and threats following the 2020 election and the false claims that it was rigged.

Christina Almeida Cassidy in Atlanta; Anthony Izaguirre in Albany, New York; Susan Haigh in Norwich, Connecticut; Jim Salter in O’Fallon, Missouri; Isabella Volmert in Lansing, Michigan; Mead Gruver in Cheyenne, Wyoming; Jonathan Mattise in Nashville, Tennessee; Sean Murphy in Oklahoma City and John Hanna in Topeka, Kansas, contributed to this report.

In a message posted to multiple social media platforms Monday, Trump accused his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, and President Joe Biden of taking “politics in our Country to a whole new level of Hatred.” He said their rhetoric is responsible for threats and violence against him, even though they routinely denounce political violence and did so on Sunday.

Trump’s most powerful ally, billionaire Elon Musk, wondered in a tweet why “no one is even trying to assassinate” Biden and Harris — a post that Musk later said was a joke and deleted.

But it was clear by midday Monday that Trump and his brain trust have no intention of dialing back on hot rhetoric, with less than two months left before Election Day. In turning so fast to Biden and Harris, Trump skipped past appeals for sympathy and even a perfunctory call for calm or unity.

The Republican presidential nominee was playing golf at his West Palm Beach course Sunday afternoon when a Secret Service agent noticed the muzzle of a gun protruding from the bushes several hundred yards from him, Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said at a news conference later that day.

The Secret Service fired at a suspect, who fled and was quickly apprehended by police. Trump was forced to shelter at the golf club for more than an hour before being transported to Mar-a-Lago, his Palm Beach resort, a source familiar with the matter said.

From Mar-a-Lago, where guests included House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., Trump took phone calls from friends expressing their relief, listened in when acting Secret Service director Ronald Rowe phoned Johnson to deliver a briefing on the incident, and told golf-related jokes, according to people familiar with his activities. The scare is unlikely to interfere with his schedule or campaign plans, according to a Trump adviser who has spoken with him since Sunday’s incident.

“There won’t be many noticeable changes or anything too major,” the adviser said. “He is not frazzled or shaken by this, and, considering what he has been through, relatively relaxed.”

But, as Trump avoided a brush with death that could have come as close as the sniper’s bullet that clipped his ear at a Butler, Pennsylvania, rally in July, he once again had a decision to make about his own response: try to seize political advantage from the threats to his life or play them down in order to discourage future violence. It took less than 24 hours for him to choose the former, though there are signs of division within his ranks about his approach.

Some Trump allies believe that the campaign squandered an opportunity for unity following the first assassination attempt. Instead, Trump ramped up his anti-Harris rhetoric, which coincided with him losing traction in polls over the summer.

“Even independents were like, ‘This can’t stand, you can’t assassinate a political candidate,'” said one former Trump adviser. “And then all of a sudden it’s back to the clown show.”

While his campaign’s top advisers focused on his security — and that of his aides — in a message sent to staff Sunday night, his fundraising team pressed donors to give money in the immediate aftermath of the incident. On Monday, he repeated an assertion he made in an ABC News debate last week that Biden and Harris are responsible for him being targeted.

“Their rhetoric is causing me to be shot at,” he said in an interview with Fox News Digital, “when I am the one who is going to save the country, and they are the ones that are destroying the country — both from the inside out.”

On Sunday, Harris took a much different tack.

“As we gather the facts, I will be clear: I condemn political violence. We all must do our part to ensure that this incident does not lead to more violence,” she said in a statement. “I am thankful that former President Trump is safe.”

Trump has not rebuked Musk for musing about assassinations of the sitting president and vice president.

For a brief moment after he survived being shot in July, Trump aides told the media that he was interested in unifying the country and would attempt to do so in his speech at the Republican National Convention. But he quickly pivoted from that stance and took off running in the other direction. The reversal was evident even within the four corners of that address, delivered July 18 in Milwaukee.

“The discord and division in our society must be healed,” he said in the opening minutes. But later, he accused the Democratic Party of “weaponizing the justice system” because he has been convicted of felonies in New York and charged with crimes related to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election in federal court.

“We must not criminalize dissent or demonize political disagreement,” he said. “In that spirit, the Democrat Party should immediately stop weaponizing the justice system and labeling their political opponent as an enemy of democracy.”

Since then, he has regularly threatened to jail his political opponents.

Donald Trump Sep 16

Ukraine distances itself from Ryan Routh, man accused in Trump assassination attempt

Donald Trump Sep 16

Apparent attempt on Trump's life raises questions about how it could have happened again

Florida Sep 16

Suspect in apparent Trump assassination attempt charged with federal gun crimes

Trump aides say that he will be his own spokesman on the aborted assassination attempt.

“We follow his lead,” said one aide. “We’re not going to get ahead of his truth.”

So far, that truth has been an attack on his political rival, Harris, and her boss, Biden, despite their disavowal of violence as a political tool.

Throughout nearly a decade in national politics, Trump has glorified violence — at least when it is not aimed at him.

“When the looting starts, the shooting starts,” Trump wrote in a social media post during the protests following George Floyd’s 2020 murder by Minneapolis police. He has suggested that the nation’s top general be executed; made light of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband being attacked with a hammer in a gruesome assault; and praised the Jan. 6 rioters who pummeled cops, stormed the Capitol and tried to stop the counting of 2020 electoral votes by force.

It is not immediately clear whether the apparent second attempt on Trump’s life will have an effect on the outcome of the campaign. He was facing a different candidate — Biden — at the time of the Pennsylvania shooting.

Since Harris replaced Biden as the Democrats’ standard-bearer eight days after the first attempt, polls show Democrats to be in a stronger position to win in November. But most surveys reveal an extremely close race in which the two candidates are within the margin of error in pivotal swing states.

This story first appeared on NBCNews.com. More from NBC News:

• Suspect was by the Trump golf course for nearly 12 hours, phone records show
• Trump dispenses with unity and blames Democrats after apparent second assassination attempt
• Suspect in assassination attempt charged with possessing firearm as felon, erasing its serial number

After what officials called the second assassination attempt on Trump in three months, a man named Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, was taken into custody and charged.

Routh had already been extensively profiled in the Western media as an ardent supporter of Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s ongoing invasion. He had traveled to Ukraine wanting to fight but had said in media interviews that he had turned to recruitment after being rejected by its military because he was too old and had no battlefield experience.

Ukraine sought Monday to distance itself from Routh, with the country’s international legion — the military unit that includes foreign volunteers — saying it had nothing to do with him. Meanwhile, officials in the United States were yet to lay out any possible motive.

Follow NBC News’ live coverage here

Russia quickly sought to weaponize his support for Ukraine, an unwelcome development for Kyiv right at the moment both American support and the fight on the battlefield appear to hang in the balance.

Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, says she will continue President Joe Biden’s backing of Kyiv, Trump, the GOP nominee, has been more ambiguous — twice refusing to say whether he wanted the U.S. ally to win the war at last week’s debate. 

Many Ukrainians had already feared an election win for him would spell disaster for their war effort, which is heavily reliant on Washington.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted to X early Monday that he was “glad to hear that @realDonaldTrump is safe and unharmed. My best wishes to him and his family.”

“It’s good that the suspect in the assassination attempt was apprehended quickly,” he wrote. “This is our principle: The rule of law is paramount and political violence has no place anywhere in the world. We sincerely hope that everyone remains safe.”

But Moscow was already stirring the pot.

“I wonder what would happen if it turned out that the failed new Trump shooter Routh, who recruited mercenaries for the Ukrainian army, was himself hired by the neo-Nazi regime in Kiev for this assassination attempt?” Dmitry Medvedev, Russia’s ex-president and current deputy chairman of the Security Council, wrote on X. There has been no evidence for that suggestion.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that “it is not us who should think about it, it is the U.S. special services who should think about it. In any case, playing with fire has its consequences. Therefore, first of all, this should be a great concern and a headache for the U.S. special services.”

Legion rejects links

Routh was the self-appointed director of an unofficial group called the International Volunteer Center, and was also using his Facebook to try to conscript Afghan soldiers who had fled the Taliban in 2021 to fight for Kyiv against Moscow, encouraging would-be recruits who speak English to send him their details via WhatsApp.

“Volunteering in Ukraine is the most honorable and noble sacrifice, and every human on the planet should be here for freedom and human rights,” Routh’s military recruitment website read. “If you do not have military experience, you must sell yourself that you are capable.”

In May 2022, a GoFundMe page was set up on his behalf by Kathleen Shaffer, who said she was his fiancée. The page, which had raised more than $1,800 when it was removed Sunday, was aimed at helping his volunteer and recruitment drive in Ukraine.

However none of these efforts were linked to the Ukrainian military, which had rejected his advances and appears to have treated his enthusiasm with suspicion. In interviews, Routh bemoaned what he called Ukraine’s attitude toward his overtures.Oleksandr Shahuri, a spokesman for Ukraine’s International Legion, told NBC News that Routh never served in the legion and that it had no other record of any interaction with him. 

“We would like to clarify that Ryan Wesley Routh has never been part of, associated with, or linked to the International Legion in any capacity. Any claims or suggestions indicating otherwise are entirely inaccurate,” the legion said in a separate email statement.

“It is important to note that military personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine should refrain from engaging in discussions regarding U.S. domestic politics or its international implications. We fully respect and welcome the decisions made by the American people in choosing their elected officials,” it added. 

The Ukrainian government and military did not immediately respond to NBC News’ requests for comment.

Routh said on social media that he supported Trump in 2016 but by 2020 had soured on the Republican, writing “I will be glad when you gone [sic]” in June that year. Around the same time, he also tweeted in support of Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and then-Democrat-turned-independent Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, while saying that Biden “stands for nothing.”

Donald Trump Sep 16

Apparent attempt on Trump's life raises questions about how it could have happened again

Florida Sep 16

Suspect in apparent Trump assassination attempt charged with federal gun crimes

Far beyond simply repelling Russia’s invasion, he said in 2022 that “we do not stop until Putin is dead and Moscow is a pile of rubble,” in a post on X, calling for the United States to bolster its nuclear arsenal.

He also extended an open invite to North Korean ruler Kim Jong Un in 2020 to come “to Hawaii for vacation,” saying that “it would be an honor to have you at our beaches. I an a leader here and can arrange the whole trip. Please come.”

There are other aspects of his online profile that have not yet been explained. On his WhatsApp bio, it says, “We each need to help the Chinese,” without further explanation.

After Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, he was a vocal presence both on social media and in Kyiv’s Maidan Square, where he pitched a tent and erected billboards attempting to rally volunteers. Photos online showed him with dyed blue and blond hair — the colors of Ukraine’s flag — swaddled in a Star Spangled Banner neckerchief and a bulletproof vest.

That summer, NBC News spoke briefly with Routh, who said in a message that the West’s “limited response” to Ukraine’s war was “an indictment of the entire human race” and “extremely disappointing.” There was never any formal interview, nor inclusion of Routh’s comments in NBC News’ coverage of the war.

This is a highly charged issue.

Ukraine would not have been able to put up such a staunch defense against Russia without tens of billions of dollars in aid from the United States and other Western powers.

But it has been pushing its backers to do more, and there is deep uncertainty and anxiety about the path Trump would take should he win — concerns in Kyiv that will only have been fueled by Sunday’s events.

Daryna Mayer reported from Kyiv, and Alex Smith and Caroline Radnofsky from London.

This story first appeared on NBCNews.com. More from NBC News:

• Suspect was by the Trump golf course for nearly 12 hours, phone records show
• Trump dispenses with unity and blames Democrats after apparent second assassination attempt
• Suspect in assassination attempt charged with possessing firearm as felon, erasing its serial number

Tesla CEO and X majority owner Elon Musk wrote and then deleted a Sunday post on social media platform X that appeared to question why there weren’t more assassination threats made against President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.

Musk, who has 197.8 million listed followers on X, posted the message shortly after a second apparent assassination attempt against Republican former President Donald Trump.

The post was prompted by an X user who asked, “Why they want to kill Donald Trump?”

Musk replied, “And no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala,” punctuating his sentence with a thinking face emoji.

Both Biden and Harris have received assassination threats while in office.

Musk immediately faced backlash for the post, but he stood by it and defended it for roughly 9 hours before he deleted it.

Within an hour, Musk’s tweet had been viewed by at least 1.3 million users, while more than 3,000 users had reposted it and at least 18,000 users had liked it.

Hours after the initial post was deleted, Musk penned two other X posts in which he claimed the original one was an ill-received joke.

“Well, one lesson I’ve learned is that just because I say something to a group and they laugh doesn’t mean it’s going to be all that hilarious as a post on X,” Musk posted at 2:58 a.m. E.T. on Monday.

He followed up that post two minutes later: “Turns out that jokes are WAY less funny if people don’t know the context and the delivery is plain text.”

Musk has come under fire for controversial X posts before, but this latest episode was a rare instance of the billionaire deleting a post in response to criticism.

For example, in March 2021, the National Labor Relations Board ordered Tesla to have Musk delete a social media post that it saw as a threat to union organizers. As of Monday, the tweet remains posted on the site.

The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment on Musk’s post.

Spokespeople for X press relations did not reply to a request for comment from CNBC on Sunday, nor did Musk himself.

The White House denounced Musk’s language in a statement Monday.

“As President Biden and Vice President Harris said after yesterday’s disturbing news, ‘there is no place for political violence or for any violence ever in our country,’ and ‘we all must do our part to ensure that this incident does not lead to more violence,'” White House spokesperson Andrew Bates said. “Violence should only be condemned, never encouraged or joked about. This rhetoric is irresponsible.”

On Sunday, Trump was unharmed after what the FBI said appeared to have been an assassination attempt.

Shortly before 2 p.m. E.T., while Trump was playing golf at his West Palm Beach club, the former president was rushed to a safe location, moments after the Secret Service opened fire at a gunman with a rifle who was 300 yards to 500 yards away from Trump.

The suspect, Ryan Wesley Routh, made his first court appearance on Monday.

Musk, also the CEO of major aerospace and defense contractor SpaceX, publicly endorsed Trump in July, just hours after the Republican presidential nominee survived his first assassination attempt at a Pennsylvania rally.

Tom Nichols, a former professor at the U.S. Naval War College, raised the question of Musk’s Pentagon contracts on Sunday, after Musk’s post about Biden and Harris. “I had a security clearance for most of my adult life. If I had said something like this, I would’ve lost it instantly. And yet this guy is still a major government contractor,” wrote Nichols.

Musk has emerged this election cycle as one of Trump’s most visible allies, a stark reversal from their public feuding just two years ago.

Musk said he helped to create and fund a pro-Trump political action committee, America PAC.

In turn, Trump recently endorsed some of Musk’s policy ideas, including a proposal to create a government efficiency commission to rein in federal spending. Musk has repeatedly volunteered to helm such a commission, which Trump has so far not ruled out.

It’s been 64 days since former President Trump was shot at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and we don’t know the motive behind Sunday’s apparent attempted assassination – but we do know that the environment surrounding the run-up to November’s election is very charged.

In the most recent survey of support for political violence in America from a group at the University of California – Davis, 25% of Americans surveyed believe violence is usually or always justified to advance a political objective.

That’s down a little since last year, but it’s potentially more dangerous as the people who support violence say they are more likely to use a gun in support of that goal.

politics Aug 29

Act fast, be curious when a loved one moves toward political extremism, experts say

Donald Trump Jul 14

Assassinations — and attempts — are woven through America's political history

Experts who study this at American University see the same sort of concern, and to them, some of the most concerning parts of this warning is that we may realize how much our political environment is changing and becoming more violent.

“The conditions of extremism that define our political conversations have gotten worse and have gotten more extensive, to the point where we don’t really appreciate just how badly things have changed,” Brian Hughes, the associate director of the Polarization and Extremism Innovation Lab at American University, said.

“I think people take it as a matter of course that violence is going to be a part of our political process,” he said. “Ten years ago, that would have been shocking to say.”

Following the assassination attempt on former President Trump’s life in Pennsylvania in July, the new acting director of the Secret Service told Congress he was embarrassed by the failings that day.

They’ve since changed Trump’s security and cooperation with local law enforcement.

We expect to learn more this week when a Congressional probe is released.

U.S. Secret Service agents posted a few holes up from where Trump was playing noticed the muzzle of an AK-style rifle sticking through the shrubbery that lines the course, roughly 400 yards away.

An agent fired and the gunman dropped the rifle and fled in an SUV, leaving the firearm behind along with two backpacks, a scope used for aiming and a GoPro camera, Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said. The man was later taken into custody in a neighboring county.

The man in custody was Ryan Routh, three law enforcement officials told the AP. The officials who identified the suspect spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation.

Records show Routh, 58, lived in North Carolina for most of his life before moving to Hawaii in 2018. In 2020, he made a social media post backing Trump’s reelection, but in more recent years his posts have expressed support for Biden and Harris.

Routh tried to recruit Afghan soldiers fleeing the Taliban to fight in Ukraine, and spent several months in the country, according to an interview with The New York Times last year.

He had a calm, flat demeanor and showed little emotion when he was stopped and didn’t question why he was pulled over, according Martin County Sheriff William Snyder.

“He never asked, ‘what is this about?’ Obviously, law enforcement with long rifles, blue lights, a lot going on. He never questioned it,” Snyder said.

The incident was the latest jarring moment in a campaign year marked by unprecedented upheaval. On July 13, Trump was shot during an assassination attempt at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and a bullet grazed his ear. Eight days later, Democratic President Joe Biden withdrew from the race, giving way for Vice President Kamala Harris to become the party’s nominee.

And it spawned new questions about Secret Service protective operations after the agency’s admitted failures in preventing the attempted assassination of Trump this summer.

In an email to supporters after the incident, Trump said: “There were gunshots in my vicinity, but before rumors start spiraling out of control, I wanted you to hear this first: I AM SAFE AND WELL!” He wrote: “Nothing will slow me down. I will NEVER SURRENDER!”

He returned to Mar-a-Lago club, his private club in Palm Beach where he lives, according to a person familiar with Trump his movements who was not authorized to discuss them publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Trump also later shared a message on Truth Social, saying, “I would like to thank everyone for your concern and well wishes – It was certainly an interesting day!”

“Most importantly, I want to thank the U.S. Secret Service, Sheriff Ric Bradshaw and his Office of brave and dedicated Patriots, and, all of Law Enforcement, for the incredible job done today at Trump International in keeping me, as the 45th President of the United States, and the Republican Nominee in the upcoming Presidential Election, SAFE. THE JOB DONE WAS ABSOLUTELY OUTSTANDING. I AM VERY PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!”

It was not immediately clear whether the incident would affect his campaign schedule. He was set to speak from Florida about cryptocurrency live on Monday night on the social media site X for the launch of his sons’ crypto platform. He planned a town hall Tuesday in Flint, Michigan with his former press secretary, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, followed by a rally Wednesday on New York’s Long Island.

An email to Trump campaign staffers obtained by AP said, “This is not a matter that we take lightly. Your safety is always our top priority. We ask that you remain vigilant in your daily comings and goings.”

“As we enter the last 50 days of President Trump’s campaign, we must remember that we will only be able save America from those who seek to destroy it by working together as one team.”

Biden and Harris were briefed on the matter and each issued a statement condemning political violence. Harris’ added that she was “deeply disturbed” by the day’s events and that “we all must do our part to ensure that this incident does not lead to more violence.”

Biden said he had directed his team to ensure the Secret Service “has every resource, capability and protective measure necessary to ensure the former President’s continued safety.”

In the aftermath, Trump checked in with allies, including running mate Ohio Sen. JD Vance, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham and several Fox News hosts. House Speaker Mike Johnson said he spent several hours with Trump and called him “unstoppable.”

Fox News host Sean Hannity recounted on air his conversation with the former president’s golf partner, Steve Witkoff.

They had been on the fifth hole and about to go up to putt when they heard a “pop pop, pop pop.” Within seconds, he said Witkoff recounted, Secret Service agents “pounced” on Trump and “covered him” to protect him.

Trump had returned to Florida this weekend from a West Coast swing that included a Friday night rally in Las Vegas and a Utah fundraiser. His campaign had not announced any public plans for Trump on Sunday. He often spends the morning playing golf.

Trump has had a stepped-up security footprint since the assassination attempt in July. When he is at Trump Tower in New York, parked dump trucks have formed a wall outside the building. At outdoor rallies, he now speaks from behind bulletproof glass.

The Florida golf course was partially shut down for Trump as he played, but there are several areas around the perimeter of the property where golfers are visible from the fence line. Secret Service agents and officers in golf carts and on ATVs generally secure the area several holes ahead and behind Trump. Agents also usually bring an armored vehicle onto the course to shelter Trump quickly should a threat arise.

The Palm Beach County sheriff said the entire golf course would have been lined with law enforcement if Trump were the president, but because he is not, “security is limited to the areas that the Secret Service deems possible.”

“I would imagine that the next time he comes to the golf course, there will probably be a little more people around the perimeter,” Bradshaw said. “But the Secret Service did exactly what they should have done.”

Trump was to be briefed in person Monday by acting Secret Service director Ronald Rowe about the investigation into the assassination attempt, according to a person familiar with the plan for the briefing who was not authorized to speak publicly.

Former presidents and their spouses have Secret Service protection for life, but the security around former presidents varies according to threat levels and exposure, with the toughest measures typically being taken in the immediate aftermath of their leaving office.

Trump’s protective detail has been higher than some other former presidents because of his high visibility and his campaign to seek the White House again.

The FBI was leading the investigation and working to determine any motive. Attorney General Merrick Garland was receiving regular updates. Agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were helping investigate.

“The FBI has responded to West Palm Beach Florida and is investigating what appears to be an attempted assassination of former President Trump,” the bureau said.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, said the state would do its own investigation, posting on X that, “The people deserve the truth about the would be assassin and how he was able to get within 500 yards of the former president and current GOP nominee.”

News reporters were not with Trump on Sunday. Bucking tradition, Trump’s campaign has not arranged to have a protective pool of reporters travel with him, as is standard for major party nominees and for the president. Harris does not have a protective pool at all times, but does allow reporters to travel with her for public events.

Snyder, the Martin County sheriff, said the suspect was apprehended within minutes of the FBI, Secret Service and Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office putting out a “very urgent BOLO” — or “be on the lookout” alert.

Snyder said his deputies “immediately flooded” northbound I-95 and “we pinched in on the car, got it safely stopped and got the driver in custody.”

—

Richer, Long, Tucker and Miller reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Lindsay Whitehurst and Michael Biesecker in Washington, Michael Balsamo, Jill Colvin, Michelle L. Price and Michael R. Sisak in New York, and Meg Kinnard in Houston contributed to this report.

Then she spent the rest of her childhood watching mostly from the sidelines as dozens of similar shootings shattered other schools across the country.

Now 18, Fischer will vote in her first presidential election in November. It’s a monumental moment, nearly 12 years after she endured one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history, and it has given her and her peers hope that they can effect change, NBC News reports.

“It’s a huge turning point in our lives,” said Fischer, who was 6 when a gunman killed 20 first graders and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School on Dec. 14, 2012.

Activists at the time hoped the tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut, would become a watershed moment and spark significant legislative action, said Emma Brown, executive director of Giffords, the gun safety group founded by former Rep. Gabby Giffords — a shooting survivor.

“The country was forced to look at this issue in a visceral, terrible way,” Brown said. “The loss of all of those kids in their classroom was so inconceivable and so horrific that even the politicians and the folks who had been trying to act like this wasn’t a growing problem in this country were unable to deny it for the first time.”

States have since passed hundreds of gun-safety laws, but major federal bills that have been proposed, including bans on semiautomatic weapons and high-capacity magazines, have failed.

After the Las Vegas mass shooting in 2017, the Trump administration imposed a federal ban on bump stocks, which are gun accessories that allow semiautomatic rifles to fire more quickly. But the Supreme Court overturned the regulation this year.

Friday marked 20 years since the 1994 federal assault weapons ban expired. Meanwhile, mass shootings have become more frequent.

Since 2013, at least 122 people have been killed by gunfire in 64 planned school shootings, according to NBC News’ tracker. Most recently, on Sept. 4, two students and two teachers were killed at Georgia’s Apalachee High School allegedly by a 14-year-old suspect with an AR-style rifle, authorities said.

On Thursday, the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions said guns were the leading cause of death among children and teens, killing more people ages 1 to 17 in the U.S. than car crashes and cancer, for the third year in a row.

“We were told this would be what turns everything around,” said Emma Ehrens, 18, who was next to the Sandy Hook gunman as he shot her classmates. “It really breaks your heart a little bit more every time.”

Ehrens, Fischer and two other first grade Sandy Hook survivors who spoke to NBC News said they are hoping to turn the tide by electing Vice President Kamala Harris as president.

“It’s a no-brainer for me,” said survivor Lilly Wasilnak, 18.

The teens first met Harris at the White House on National Gun Violence Awareness Day on June 6, as they were preparing to graduate high school. They shared their individual accounts of the shooting with Harris, who thanked them for their courage.

“None of you should have had the experience that you’ve had at all,” Harris told them, according to a video released by the White House. “Know that you guys are moving the needle.”

Harris has said keeping students safe from gun violence at schools is a top priority. Her plan, which the survivors support, includes banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, and requiring universal background checks.

Harris also champions so-called red flag laws that allow a family member or law enforcement to seek a court order to temporarily confiscate guns if they feel a gun owner may cause harm.

Matt Holden, another survivor who turned 18 last month, said these plans differ from those of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and his running mate, JD Vance, who received backlash last week after saying school shootings are a “fact of life.”

“I don’t like this. I don’t like to admit this. I don’t like that this is a fact of life,” the Ohio senator said at a rally in Phoenix. “But if you’re, if you are a psycho and you want to make headlines, you realize that our schools are soft targets.”

“We’ve got to bolster security so if a psycho wants to walk through the front door and kill a bunch of children, they’re not able to,” Vance added.

At the rally, Vance said strict firearms restrictions are not the solution. Similarly, at a National Rifle Association event in May, Trump said he would roll back Biden administration executive orders designed to reduce gun violence.

In a response to a request for comment, the Trump campaign provided quotes from relatives of shooting victims in support of the former president, including JT Lewis, whose brother Jesse was killed in the Sandy Hook shooting.

“President Trump established the Federal School Safety Commission and signed the Stop School Violence Act,” Lewis said. “He supports hardening schools and protecting our nation’s children. Kamala Harris wants to take police out of schools and leave our kids defenseless. The choice is easy.”

Brown, the Giffords executive director, said gun safety laws are the way forward to ensure school shootings do not remain the norm.

“There’s a ticket in this race that says over and over that it doesn’t have to be this way,” she said.

Giffords spent $15 million to help Harris’ campaign as well as other House candidates who favor tougher gun laws, NBC News first reported.

Since Sandy Hook, states have passed more than 620 gun safety laws, Brown said. In 2022, President Joe Biden enacted the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the most significant gun-safety law in nearly 30 years.

“The momentum is there, and the will is there,” Brown said.

This fall, when the survivors vote for the first time, Wasilnak and Holden said it will be in honor of their first grade classmates who will not get to experience this milestone, as well as the educators who died making sure they would.

“I’m casting a vote for the 26 who can’t,” Wasilnak said.

This story first appeared on NBCNews.com. More from NBC News:

• Border Patrol response to Uvalde school shooting marred by lack of clear command, reports says
• Georgia school shooting suspect’s dad asks for protection due to threats in jail
• Video released of 2023 interview with father and teen charged in Georgia school shooting

Loomer drew widespread condemnation from Republicans and Democrats alike last week for posting on social media that the White House “will smell like curry & White House speeches will be facilitated via a call center” if Harris wins the presidential election.

“What Laura said about Kamala Harris is not what we should be focused on. We should be focused on the policy and on the issues,” Vance, former President Donald Trump’s running mate, told moderator Kristen Welker.

After fielding questions from Welker about whether the comments offended Vance and his wife, who is Indian American, the Ohio Republican said he doesn’t “look at the internet for every single thing to get offended by.”

The GOP vice presidential nominee added, “I make a mean chicken curry, [but] I don’t think that it’s insulting for anybody to talk about their dietary preferences or what they want to do in the White House.”

Trump came under fire this week for his seemingly close relationship with Loomer, a far-right activist who traveled with the former president on the campaign trail this week, including to 9/11 memorial services on Wednesday.

In the past, Loomer has espoused conspiracy theories about 9/11. Just this week, she posted, “23 years later, and there’s still a lot of unanswered questions.”

She has also given voice to conspiracy theories about pop star Taylor Swift and her romantic relationship with football player Travis Kelce, calling it “arranged” and saying the relationship is meant to help Democrats win the upcoming election. Loomer has also questioned the reality behind mass shootings, wondering whether they’ve been staged to help Democrats win votes.

On Friday, Trump told NBC News, “I don’t know that much about it. No, I don’t,” when asked whether he’s familiar with Loomer’s conspiracy theories.

He added, “I know she’s a big fan of the campaign, but I really don’t know.”

Later that day, in a post on Truth Social, he wrote that Loomer “doesn’t work for the Campaign. She’s a private citizen and longtime supporter. I disagree with the statements she made but, like the many millions of people who support me, she is tired of watching the Radical Left Marxists and Fascists violently attack and smear me.”

Also on Sunday, Vance once again espoused an unfounded conspiracy theory about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, eating pets, disputing claims that the allegations are baseless.

“I hear you saying that they’re baseless, but I’m not repeating them because I invented them out of thin air,” Vance said, adding: “I’m repeating them because my constituents are saying these things are happening. … Clearly, these rumors are out there because constituents are seeing it with their own eyes.”

The senator continued to blast “the American media” for pushing back against his claims, telling Welker, “I trust my constituents more than I do the American media that has shown no interest in what’s happened in Springfield until we started sharing cat memes on the internet.”

During an interview on CNN later Sunday, Vance echoed his remarks to NBC News and added, “If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people then that’s what I’m going to do.” Asked for clarification on what he meant, Vance said “I say that we’re creating a story, meaning we’re creating the American media focusing on it.”

The debunked claim about Haitian immigrants entered the national spotlight on Tuesday night when Trump referenced the conspiracy theory on the debate stage in Philadelphia following social media posts from the Ohio senator.

“In Springfield, [Ohio], they’re eating the dogs. The people that came in. They’re eating the cats. They’re eating — they’re eating the pets of the people that live there. And this is what’s happening in our country. And it’s a shame,” Trump said, referencing a falsehood that had previously circulated online in right-wing circles and was also spread by Loomer.

Still, as the week continued, Trump and Vance doubled down on the conspiracy theory, leading some Haitian residents in Springfield to fear for their lives.

Vance on Friday posted that “a massive rise in communicable diseases, rent prices, car insurance rates, and crime” was hitting Springfield, adding: “Don’t let biased media shame you into not discussing this slow-moving humanitarian crisis in a small Ohio town.”

In a post later that same day, he added, “Nothing justifies violence or the threat of violence levied against Springfield or its residents. We condemn both.”

Officials in Springfield and Ohio’s GOP Gov. Mike DeWine have forcefully pushed back on claims that anyone in the town is eating pets.

“Mayor [Rob] Rue of Springfield says, ‘No, there’s no truth in that.’ They have no evidence of that at all. So, I think we go with what the mayor says. He knows his city,” DeWine told CBS News last week, adding that “this is something that came up on the internet, and the internet can be quite crazy sometimes.”

This story first appeared on NBCNews.com.  More from NBC News:

• Vance says ‘I’ve learned my lesson’ on speaking for Trump
• Trump allies worry his ties to far-right activist Laura Loomer could cost him Georgia and North Carolina
• The Trump campaign’s big bet on a new GOTV strategy worries some Republicans

They told her that Donald Trump had been posting on social media about a false and racist rumor that Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, were eating people’s pets. The former president might mention it during the debate, they said.

The warning, described by two people with knowledge of the conversation, proved spot on.

Decision 2024 Sep 13

The AI-generated Taylor Swift endorsement Trump shared was originally a pro-Biden Facebook meme

While answering a question about immigration policy, Trump said migrants in Springfield were “eating the dogs” and “they’re eating the cats.” Harris laughed, shook her head and stared at her Republican opponent in amazement. “Talk about extreme,” she said, and then moved on.

It was easily the most bizarre moment from last week’s debate, spawning an explosion of online memes and parody videos. Now, Harris is trying to use her performance as an ongoing source of momentum, hoping to rekindle the kind of energy that she generated when she replaced President Joe Biden at the top of the Democratic ticket.

It is unclear whether the debate will affect the outcome of the Nov. 5 election. In a flash poll of viewers conducted by CNN afterward, opinions of Trump were unchanged and Harris received only a slight bump in the share of people who view her favorably. But her team is making the most of it, turning key points into television advertisements and flooding the internet with clips. No equivalent effort is apparent from Trump’s side, despite his repeated insistence that he came out on top.

There almost certainly will not be another debate; Trump has said he will not do one. That means the debate at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia may be the only chance that voters will have to see the candidates side by side.

This story is based on interviews with five people close to Harris, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe private conversations and reveal new details about how she prepared for and handled the debate. It was her first time meeting Trump in person.

Harris spent five days getting ready at a hotel in downtown Pittsburgh after a breakneck few weeks of campaigning.

Her team recreated the set where she would debate Trump on the night of Sept. 10. It was a far more professional setup than Harris had used eight years earlier as she was running for Senate in California, when campaign staff taped together cardboard boxes to serve as makeshift lecterns.

Two communications aides — one man, one woman — stood in for David Muir and Linsey Davis, the ABC News debate moderators.

Philippe Reines, a longtime aide to Hillary Clinton, reprised his role as Trump, which he played when the former secretary of state ran for president. Reines wore a dark suit, a long red tie and orange bronzer to embody Trump.

One challenge would be the microphones.

When Biden was running, his team agreed that the debate microphones should be muted when it was not a candidate’s turn to speak. But Harris’ staff wanted the microphones hot at all times, which would allow her to jump in and create more opportunities for Trump to make outbursts.

But their campaign could not reach an agreement to change the rules, and the original plan remained in place.

Harris decided to make the most of the split screen format, where each candidate would be on camera at all times. Biden had flubbed the visual test when he debated Trump in June, often looking aimless with his mouth slightly agape. Harris provided silent commentary through her expressiveness — laughing, raising her eyebrows, bringing her hand to her chin with a quizzical look.

At one point during preparations, staff members suggested practicing mannerisms that Harris could use. The vice president waved them off, saying she would be fine without that kind of rehearsal.

Harris rarely left the hotel during preparations. On Sept. 7, she took a field trip to Penzeys Spices, where she picked up some seasoning mixes. One woman in the store wept as Harris hugged her. On Sept. 8, Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, went to a military airbase and took a walk for about a half hour. Because of security considerations, the tarmac was the only place where they could stretch their legs.

Asked if she was ready for the debate, Harris gave reporters a thumb’s up and said “ready.”

She ended up leaving Pittsburgh on Sept. 9 rather than the day of the debate, canceling an extra mock debate and getting to Philadelphia earlier than expected.

As the clock ticked down to the start of the debate, dozens of staff members in the campaign’s Delaware headquarters assembled in assigned seats in front of four television screens. Some were nervous, still rattled from watching Biden implode in his own debate with Trump.

But Harris’ opening move, striding toward Trump to shake his hand as they took the stage, helped ease those jitters.

Throughout the debate, Harris mocked and needled Trump, throwing him off balance with jabs about the size of crowds at his campaign rallies. She pounced on questions about abortion and promised the country a new generation of leadership, while Trump became increasingly agitated and missed opportunities to press his case against her.

During the final commercial break, Trump departed the stage with a sigh. Harris stayed at her lectern, writing on her notepad, reviewing her words and taking a sip of water.

In her closing statement, she told viewers that “I think you’ve heard tonight two very different visions for our country — one that is focused on the future and the other that is focused on the past.”

Trump ended his remarks by calling Harris “the worst vice president in the history of our country.”

There was no live audience in the room to react to the candidates, and it was not always clear whether certain lines or expressions were hitting their marks.

So when Harris left the stage, she had a question for her staff: How did I do?

“I received a letter from the National Marine Fisheries Institute saying that they were investigating me for collecting a whale specimen 20 years ago,” Kennedy said during a campaign event for former President Donald Trump in Glendale, Arizona, noting that he received the letter “this week.”

Kennedy said that he responded in a letter, baselessly linking the National Marine Fisheries Service with whale deaths and calling for the agency to investigate.

“This is all about the weaponization of our government against political opponents,” he said.

Kennedy did not go into details about the whale incident, but his daughter had previously described a situation involving a whale that took place 30 years ago.

His daughter Kathleen “Kick” Kennedy, 36, described in a 2012 article for Town & Country magazine how, when she was 6, her father used a chainsaw to cut the head off a dead whale that had washed ashore and bungee-corded it to the family’s car during their drive home.

“Every time we accelerated on the highway, whale juice would pour into the windows of the car, and it was the rankest thing on the planet,” she told the magazine at the time. “We all had plastic bags over our heads with mouth holes cut out, and people on the highway were giving us the finger, but that was just normal day-to-day stuff for us.”

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s comments came during a campaign event alongside former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard for Trump at Arizona Christian University. Kennedy endorsed Trump in August and has since been on the campaign trail urging supporters to back the former president.

Kennedy told NBC News after the program that he has never killed a whale.

The National Marine Fisheries Service, which is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, did not immediately respond to a request for comment and confirmation Saturday night.

When asked by a reporter after the campaign event for details about the investigation, Kennedy said he was “not going to talk” about the incident, but would talk about “serious policy issues.” He criticized the media as wanting to discuss “gossipy nonsense,” adding, “I’m not interested in feeding that feature of mainstream media.”

After the 2012 story resurfaced last month, an environmental group urged federal officials to investigate the incident.

“Kennedy may think that his name and privilege mean the rules don’t apply to him, but if he had a shred of integrity left he’d surrender this whale skull and any other illegally collected wildlife parts to the authorities,” said Brett Hartl, political director for the Center for Biological Diversity Action Fund, in a news release. “If he doesn’t, NOAA law enforcement should open an investigation and potentially bring charges against him.”

Kennedy previously faced blowback for saying in August that he had once put a young dead bear in Central Park after planning to skin the bear for meat. He described in a video ultimately deciding to try to make it look like the cub got hit by a bike in the park, saying, “We thought it would be amusing for whoever found it.”

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation said at the time it is against the law to dispose of a dead bear in the way Kennedy said he did. The statute of limitations for such offenses, which are subject to a fine, is a year, it said. 

Alex Tabet reported from Glendale, Arizona, and Megan Lebowitz from Washington, D.C.

This article first appeared on NBCNews.com. Read more from NBC News here:

• For Haitians, disparaging tropes are an opportunity to share ‘the beauty of our country and people’
• American activist killed by Israeli fire in West Bank is buried in Turkey
• ‘Making peoples’ lives hell’: When he couldn’t pay for cancer treatment, the hospital sued

“It just exploded into something I didn’t mean to happen,” Erika Lee, a Springfield resident, told NBC News on Friday.

Lee recently posted on Facebook about a neighbor’s cat that went missing, adding that the neighbor told Lee she thought the cat was the victim of an attack by her Haitian neighbors.

Newsguard, a media watchdog that monitors for misinformation online, found that Lee had been among the first people to publish a post to social media about the rumor, screenshots of which circulated online. The neighbor, Kimberly Newton, said she heard about the attack from a third party, NewsGuard reported. 

Newton told Newsguard that Lee’s Facebook post misstated her story, and that the owner of the missing cat was “an acquaintance of a friend” rather than her daughter’s friend. Newton could not be reached for comment.

Lee said she had no idea the post would become part of a rumor mill that would spiral into the national consciousness. She has since deleted the Facebook post. 

Ohio Sep 13

Bomb threats force second consecutive day of school closures in Springfield, Ohio

Decision 2024 Sep 11

An Ohio city reshaped by Haitian immigrants lands in an unwelcome spotlight

Other posts have also contributed to the false allegations, including a photo of a man holding a dead goose that was taken in Columbus, Ohio, but was spread by some online as evidence of the claims about Springfield. Graphic video of a woman who allegedly killed and tried to eat a cat was also found not to have originated in Springfield but in Canton, Ohio, and does not have any connection to the Haitian community.

Local police and city officials have repeatedly said there is no evidence of such crimes in Springfield, but that hasn’t stopped the lies from spreading across the country and igniting a national frenzy that landed on the presidential debate stage this week. Former President Donald Trump and his running mate Ohio Sen. JD Vance, who was born less than an hour away from Springfield, have repeated the baseless allegations.

Lee said she never imagined her post would become fodder for conspiracy theories and hate.

“I’m not a racist,” she said through heavy emotion, adding that her daughter is half Black and she herself is mixed race and a member of the LGBTQ community. “Everybody seems to be turning it into that, and that was not my intent.”

The anti-immigrant fervor in Springfield led to school and municipal building closures on Thursday and Friday after city officials received bomb threats. 

Lee said she pulled her daughter out of school and is now worried about her safety with so much attention on her family. She is also concerned for the safety of the Haitian community, which she said she did not intend to villainize en masse. 

“I feel for the Haitian community,” she said. “If I was in the Haitians’ position, I’d be terrified, too, worried that somebody’s going to come after me because they think I’m hurting something that they love and that, again, that’s not what I was trying to do.”

Immigrant advocacy groups have said these kinds of claims can be dangerous.

“The Haitian-American community in Springfield, OH and around the country is feeling targeted and unsafe because dehumanizing, debunked and racist conspiracies are being advanced at the highest levels of American politics and are still being repeated,” Vanessa Cárdenas, executive director of America’s Voice, a nonprofit that advocates for immigration reform said in an email. “The false claim that Black immigrants are violently attacking American families by stealing and eating their pets is a powerful and old racist trope that puts a target on people’s backs, and it is turbo-charged in the era of MAGA when political violence has become commonplace and we have already witnessed violent incidents incited by such rhetoric.”

Lee said that there are very real problems related to Springfield’s population boom that caught the struggling city off guard. Springfield was not prepared to address the housing, health care and other service needs that came with the sudden increase of new residents over the last five years when Haitians arrived, many of them with protected status under federal law. 

Still, she never imagined that her Facebook post would set off a national news cycle.

“I didn’t think it would ever get past Springfield,” she said.

This story first appeared on NBCNews.com. More from NBC News:

• Far-right activist Laura Loomer’s access to Trump reveals a crisis in his campaign
• Before Trump, neo-Nazis pushed false claims about Haitians as part of hate campaign
• For Haitians, disparaging tropes are an opportunity to share ‘the beauty of our country and people’

“Laura has been a supporter of mine. Just like a lot of people are supporters, and she’s been a supporter of mine. She speaks very positively of the campaign. I’m not sure why you asked that question,” Trump told reporters at a press conference in Rancho Palos Verdes, California.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle blasted Loomer, who repeatedly appeared alongside Trump this week — including at a Sept. 11 memorial event — as she promoted baseless and inflammatory remarks about immigrants on her social media accounts. Loomer lashed out at Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., Thom Tillis, R-N.C., and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., in response to their criticisms.

“I don’t control Laura. Laura — she’s a, she’s a free spirit. Well, I don’t know. I mean, look, I can’t tell Laura what to do,” Trump added on Friday.

Loomer’s relationship with Trump came under particular scrutiny after the former president mentioned a conspiracy theory about immigrants eating pets during a debate with Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday.

Loomer did not immediately return a request for comment about Trump’s remark Friday. Representatives for the Trump and Harris campaigns also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Donald Trump Sep 11

Laura Loomer, who promoted a 9/11 conspiracy theory, joins Trump for ceremonies marking the attacks

Decision 2024 Sep 11

An Ohio city reshaped by Haitian immigrants lands in an unwelcome spotlight

The baseless theory, which city officials and police have denied, originated online and spread through far-right circles.

Several of Loomer’s posts on social media this week came under fire, including one where she nodded to a conspiracy theory about the 9/11 attacks.

“23 years later, and there’s still a lot of unanswered questions,” Loomer posted Friday, alongside a video of Trump in 2001 questioning whether airplanes could cause explosions like the ones that happened at the Twin Towers on 9/11.

In another post, Loomer alleged that the “White House will smell like curry & White House speeches will be facilitated via a call center” if Harris wins the presidential election.

That statement earned her condemnation from Greene, who called the comment “appalling and extremely racist.”

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at a briefing Thursday of Loomer, “No leader should ever associate with someone who spreads this kind of ugliness, this kind of racist poison.”

This story first appeared on NBCNews.com. More from NBC News:

• Far-right activist Laura Loomer’s access to Trump reveals a crisis in his campaign
• Before Trump, neo-Nazis pushed false claims about Haitians as part of hate campaign
• For Haitians, disparaging tropes are an opportunity to share ‘the beauty of our country and people’

They told her that Donald Trump had been posting on social media about a false and racist rumor that Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, were eating people’s pets. The former president might mention it during the debate, they said.

The warning, described by two people with knowledge of the conversation, proved spot on.

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The AI-generated Taylor Swift endorsement Trump shared was originally a pro-Biden Facebook meme

While answering a question about immigration policy, Trump said migrants in Springfield were “eating the dogs” and “they’re eating the cats.” Harris laughed, shook her head and stared at her Republican opponent in amazement. “Talk about extreme,” she said, and then moved on.

It was easily the most bizarre moment from last week’s debate, spawning an explosion of online memes and parody videos. Now, Harris is trying to use her performance as an ongoing source of momentum, hoping to rekindle the kind of energy that she generated when she replaced President Joe Biden at the top of the Democratic ticket.

It is unclear whether the debate will affect the outcome of the Nov. 5 election. In a flash poll of viewers conducted by CNN afterward, opinions of Trump were unchanged and Harris received only a slight bump in the share of people who view her favorably. But her team is making the most of it, turning key points into television advertisements and flooding the internet with clips. No equivalent effort is apparent from Trump’s side, despite his repeated insistence that he came out on top.

There almost certainly will not be another debate; Trump has said he will not do one. That means the debate at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia may be the only chance that voters will have to see the candidates side by side.

This story is based on interviews with five people close to Harris, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe private conversations and reveal new details about how she prepared for and handled the debate. It was her first time meeting Trump in person.

Harris spent five days getting ready at a hotel in downtown Pittsburgh after a breakneck few weeks of campaigning.

Her team recreated the set where she would debate Trump on the night of Sept. 10. It was a far more professional setup than Harris had used eight years earlier as she was running for Senate in California, when campaign staff taped together cardboard boxes to serve as makeshift lecterns.

Two communications aides — one man, one woman — stood in for David Muir and Linsey Davis, the ABC News debate moderators.

Philippe Reines, a longtime aide to Hillary Clinton, reprised his role as Trump, which he played when the former secretary of state ran for president. Reines wore a dark suit, a long red tie and orange bronzer to embody Trump.

One challenge would be the microphones.

When Biden was running, his team agreed that the debate microphones should be muted when it was not a candidate’s turn to speak. But Harris’ staff wanted the microphones hot at all times, which would allow her to jump in and create more opportunities for Trump to make outbursts.

But their campaign could not reach an agreement to change the rules, and the original plan remained in place.

Harris decided to make the most of the split screen format, where each candidate would be on camera at all times. Biden had flubbed the visual test when he debated Trump in June, often looking aimless with his mouth slightly agape. Harris provided silent commentary through her expressiveness — laughing, raising her eyebrows, bringing her hand to her chin with a quizzical look.

At one point during preparations, staff members suggested practicing mannerisms that Harris could use. The vice president waved them off, saying she would be fine without that kind of rehearsal.

Harris rarely left the hotel during preparations. On Sept. 7, she took a field trip to Penzeys Spices, where she picked up some seasoning mixes. One woman in the store wept as Harris hugged her. On Sept. 8, Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, went to a military airbase and took a walk for about a half hour. Because of security considerations, the tarmac was the only place where they could stretch their legs.

Asked if she was ready for the debate, Harris gave reporters a thumb’s up and said “ready.”

She ended up leaving Pittsburgh on Sept. 9 rather than the day of the debate, canceling an extra mock debate and getting to Philadelphia earlier than expected.

As the clock ticked down to the start of the debate, dozens of staff members in the campaign’s Delaware headquarters assembled in assigned seats in front of four television screens. Some were nervous, still rattled from watching Biden implode in his own debate with Trump.

But Harris’ opening move, striding toward Trump to shake his hand as they took the stage, helped ease those jitters.

Throughout the debate, Harris mocked and needled Trump, throwing him off balance with jabs about the size of crowds at his campaign rallies. She pounced on questions about abortion and promised the country a new generation of leadership, while Trump became increasingly agitated and missed opportunities to press his case against her.

During the final commercial break, Trump departed the stage with a sigh. Harris stayed at her lectern, writing on her notepad, reviewing her words and taking a sip of water.

In her closing statement, she told viewers that “I think you’ve heard tonight two very different visions for our country — one that is focused on the future and the other that is focused on the past.”

Trump ended his remarks by calling Harris “the worst vice president in the history of our country.”

There was no live audience in the room to react to the candidates, and it was not always clear whether certain lines or expressions were hitting their marks.

So when Harris left the stage, she had a question for her staff: How did I do?

“In Springfield they’re eating dogs,” the former president said, referring to an Ohio city dealing with an influx of Haitian immigrants. “They’re eating the cats. They’re eating … the pets of the people that live there. And this is what’s happening in our country, and it’s a shame.”

The extraordinary moment — the airing of a claim worthy of a chain email while participating in a prime-time presidential debate — probably puzzled most of the 67.1 million people tuned in for Trump’s clash with Vice President Kamala Harris. But the rumor, which has been criticized as perpetuating racist tropes, was already thriving in right-wing corners of the internet and being amplified by those close to Trump, including his running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio.

No one involved in Trump’s debate preparations or in a position to speak for his campaign agreed to discuss the strategy on the record or answer questions about how it mutated from a fringe obsession to a debate stage sound bite. 

“Just, suffice to say, he was aware of it. He decided to bring it up,” Tim Murtaugh, a senior Trump adviser, told NBC News. “Now it’s a major story. We would otherwise probably not be talking about immigration if not for that.”

Others close to Trump expressed misgivings about the execution.

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“Immigration should be talked about, because Harris as border czar has failed,” said a Trump adviser, who, like others, was granted anonymity to speak candidly. “Did that issue come out in the best way? Probably not. But it’s not something to be shied away from.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Trump ally from South Carolina, questioned the former president’s focus.  

“I don’t know about dogs and cats,” Graham said in an interview Thursday. “But there are numerous young women who have been raped and murdered by people who were in our custody here illegally, and we let them go. That’s what I’d be talking about. That should be the face of a broken immigration system, not cats and dogs.”

While the fallout has been a combination of bafflement and outrage, the makings of the moment are rooted in grievances that have long defined and animated Trump and his followers — and on the platforms where those grievances blossom.

Trump, who launched his first presidential campaign with a speech that broadly characterized Mexican immigrants as dangerous criminals, has kept immigration and border security issues central to his third White House bid. 

Meanwhile, the right-wing social media ecosystem that rose up around his 2016 run has calcified as an additive and disruptive force: Trump now has his own social media network, Truth Social, and ally Elon Musk controls X, formerly Twitter. Vance in particular has reveled in fighting the culture wars and other right-wing causes online and often assumes a trolling posture on X while acting as a filter of information between the fringe and the mainstream.

Vance and others close to Trump have argued that, even if the claims are false, they have served a purpose by pushing the Springfield story into the spotlight.

“The media didn’t care about the carnage wrought by these policies until we turned it into a meme about cats, and that speaks to the media’s failure to care about what’s going on in these communities,” Vance told CNN after Tuesday’s debate. “If we have to meme about it to get the media to care, we’re going to keep on doing it, because the media could, should, care about what’s going on.”

The issue in Springfield, about 45 miles from Columbus in southwest Ohio, involves thousands of Haitian immigrants who have settled in the city in recent years, many of them there legally under federal programs after having fled violence and political turmoil. Residents and political leaders, including Vance, have for months raised economic and public safety concerns, asserting that an influx of as many as 20,000 immigrants to a city that in 2020 counted a population of 59,000 has strained resources.

Claims about pets being abducted, slaughtered and eaten are more recent. 

Blood Tribe, a national neo-Nazi group, was among the early purveyors of the rumor in August, posting about it on Gab and Telegram, social networks popular with extremists. While the group’s leader has taken credit for Trump’s indulgence of the claims, Blood Tribe’s reach is unknown; its accounts on those sites have fewer than 1,000 followers.

Some Blood Tribe members also planned a couple of events in the real world, like a small Aug. 10 march in Springfield protesting Haitian immigration and an appearance at a city commission meeting later that month.

The rumor soon crossed over to mainstream social media, like Facebook and X. NewsGuard, a firm that monitors misinformation, traced the origins to an undated post from a private Facebook group that was shared in a screenshot posted to X on Sept. 5. 

“Remember when my hometown of Springfield Ohio was all over National news for the Haitians?” the user wrote. “I said all the ducks were disappearing from our parks? Well, now it’s your pets.”

Around that time, other social media posts about the rumor sprouted and went viral, some of them based in part on residents’ comments at public hearings. On Sept. 6, there were 1,100 posts on X mentioning Haitians, migrants or immigrants eating pets, cats, dogs and geese, according to PeakMetrics, a research company. The next day there were 9,100 — a 720% increase.

The number of posts spiked again Monday, to 47,000, when Vance advanced the rumor on X.

“Months ago, I raised the issue of Haitian illegal immigrants draining social services and generally causing chaos all over Springfield, Ohio,” Vance wrote, referring to remarks he had made at a Senate hearing. “Reports now show that people have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn’t be in this country.”

Vance, as he noted in his post, had been raising the issue for months, but in less provocative terms. 

“Now go to Springfield, go to Clark County, Ohio, and ask the people there whether they have been enriched by 20,000 newcomers in four years,” he said in early July, before Trump selected him as his running mate, at NatCon, a right-wing nationalist conference. “Housing is through the roof. People, middle-class people in Springfield who have lived there sometimes for generations cannot afford a place to live.”

Soon after Vance’s post Monday, Springfield police officials told the Springfield News-Sun — and, later, NBC News and other national media — that they had received no credible reports of such incidents. Vance issued a follow-up post the next day, writing that his office had received reports of “pets or local wildlife” being “abducted by Haitian migrants.”

“It’s possible, of course, that all of these rumors will turn out to be false,” he added.

But by that point, Trump was fully on board with them. At 5:19 p.m. Tuesday, less than four hours before his debate with Harris, Trump posted to Truth Social a meme showing cats armed for war and wearing MAGA hats. Fifteen minutes later, he shared a second meme depicting him surrounded by cats and ducks. 

Then came the debate. When moderator David Muir of ABC News asked about his opposition to a bipartisan border bill, a distracted Trump first insisted on responding to a jab Harris had landed about people leaving his campaign rallies early. His meandering answer eventually turned to Springfield, where, he said, “they’re eating dogs … and cats.”

Discomfort and disapproval from Trump’s fellow Republicans were soon palpable.

“I want to be clear on this. That is a very minor, minor issue happening in the United States,” Rep. Byron Donalds, a Trump loyalist from Florida, told NBC News when asked about the pets remark in the post-debate spin room.

Those looking for someone to blame offered several suspects. Laura Loomer, a right-wing political activist and conspiracy theorist who had been posting about the rumor, traveled with Trump to the debate Tuesday. 

“Why do you want to speak to me? I don’t work for President Trump,” Loomer responded when reached by NBC News.

Loomer and Trump did not speak on the plane ride, a source familiar with the trip said. And a Trump aide noted that Loomer “is not a member of our staff.”

“The president is the most well-read man in America, and he has a pulse on everything that is going on,” the aide added. 

The Springfield rumor “made it to his desk. He was made aware of what these residents were saying.”

Others focused their suspicions on Vance, given how he had forced the issue into the spotlight.

“It’s all JD,” a source linked to the campaign said.

Another source close to Trump’s campaign said Trump and Vance did not discuss the Springfield issue ahead of the debate.

“I don’t know what he was thinking,” a different Trump ally said of his choice to bring up the Springfield rumor unprompted. 

The blame, this person said, solely rests with Trump.

“You don’t prep Donald Trump,” the ally added. “You can make suggestions.”

This article first appeared on NBCNews.com. Read more from NBC News here:

• Harris’ policy agenda has gaps and ambiguities as she shifts to the center
• Person shot after tackling man at pro-Israel demonstration
• Trump says he would end all taxes on overtime pay at first post-debate rally

“We just don’t think it’s necessary,” Trump told Telemundo Arizona in an exclusive interview ahead of his campaign rally in Tucson Thursday.

“I had one with as you know, Joe, it was quite a famous debate, and then we had another one the other day and it was both very successful. In fact, my poll numbers went up since the debate and we think we’ve discussed everything and I don’t think they want it either.”

The former president in a Truth Social post earlier Thursday claimed that he won his first debate against Harris on Tuesday night, citing as evidence the fact that Harris’ campaign had challenged him to another debate shortly after the first one ended.

The post read in part, “THERE WILL BE NO THIRD DEBATE!”

Harris said at a rally in North Carolina on Thursday that she and Trump “owe” voters another debate, NBC News reported.

“Two nights ago, Donald Trump and I had our first debate, and I believe we owe it to the voters to have another debate, because this election and what is at stake could not be more important,” Harris said.

The presidential running mates, Republican Sen. JD Vance of Ohio and Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, are still set to meet on Oct. 1 for their only vice-presidential debate.

In the interview Thursday, Trump was also asked about the sensational and baseless claim he made during the debate that Haitian immigrants in Ohio have been eating dogs and other pets; he did not back down, saying he’d heard the information “from local authorities, but also from the newspapers.”

Baseless rumors have spread on social media for days claiming that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio are abducting and eating pets. Police there knocked down the stories Monday in a statement saying they hadn’t seen any documented examples.

“There have been no credible reports or specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals within the immigrant community,” the statement said.

Decision 2024 Sep 11

An Ohio city reshaped by Haitian immigrants lands in an unwelcome spotlight

Ohio Sep 12

City facilities in Springfield, Ohio, receive bomb threats amid rhetoric targeting Haitian immigrants

They told her that Donald Trump had been posting on social media about a false and racist rumor that Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, were eating people’s pets. The former president might mention it during the debate, they said.

The warning, described by two people with knowledge of the conversation, proved spot on.

Decision 2024 Sep 13

The AI-generated Taylor Swift endorsement Trump shared was originally a pro-Biden Facebook meme

While answering a question about immigration policy, Trump said migrants in Springfield were “eating the dogs” and “they’re eating the cats.” Harris laughed, shook her head and stared at her Republican opponent in amazement. “Talk about extreme,” she said, and then moved on.

It was easily the most bizarre moment from last week’s debate, spawning an explosion of online memes and parody videos. Now, Harris is trying to use her performance as an ongoing source of momentum, hoping to rekindle the kind of energy that she generated when she replaced President Joe Biden at the top of the Democratic ticket.

It is unclear whether the debate will affect the outcome of the Nov. 5 election. In a flash poll of viewers conducted by CNN afterward, opinions of Trump were unchanged and Harris received only a slight bump in the share of people who view her favorably. But her team is making the most of it, turning key points into television advertisements and flooding the internet with clips. No equivalent effort is apparent from Trump’s side, despite his repeated insistence that he came out on top.

There almost certainly will not be another debate; Trump has said he will not do one. That means the debate at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia may be the only chance that voters will have to see the candidates side by side.

This story is based on interviews with five people close to Harris, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe private conversations and reveal new details about how she prepared for and handled the debate. It was her first time meeting Trump in person.

Harris spent five days getting ready at a hotel in downtown Pittsburgh after a breakneck few weeks of campaigning.

Her team recreated the set where she would debate Trump on the night of Sept. 10. It was a far more professional setup than Harris had used eight years earlier as she was running for Senate in California, when campaign staff taped together cardboard boxes to serve as makeshift lecterns.

Two communications aides — one man, one woman — stood in for David Muir and Linsey Davis, the ABC News debate moderators.

Philippe Reines, a longtime aide to Hillary Clinton, reprised his role as Trump, which he played when the former secretary of state ran for president. Reines wore a dark suit, a long red tie and orange bronzer to embody Trump.

One challenge would be the microphones.

When Biden was running, his team agreed that the debate microphones should be muted when it was not a candidate’s turn to speak. But Harris’ staff wanted the microphones hot at all times, which would allow her to jump in and create more opportunities for Trump to make outbursts.

But their campaign could not reach an agreement to change the rules, and the original plan remained in place.

Harris decided to make the most of the split screen format, where each candidate would be on camera at all times. Biden had flubbed the visual test when he debated Trump in June, often looking aimless with his mouth slightly agape. Harris provided silent commentary through her expressiveness — laughing, raising her eyebrows, bringing her hand to her chin with a quizzical look.

At one point during preparations, staff members suggested practicing mannerisms that Harris could use. The vice president waved them off, saying she would be fine without that kind of rehearsal.

Harris rarely left the hotel during preparations. On Sept. 7, she took a field trip to Penzeys Spices, where she picked up some seasoning mixes. One woman in the store wept as Harris hugged her. On Sept. 8, Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, went to a military airbase and took a walk for about a half hour. Because of security considerations, the tarmac was the only place where they could stretch their legs.

Asked if she was ready for the debate, Harris gave reporters a thumb’s up and said “ready.”

She ended up leaving Pittsburgh on Sept. 9 rather than the day of the debate, canceling an extra mock debate and getting to Philadelphia earlier than expected.

As the clock ticked down to the start of the debate, dozens of staff members in the campaign’s Delaware headquarters assembled in assigned seats in front of four television screens. Some were nervous, still rattled from watching Biden implode in his own debate with Trump.

But Harris’ opening move, striding toward Trump to shake his hand as they took the stage, helped ease those jitters.

Throughout the debate, Harris mocked and needled Trump, throwing him off balance with jabs about the size of crowds at his campaign rallies. She pounced on questions about abortion and promised the country a new generation of leadership, while Trump became increasingly agitated and missed opportunities to press his case against her.

During the final commercial break, Trump departed the stage with a sigh. Harris stayed at her lectern, writing on her notepad, reviewing her words and taking a sip of water.

In her closing statement, she told viewers that “I think you’ve heard tonight two very different visions for our country — one that is focused on the future and the other that is focused on the past.”

Trump ended his remarks by calling Harris “the worst vice president in the history of our country.”

There was no live audience in the room to react to the candidates, and it was not always clear whether certain lines or expressions were hitting their marks.

So when Harris left the stage, she had a question for her staff: How did I do?

They told her that Donald Trump had been posting on social media about a false and racist rumor that Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, were eating people’s pets. The former president might mention it during the debate, they said.

The warning, described by two people with knowledge of the conversation, proved spot on.

Decision 2024 Sep 13

The AI-generated Taylor Swift endorsement Trump shared was originally a pro-Biden Facebook meme

While answering a question about immigration policy, Trump said migrants in Springfield were “eating the dogs” and “they’re eating the cats.” Harris laughed, shook her head and stared at her Republican opponent in amazement. “Talk about extreme,” she said, and then moved on.

It was easily the most bizarre moment from last week’s debate, spawning an explosion of online memes and parody videos. Now, Harris is trying to use her performance as an ongoing source of momentum, hoping to rekindle the kind of energy that she generated when she replaced President Joe Biden at the top of the Democratic ticket.

It is unclear whether the debate will affect the outcome of the Nov. 5 election. In a flash poll of viewers conducted by CNN afterward, opinions of Trump were unchanged and Harris received only a slight bump in the share of people who view her favorably. But her team is making the most of it, turning key points into television advertisements and flooding the internet with clips. No equivalent effort is apparent from Trump’s side, despite his repeated insistence that he came out on top.

There almost certainly will not be another debate; Trump has said he will not do one. That means the debate at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia may be the only chance that voters will have to see the candidates side by side.

This story is based on interviews with five people close to Harris, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe private conversations and reveal new details about how she prepared for and handled the debate. It was her first time meeting Trump in person.

Harris spent five days getting ready at a hotel in downtown Pittsburgh after a breakneck few weeks of campaigning.

Her team recreated the set where she would debate Trump on the night of Sept. 10. It was a far more professional setup than Harris had used eight years earlier as she was running for Senate in California, when campaign staff taped together cardboard boxes to serve as makeshift lecterns.

Two communications aides — one man, one woman — stood in for David Muir and Linsey Davis, the ABC News debate moderators.

Philippe Reines, a longtime aide to Hillary Clinton, reprised his role as Trump, which he played when the former secretary of state ran for president. Reines wore a dark suit, a long red tie and orange bronzer to embody Trump.

One challenge would be the microphones.

When Biden was running, his team agreed that the debate microphones should be muted when it was not a candidate’s turn to speak. But Harris’ staff wanted the microphones hot at all times, which would allow her to jump in and create more opportunities for Trump to make outbursts.

But their campaign could not reach an agreement to change the rules, and the original plan remained in place.

Harris decided to make the most of the split screen format, where each candidate would be on camera at all times. Biden had flubbed the visual test when he debated Trump in June, often looking aimless with his mouth slightly agape. Harris provided silent commentary through her expressiveness — laughing, raising her eyebrows, bringing her hand to her chin with a quizzical look.

At one point during preparations, staff members suggested practicing mannerisms that Harris could use. The vice president waved them off, saying she would be fine without that kind of rehearsal.

Harris rarely left the hotel during preparations. On Sept. 7, she took a field trip to Penzeys Spices, where she picked up some seasoning mixes. One woman in the store wept as Harris hugged her. On Sept. 8, Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, went to a military airbase and took a walk for about a half hour. Because of security considerations, the tarmac was the only place where they could stretch their legs.

Asked if she was ready for the debate, Harris gave reporters a thumb’s up and said “ready.”

She ended up leaving Pittsburgh on Sept. 9 rather than the day of the debate, canceling an extra mock debate and getting to Philadelphia earlier than expected.

As the clock ticked down to the start of the debate, dozens of staff members in the campaign’s Delaware headquarters assembled in assigned seats in front of four television screens. Some were nervous, still rattled from watching Biden implode in his own debate with Trump.

But Harris’ opening move, striding toward Trump to shake his hand as they took the stage, helped ease those jitters.

Throughout the debate, Harris mocked and needled Trump, throwing him off balance with jabs about the size of crowds at his campaign rallies. She pounced on questions about abortion and promised the country a new generation of leadership, while Trump became increasingly agitated and missed opportunities to press his case against her.

During the final commercial break, Trump departed the stage with a sigh. Harris stayed at her lectern, writing on her notepad, reviewing her words and taking a sip of water.

In her closing statement, she told viewers that “I think you’ve heard tonight two very different visions for our country — one that is focused on the future and the other that is focused on the past.”

Trump ended his remarks by calling Harris “the worst vice president in the history of our country.”

There was no live audience in the room to react to the candidates, and it was not always clear whether certain lines or expressions were hitting their marks.

So when Harris left the stage, she had a question for her staff: How did I do?

The 31-year-old provocateur and influencer posted photos from ground zero and shared a video of Trump talking with firefighters in Lower Manhattan on Wednesday morning, writing, “They were thrilled to see him.” She also accompanied the former president to Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where one of the planes crashed 23 years ago after crew members and passengers fought back against the hijackers.

“HAPPENING NOW: President Trump just visited the Shanksville Fire Department after visiting the memorial site of United Flight 93 and meeting with family members of 9/11 terrorist attack victims in Shanksville, Pennsylvania,” she posted on X on Wednesday afternoon. “NEVER FORGET!”

Loomer said in a text message to The Associated Press that she doesn’t work for the Trump campaign and that she was “invited as a guest.” She did not respond to questions about her past statements about 9/11.

The Trump campaign responded with a statement from an unnamed campaign official. “Today, President Trump put politics aside and stood beside Kamala Harris and Joe Biden to honor those who lost their lives during the worst terrorist attack in our nation’s history. The day wasn’t about anyone other than the souls who are no longer with us, their families, and the heroes who courageously stepped up to save their fellow Americans on that fateful day,” it read.

Loomer was also spotted departing Trump’s plane when he landed in Philadelphia for Tuesday’s debate.

Decision 2024 Sep 11

‘Not his best': Trump's conspiracy-laced debate performance prompts concern from some allies

Donald Trump Sep 11

Trump tried to push Harris into more debates. Now he's not sure he'll do another.

Trump has a long history of elevating and associating with people who trade in falsehoods and conspiracy theories, and he regularly amplifies posts on his social media site shared by those like Loomer, who promote QAnon, an apocalyptic and convoluted conspiracy theory centered on the belief that Trump is fighting the “deep state.” During the debate, Trump pushed baseless claims about migrants stealing and eating cats and dogs and later defended his comments by saying he was repeating things he’d seen on TV.

She frequently makes anti-Islam and anti-immigrant posts on social media and has been targeting Trump’s Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, with vile racist and sexist attacks. Last year, she shared a video on X that said “9/11 was an Inside Job!” and claimed it was somehow related to then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld’s announcing $2.3 trillion in “lost” government funds on Sept. 10, 2001.

The post misrepresented Rumsfeld’s remarks, which were about a challenge in tracking funds due to outdated technology. The day before 9/11 was not the first time the problem had been discussed.

The conspiracy theory that U.S. officials are hiding information about the Sept. 11 attacks or were somehow involved in the planning has taken hold among a segment of determined “truthers,” but many of their most prevalent claims have fallen apart upon further scrutiny.

Loomer’s stepped-up presence in Trump’s entourage comes as he has made a number of staff changes in recent weeks, including bringing back veterans of his 2016 and 2020 campaigns, like former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski. Lewandowski was known for the mantra “Let Trump be Trump.”

She has long served as one of Trump’s fiercest supporters in the Make America Great Again wing of the Republican Party. She led attacks against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Trump’s behalf during the primary phase of the 2024 campaign and has been deeply involved in pro-Trump politics — and the more extreme elements it has attracted — for years.

Some Trump allies would prefer the former president to distance himself from Loomer, but Trump has welcomed her as a semi-regular presence in recent months.

When she ran as a Republican for Congress in Florida in 2020, Loomer celebrated her primary win at a party attended by controversial figures including Gavin McInnes, the founder of the far-right extremist group the Proud Boys. She later lost the 2020 House race to Democrat Lois Frankel. She also ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 2022.

As Harris and former President Donald Trump walked on stage in Philadelphia on Tuesday night for their first presidential debate, the vice president strolled past her podium and over to Trump, confidently initiating a handshake and greeting him.

“Let’s have a good debate,” Harris said.

“Good luck,” Trump responded before Harris returned to her podium.

It was a move to assert dominance that, in the past, Trump himself would regularly use. 

Follow live politics coverage here

Harris going on the offensive in that initial exchange was emblematic of much of the ensuing 90 minutes, which ultimately ended up being a stunning juxtaposition to the first presidential debate in June that saw Trump victorious over Joe Biden to the degree that the president dropped out of the race.

The debate amounted to a missed opportunity for many Trump allies, who hoped that a solid performance would turn the page on Harris’ “honeymoon” period.

Debates roughly two months apart have had drastically different outcomes for Trump, leaving some of his supporters concerned that his most recent performance could leave him spiraling, while others defended his performance.

“Kamala had the burden of convincing voters she could turn around an economy that is failing due to her tie-breaking votes in the Senate,” said Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, a longtime Trump ally who helped him with debate preparations. “She failed to meet the moment, with President Trump effectively reflecting the economic anxieties off Americans.”

“Kamala’s joy doesn’t pay the grocery bills,” he added. “President Trump showed he’s determined to fix what she has broken.”

There was, however, concern even among some who support Trump that his lackluster performance less than two months ahead of Election Day is a self-inflicted wound.

“I know everyone in the world has said this, but the inability or unwillingness to realize when he’s being baited and not fall for it is constantly baffling,” a longtime Republican operative said.

Others inside Trump’s debate camp, who were granted anonymity to speak freely, said that they agree the performance was lackluster, and at times Harris caught him flat-footed, but they were skeptical that during an election cycle in which both sides are already entrenched in their positions that this debate could move many votes.

“It was not his best performance, without question,” one Trump adviser said. “But he did enough to get out, I think, without really losing any votes. Like everything else, the debate will have a short shelf life. People will move on to what’s next.”

Trump has taken part in 18 debates over his three runs for president, making him among the most experienced debate participants in American political history. In nearly all those contests, Trump was a tour de force, using his hyperaggressive style and willingness to flood the zone with lies to take up most of the oxygen in the room and overshadow his opponents. 

“This guy does not play by the rules, which means then he has more options, and when someone has more options, he’s a more challenging person to debate,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, told MSNBC before the debate began. “So, I’m not suggesting this is not only high stakes, this is a huge challenge.”

This time, however, those Trump axioms did not play out against Harris, who throughout the night baited the former president into focusing on the sort of grievances — like the size of the crowds at his rallies — that he has long fixated on, and conspiratorial falsehoods — like Haitian immigrants in Ohio eating family pets — that Trump advisers hoped he would avoid in order to focus on a Harris record that is replete with policy position changes.

“They’re eating the dogs, the people that came in, they’re eating the cats,” Trump said during an answer related to immigration. “They’re eating the pets of the people that live there, and this is what’s happening in our country, and it’s a shame.”

In a brief appearance in the spin room after the debate, Trump doubled down on the debunked story, which was started by his running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, and has been rebutted by local officials.

In that same exchange with reporters, Trump said it was his “best debate ever.”

The perception that Trump lost the debate was so overwhelming that even some of his staunchest cheerleaders were unable to spin the performance in its immediate aftermath.

“While I don’t think the debate hosts were fair to @RealDonaldTrump @KamalaHarris exceeded most people’s expectations tonight,” Elon Musk posted on his social media platform X on Tuesday night.

Not only has Musk endorsed Trump, but he is also funding a pro-Trump super PAC.

Fox News host Laura Ingraham said Harris “moved the points a little bit on betting markets,” while three other Republican sources told NBC News that Trump came off as “angry” as Harris pushed his buttons and got him going off on tangents after questions about some of his key policy areas.

Christopher Rufo, a right-wing education reformer and prominent conservative activist, said Harris won the night.

“Harris wins slightly on points,” he posted on social media. “This shouldn’t change the race significantly either way, but she was able to de-risk this event and now the Right has lost the narrative that Harris is refusing media or engagement. Will be interesting to see if she goes silent again.”

Blaming ABC News moderators David Muir and Linsey Davis did become a common theme for Trump supporters looking to try to put a positive spin on the night’s events. On a handful of occasions, the pair fact-checked Trump in real time, something his supporters said was evidence of bias — especially because they did it noticeably less for Harris. She brought far fewer falsehoods to the debate.

“I’m still perplexed why any Republican candidate for president submits themselves to activist moderators who are driven to integers and undermine any conservative Republican in any debate,” said Ed McMullen, a South Carolina-based Trump fundraiser who served as ambassador to Switzerland during Trump’s first term in office. 

He said there should have been less of a focus on abortion, which has been a key issue after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and has, so far, been an issue that has benefited Democrats politically.

“People are suffering in this economy and left and right politicos want to talk about abortion,” McMullen said. “The states now have the responsibility to act — get it over with. Time to move on and face the issues that real people are affected by every day.”

Others were critical specifically of the debate moderators’ failure to focus enough on Harris’ own background, which includes her own 2020 run for president where she staked out several positions in the Democratic primary that are now seen as far left in a general election.

Those positions, many of which were outlined in recent CNN reporting about an American Civil Liberties Union candidate questionnaire that Harris filed out at the time, include saying that she supported using taxpayer dollars to pay for gender transition surgeries for immigrants in federal prison.

“It is important that transgender individuals who rely on the state for care receive the treatment they need, which includes access to treatment associated with gender transition,” Harris wrote. “That’s why, as Attorney General, I pushed the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to provide gender transition surgery to state inmates.”

It became a much-discussed topic of conversation among Trump supporters.

Donald Trump Sep 11

Trump tried to push Harris into more debates. Now he's not sure he'll do another.

Decision 2024 Sep 11

Trump repeats false claims over 2020 election loss, deflects responsibility for Jan. 6

Decision 2024 Sep 11

An Ohio city reshaped by Haitian immigrants lands in an unwelcome spotlight

“Do you think it’s strange that someone could support something as radical as sex change operations paid for by taxpayers for convicts and illegal immigrants … and not get asked a question about it?” Fox News’ Sean Hannity asked Trump in a post-debate interview.

“I brought it up,” Trump responded. “They were not so happy when I brought it up.”

Omeed Malik, a veteran Wall Street executive who has pledged to raise $3 million for Trump, said the former president made a “strong case” for his economic message, which includes reducing regulations, cutting taxes, strengthening the border and ending foreign wards.

“In contrast,” he said. “Harris provided canned and rehearsed platitudes unable to defend her administration’s failures around inflation, immigration and foreign policy.”

Adding to the chaos of the night was a post-debate endorsement of Harris from Taylor Swift. The pop star posted on Instagram that she is endorsing Harris because “she fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them.” 

Swift has 283 million followers on Instagram, far more than the number of people who voted in the 2020 election.

In an early morning call-in to “Fox and Friends,” Trump once again defended his debate performance and predicted Swift would regret her endorsement.

“I am not a Taylor Swift fan, he said, adding, “She will probably pay a price for it in the market.”

This story first appeared on NBCNews.com. More from NBC News:

• Harris-Trump debate nabs at least 57.5M viewers, per early ratings
• After years of threats, Trump still doesn’t have a plan to replace Obamacare
• NBC’s Steve Kornacki evaluates Trump’s performance and future strategy

Within moments of leaving the debate stage on Tuesday night with a performance that some Republicans were quick to pan, Trump began dismissing the idea he would participate in another debate — a reversal from his previous talking point that he was willing to do several debates and it was Harris who was hiding.

Trump’s campaign said before the debate that he had already accepted debate invitations from Fox News and NBC News, and that Harris had not. But in post-debate interviews, Trump was noncommittal. He claimed victory on Truth Social, saying, “Why would I do a Rematch?”

“When you win the debate, I don’t know that I want to do another debate,” the former president told Fox News on Wednesday morning.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Trump said he would participate in debates with NBC News or Fox News.

Trump viewed his first debate of the season against Joe Biden as a resounding success — not only did Republicans say he demonstrated restraint, but Biden’s performance ultimately led to him stepping aside. Fresh off the perceived win, pushing Harris into several debates seemed like a strategic goal for Trump, and Harris rebuffed a request for one on Fox News in early September.

But Tuesday night’s debate did not go like the earlier faceoff.

Decision 2024 Sep 11

Trump repeats false claims over 2020 election loss, deflects responsibility for Jan. 6

Decision 2024 Sep 11

Fact-checking the presidential debate between Trump and Harris

“She was exquisitely well prepared. She laid traps and he chased every rabbit down every hole instead of talking about the things that he should have been talking about,” former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a Trump ally turned critic, said in an interview with ABC News after the debate.

Trump’s allies who were more defensive of his performance dismissed criticism that he had a bad debate by blaming the moderators. One said that the highlight of the evening was the final minute, when he delivered a closing statement. Trump told reporters on Tuesday night that he might consider another if it were run by a “fair” network.

Harris has not accepted a second debate with Trump, but her campaign appeared more open on Wednesday.

“That was fun,” Brian Fallon, a top spokesperson, wrote on X. “Let’s do it again in October.”

Failure by the candidates to meet for more than one debate would defy modern historical precedent.

Trump’s campaign had warned in a pre-debate call that Tuesday’s showdown might be the “the one and only debate” that Trump and Harris took part in, placing the onus on Harris.

Now Trump’s campaign said he is waiting to make a final decision.

“We accepted Fox, they rejected it. We accepted ABC, they waffled on the rules and finally agreed. We accepted Sept. 25 NBC and they rejected,” Trump senior advisor Brian Hughes said in a statement to NBC News on Wednesday. “So President Trump said he will determine it later.” (A spokesperson for NBC News did not respond when asked if the invitation from the network still stood and who has accepted.)

Hughes said Harris had “missed the moment” and still not accounted for her record in the White House, and said this was the reason for any enthusiasm by her team for a rematch.

“But the most important indication here is that Harris failed to explain why she hasn’t already done the things she claims she cares about. A failed record of nearly 4 years is on view, and she failed to lie her way out of owning it,” Hughes said. “She missed the moment and lost, so it’s no wonder her team is scrambling to try a do over.”

Eric Levine, a New York-based Republican fundraiser, said Trump needed to return to the debate stage if only to squeeze out better answers from his opponent after the moderators on Tuesday failed to do so.

“He missed opportunity after opportunity after opportunity to eviscerate her,” said Levine.

Still, Levine said he appreciated the challenge awaiting Trump if they face off again. “She’s like a hologram. Getting substance from her is like trying to nail jello to a wall,” he added.

This article first appeared on NBCNews.com. Read more from NBC News here:

• After years of threats, Trump still doesn’t have a plan to replace Obamacare
• Harris-Trump debate nabs at least 57.5M viewers, per early ratings
• Trump’s conspiracy-laced debate performance concerns some allies

Its story of economic renewal and related growing pains has been thrust into the national conversation in a presidential election year — and maliciously distorted by false rumors that Haitian immigrants are eating their neighbors’ pets. Donald Trump amplified those lies during Tuesday’s nationally televised debate, exacerbating some residents’ fears about growing divisiveness in the predominantly white, blue-collar city of about 60,000.

At the city’s Haitian Community Help and Support Center on Wednesday, Rose-Thamar Joseph said many of the roughly 15,000 immigrants who arrived in the past few years were drawn by good jobs and the city’s relative affordability. But a rising sense of unease has crept in as longtime residents increasingly bristle at newcomers taking jobs at factories, driving up housing costs, worsening traffic and straining city services.

“Some of them are talking about living in fear. Some of them are scared for their life,” Joseph said.

A “Welcome To Our City” sign hangs from a parking garage downtown, where a coffee shop, bakery and boutique line Springfield’s main drag, North Fountain Street. A flag advertising “CultureFest,” the city’s annual celebration of unity through diversity, waves from a pole nearby.

Melanie Flax Wilt, a Republican commissioner in the county where Springfield is located, said she has been pushing for community and political leaders to “stop feeding the fear.”

“After the election and everybody’s done using Springfield, Ohio, as a talking point for immigration reform, we are going to be the ones here still living through the challenges and coming up with the solutions,” she said.

Ariel Dominique, executive director of the Haitian American Foundation for Democracy, said she laughed at times in recent days at the absurdity of the false claims. But seeing the comments repeated on national television by the former president was painful.

“It is so unfair and unjust and completely contrary to what we have contributed to the world, what we have contributed to this nation for so long,” Dominique said.

The falsehoods about Springfield’s Haitian immigrants were previously spread online by Trump’s running mate, JD Vance. It’s part of a timeworn American political tradition of casting immigrants as outsiders whose strange behavior is a shock to American culture.

“This is what’s happening in our country. And it’s a shame,” Trump said at Tuesday’s presidential debate after repeating the falsehoods. When challenged during the debate by ABC News moderator David Muir over the false claims, Trump held firm, saying “people on television” said their dogs were eaten, but he offered no evidence.

Officials in Springfield have tried to tamp down the misinformation by saying there have been no credible or detailed reports of any pets being abducted or eaten. State leaders are trying to help address some of the real challenges the city faces.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, said Tuesday that he would send law enforcement and millions of dollars in health care resources to Springfield as it faces a surge in Haitian arrivals.

Many Haitians have come to the U.S. to flee poverty and violence. They have embraced President Joe Biden’s new and expanded legal pathways to enter, and have shunned illegal crossings, accounting for only 92 border arrests out of more than 56,000 in July, the latest data available.

The Biden administration recently announced an estimated 300,000 Haitians in the U.S. on June 3 could remain in the country at least through February 2026, with eligibility for work authorization, under a law called Temporary Protected Status to spare people from being deported to strife-torn countries..

Springfield, about 45 miles from the state capital of Columbus, suffered a steep decline in its manufacturing sector toward the end of the last century. But its downtown has been revitalized in recent years as more Haitians arrived and helped meet the demand for labor. Officials say Haitians now account for about 15% of the population.

Ohio Sep 11

Father of 11-year-old killed in Ohio crash says Trump and Vance are using his son ‘as a political tool'

Decision 2024 Sep 10

Ohio police have ‘no credible reports' of Haitian immigrants harming pets, contradicting JD Vance's claim

The city was shaken last year when a minivan slammed into a school bus, killing an 11-year-old boy. The driver was a Haitian man who recently settled in the area and was driving without a valid license. During a city commission meeting on Wednesday, the boy’s parents condemned politicians’ use of their son’s death to stoke hatred.

Last week, a post on the social media platform X shared what looked like a screengrab of a social media post apparently out of Springfield. The post claimed without evidence that the person’s “neighbor’s daughter’s friend” saw a cat hanging from a tree to be butchered and eaten, outside a house where it claimed Haitians lived. It was accompanied by a photo of a Black man carrying what appeared to be a goose by its feet.

On Monday, Vance posted on X. “Reports now show that people have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn’t be in this country. Where is our border czar?” he said. The next day, he posted again on X about Springfield, saying his office had received inquiries from residents who said “their neighbors’ pets or local wildlife were abducted by Haitian migrants. It’s possible, of course, that all of these rumors will turn out to be false.”

Long-time Springfield resident Chris Hazel, who knows the park and neighborhood where the pet and goose abductions were purported to have happened, called the claims “preposterous.”

“It reminds me of when people used to accuse others and outsiders as cannibals. It’s dehumanizing a community,” he said of the accusations against the city’s Haitian residents.

Sophia Pierrilus, the daughter of a former Haitian diplomat who moved to the Ohio capital of Columbus 15 years ago and is now an immigrant advocate, agreed, calling it all political.

“My view is that’s their way to use Haitians as a scapegoat to bring some kind of chaos in America,” she said.

With its rising population of immigrants, Springfield is hardly an outlier. So far this decade, immigration has accounted for almost three-quarters of U.S. population growth, with 2.5 million immigrants arriving in the United States between 2020 and 2023, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Population growth is an important driver of economic growth.

“The Haitian immigrants who started moving to Springfield the last few years are the reason why the economy and the labor force has been revitalized there,” said Guerline Jozef, executive director of the Haitian Bridge Alliance, which provides legal and social services to immigrants across the U.S.

Now, she said, Haitians in Springfield have told her that, out of fear, they are considering leaving the city.

Spagat reported from San Diego. Associated Press writer Michael Schneider in Orlando, Florida, and Noreen Nasir in New York, contributed.

The comments Tuesday night underscored the Republican’s refusal, even four years later, to accept the reality of his defeat and his unwillingness to admit the extent to which his falsehoods about his election loss emboldened the mob that rushed the Capitol, resulting in violent clashes with law enforcement. Trump’s grievances about that election are central to his 2024 campaign against Democrat Kamala Harris, as he professes allegiance to the rioters.

In 2020, Democrat Joe Biden won 306 electoral votes to Trump’s 232, and there was no widespread fraud, as election officials across the country, including Trump’s then-attorney general, William Barr, have confirmed. Republican governors in Arizona and Georgia, crucial to Biden’s victory, vouched for the integrity of the elections in their states. Nearly all the legal challenges from Trump and his allies were dismissed by judges, including two tossed by the Supreme Court, which includes three Trump-nominated justices.

An Associated Press review of every potential case of voter fraud in the six battleground states disputed by Trump found fewer than 475. Biden took Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin and their 79 electoral votes by a combined 311,257 votes out of 25.5 million ballots cast for president. The disputed ballots represent just 0.15% of his victory margin in those states.

In the ABC debate, Trump was asked twice if he regretted anything he did on Jan. 6, when he told his supporters to march to the Capitol and exhorted them to “fight like hell.” On the Philadelphia stage, Trump first responded by complaining that the questioner had failed to note that he had encouraged the crowd to behave “peacefully and patriotically.” Trump also noted that one of his backers, Ashli Babbitt, was fatally shot inside the building by a Capitol Police officer.

Trump suggested that protesters who committed crimes during the 2020 racial injustice protests were not prosecuted. But an AP review in 2021 of documents in more than 300 federal cases stemming from the protests sparked by George Floyd’s death found that more than 120 defendants across U.S. pleaded guilty or were convicted at trial of federal crimes including rioting, arson and conspiracy.

When the question about his actions on Jan. 6 arose again, Trump replied: “I had nothing to do with that other than they asked me to make a speech. I showed up for a speech.”

But he ignored other incendiary language he used throughout the speech, during which he urged the crowd to march to the Capitol, where Congress was meeting to certify Biden’s victory. Trump told the crowd: “If you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.” That’s after his lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, declared: “Let’s have trial by combat.”

Trump didn’t appeal for the rioters to leave the Capitol until more than three hours after the assault began. He then released a video telling the rioters it was time to “go home,” but added: “We love you. You’re very special people.”

He also repeated an oft-stated false claim that then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., “rejected” his offer to send “10,000 National Guard or soldiers” to the Capitol. Pelosi does not direct the National Guard. As the Capitol came under attack, she and then-Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. called for military assistance, including from the National Guard.

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Harris pledged to “turn the page” from Jan. 6, when she was in the Capitol as democracy came under attack.

“So for everyone watching, who remembers what January 6th was, I say, ‘We don’t have to go back. Let’s not go back. We’re not going back. It’s time to turn the page.”

Though Trump had seemed to acknowledge in a recent podcast interview that he had indeed “lost by a whisker,” he insisted Tuesday night that that was a sarcastic remark and resumed his boasts about the election.

“I’ll show you Georgia, and I’ll show you Wisconsin, and I’ll show you Pennsylvania,” he said in rattling off states where he claimed, falsely, that he had won. “We have so many facts and statistics.”

Associated Press writers Alanna Durkin Richer and Melissa Goldin contributed to this report.

Social media posts falsely claiming a Venezuelan gang had taken over an apartment complex in Aurora, Colorado, have circulated widely in pro-Trump communities and been boosted by right-wing pundits in recent weeks. 

Even after local officials publicly refuted that the Tren de Aragua gang had taken over the building, sensationalist claims vaguely tying the rumors to the growth of Colorado’s migrant population continued going viral on social media. Trump amplified them further over the past week as he brought up the rumors several times in recent rallies and interviews — and then again at Tuesday night’s debate.

“We have millions of people pouring into our country. … You look at Aurora in Colorado. They are taking over the towns. They’re taking over buildings. They’re going in violently,” Trump said on the debate stage in Philadelphia. “They’re destroying our country. They’re dangerous. They’re at the highest level of criminality. And we have to get them out.”

The viral rumors used “the most common forms of misinformation” tactics, such as reposting old videos without context, misrepresenting existing data and “frankensteining” together misleading pieces of evidence to fabricate a false narrative, according to the News Literacy Project, a nonprofit fact-checking organization that debunked the rumor.

Roberta Braga, founder and executive director of the Digital Democracy Institute of the Americas, a nonprofit organization that studies the impact of misinformation on Latino communities, told NBC News that the false claims related to Tren de Aragua are just the latest examples of rumors created to feed a broader narrative meant to demonize immigrants.

“We very often see these claims associated with migrants’ being criminals or gang members, claims that portray them as the source of increased crime and insecurity in the U.S. broadly, in a way that puts blame directly on them for what people frame as a decline of American society,” Braga said. 

Residents at the Aurora apartments, many of them immigrants from Venezuela and other Latin American countries, have denied the false rumors of the gang takeover and said they increasingly feel unsafe after having unfairly been deemed criminals.

“Right now, I am scared because of what’s been created, and all the xenophobia hate has increased towards us,” Carlos Ordosgoitti, a Venezuelan man living in one of the Aurora buildings, told NBC affiliate KUSA of Denver in Spanish. “I’m really scared.”

How it all started

The false claim of a takeover began with the owner of three Aurora apartment complexes: an embattled property manager who was facing charges in municipal court because of years of unresolved health and safety code violations.

Rat and bug infestations, overflowing trash, sewage backups, water leaks and deteriorating infrastructure are some of the violations documented since at least February 2021, city officials have said.

But the property management company that owns the buildings blamed a Venezuelan gang for the rundown conditions. Over the summer, an attorney representing the company sent letters to local police and city and state officials claiming the gang had “forcibly taken control,” The Denver Gazette reported.

The claims were echoed by city officials, mostly conservatives, without concrete evidence, KUSA reported.

The allegation picked up steam during the last week of August after local media outlets, including KUSA, reported on a video obtained from a resident showing a group of men carrying guns in one of the buildings and seemingly trying to break an apartment door open. 

Aurora police haven’t yet determined whether the men in the video belong to a Venezuelan gang, KUSA reported.

Aurora police have said they have been investigating the presence of Tren de Aragua in coordination with Denver police. But “gang members are not taking over” an Aurora apartment complex, police said, adding that the gang’s activity remains “isolated.”

“Every time there’s an instance of an isolated crime performed by a migrant in the U.S. it gets cherry-picked and then blown out of proportion to essentially castigate all migrants,” Braga said.

Misinformation spreads despite being debunked

Fragments of the video showing the armed men inside the Aurora apartment building were used in combination with clips from a two-month-old motorcycle parade in Brazil to create an Instagram post falsely claiming that members of the Hells Angels, an outlaw motorcycle club, were on their way to Aurora to “save the city after gangs from Venezuela took over apartments.” The Hells Angels’ Colorado chapter released a statement denying the claims.

Meta, Instagram’s parent company, labeled the post as including false information after its fact-checking partners debunked the claims. But that didn’t stop the false information from spreading as new videos with the same claims but different outdated and out-of-context clips proliferated across social media platforms.

Mert Bayar, a postdoctoral scholar at the University of Washington’s Center for an Informed Public who researches rumors about immigrants and noncitizens, told NBC News that misinformation pattern seems to reflect an online behavior commonly known among “newsbrokering” social media accounts. Often hiding behind catchy usernames and cartoonish avatars, such accounts “curate and disseminate information about a crisis event” and often fabricate inflammatory content to make it fit a specific agenda.

Another anti-immigrant rumor that spread this week and was repeated by Trump on the debate stage Tuesday night was the  debunked claim about Haitian immigrants harming household pets.

In a joint interview with KUSA, Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman, a Republican, and Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, a Democrat, said other long-standing criminal organizations in the area remain greater threats than the Venezuelan gang.

But an “environment of hysteria right now over this”  is complicating their ability to ensure Tren de Aragua doesn’t gain a foothold in the area, Coffman said. Coffman even described an example in which some people conflated an impromptu meetup of Venezuelans awaiting the results of their homeland’s presidential election with gang activity.

Aurora police have arrested 10 people connected to Tren de Aragua, KUSA reported.

Despite attempts to dispel myths and rumors about the Venezuelan gang’s presence in Aurora, additional false narratives continued to emerge online, including posts on X falsely claiming that Aurora police had issued a shelter-in-place order in response to Venezuelan gang violence and that Venezuelan gangs started taking over apartments in Chicago after having gained control of one in Aurora.

Both posts remain on X without any kind of label letting users know they include false information. The posts have gotten 26.3 million views and been reposted over 40,000 times. X didn’t respond to an email requesting comment.

Making immigration a political flashpoint

As part of their political platform, Republicans are focusing on hard-line immigration policies and stricter border security. They have often focused on narratives connecting immigration and crime.

Denver is among the cities that have received tens of thousands of migrants over the past year as part of a busing campaign by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, to seek stricter security at the southern border. 

Searching for a lower cost of living, many migrants settled in nearby Aurora, where officials had said they couldn’t help those who had newly arrived, citing a lack of  “financial capacity to fund new services related to this crisis.” Still, some migrants ended up living in the apartment complexes that have been at the center of recent controversy.

When Trump repeatedly called attention to Aurora by suggesting a Venezuelan gang had taken over an apartment complex there, immigrant communities were unexpectedly thrust into a heated political debate.

“People need to be aware that immigration is a common theme that misinformers are exploiting this election season. We should be extra cautious when they come across claims that seem designed to provoke anger, outrage, or fear — or that seem designed to divide us,” Christina Veiga, a spokesperson for the News Literacy Project, told NBC News in a statement. “Voters can avoid having their votes co-opted by falsehoods by being aware of this trend and taking a few simple steps to confirm whether the claims they’re seeing are true.”

This story first appeared on NBCNews.com. More from NBC News:

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They told her that Donald Trump had been posting on social media about a false and racist rumor that Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, were eating people’s pets. The former president might mention it during the debate, they said.

The warning, described by two people with knowledge of the conversation, proved spot on.

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While answering a question about immigration policy, Trump said migrants in Springfield were “eating the dogs” and “they’re eating the cats.” Harris laughed, shook her head and stared at her Republican opponent in amazement. “Talk about extreme,” she said, and then moved on.

It was easily the most bizarre moment from last week’s debate, spawning an explosion of online memes and parody videos. Now, Harris is trying to use her performance as an ongoing source of momentum, hoping to rekindle the kind of energy that she generated when she replaced President Joe Biden at the top of the Democratic ticket.

It is unclear whether the debate will affect the outcome of the Nov. 5 election. In a flash poll of viewers conducted by CNN afterward, opinions of Trump were unchanged and Harris received only a slight bump in the share of people who view her favorably. But her team is making the most of it, turning key points into television advertisements and flooding the internet with clips. No equivalent effort is apparent from Trump’s side, despite his repeated insistence that he came out on top.

There almost certainly will not be another debate; Trump has said he will not do one. That means the debate at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia may be the only chance that voters will have to see the candidates side by side.

This story is based on interviews with five people close to Harris, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe private conversations and reveal new details about how she prepared for and handled the debate. It was her first time meeting Trump in person.

Harris spent five days getting ready at a hotel in downtown Pittsburgh after a breakneck few weeks of campaigning.

Her team recreated the set where she would debate Trump on the night of Sept. 10. It was a far more professional setup than Harris had used eight years earlier as she was running for Senate in California, when campaign staff taped together cardboard boxes to serve as makeshift lecterns.

Two communications aides — one man, one woman — stood in for David Muir and Linsey Davis, the ABC News debate moderators.

Philippe Reines, a longtime aide to Hillary Clinton, reprised his role as Trump, which he played when the former secretary of state ran for president. Reines wore a dark suit, a long red tie and orange bronzer to embody Trump.

One challenge would be the microphones.

When Biden was running, his team agreed that the debate microphones should be muted when it was not a candidate’s turn to speak. But Harris’ staff wanted the microphones hot at all times, which would allow her to jump in and create more opportunities for Trump to make outbursts.

But their campaign could not reach an agreement to change the rules, and the original plan remained in place.

Harris decided to make the most of the split screen format, where each candidate would be on camera at all times. Biden had flubbed the visual test when he debated Trump in June, often looking aimless with his mouth slightly agape. Harris provided silent commentary through her expressiveness — laughing, raising her eyebrows, bringing her hand to her chin with a quizzical look.

At one point during preparations, staff members suggested practicing mannerisms that Harris could use. The vice president waved them off, saying she would be fine without that kind of rehearsal.

Harris rarely left the hotel during preparations. On Sept. 7, she took a field trip to Penzeys Spices, where she picked up some seasoning mixes. One woman in the store wept as Harris hugged her. On Sept. 8, Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, went to a military airbase and took a walk for about a half hour. Because of security considerations, the tarmac was the only place where they could stretch their legs.

Asked if she was ready for the debate, Harris gave reporters a thumb’s up and said “ready.”

She ended up leaving Pittsburgh on Sept. 9 rather than the day of the debate, canceling an extra mock debate and getting to Philadelphia earlier than expected.

As the clock ticked down to the start of the debate, dozens of staff members in the campaign’s Delaware headquarters assembled in assigned seats in front of four television screens. Some were nervous, still rattled from watching Biden implode in his own debate with Trump.

But Harris’ opening move, striding toward Trump to shake his hand as they took the stage, helped ease those jitters.

Throughout the debate, Harris mocked and needled Trump, throwing him off balance with jabs about the size of crowds at his campaign rallies. She pounced on questions about abortion and promised the country a new generation of leadership, while Trump became increasingly agitated and missed opportunities to press his case against her.

During the final commercial break, Trump departed the stage with a sigh. Harris stayed at her lectern, writing on her notepad, reviewing her words and taking a sip of water.

In her closing statement, she told viewers that “I think you’ve heard tonight two very different visions for our country — one that is focused on the future and the other that is focused on the past.”

Trump ended his remarks by calling Harris “the worst vice president in the history of our country.”

There was no live audience in the room to react to the candidates, and it was not always clear whether certain lines or expressions were hitting their marks.

So when Harris left the stage, she had a question for her staff: How did I do?

Heading into the debate, Harris appeared to have more to gain — and more to lose. A New York Times/Siena poll found that 28% said they “need to learn more about Kamala Harris,” compared to just 9% who said the same about Trump. Overall, Trump led Harris by 1 point among likely voters, with 5% unsure or not backing either.

The debate covered a wide range of issues and featured a series of intense exchanges between the two bitter rivals. Harris presented herself as a pragmatic problem-solver and diminished Trump as a wannabe dictator who can’t keep his rally crowds engaged. Trump attacked Harris as a radical and frequently returned to his theme of criticizing migration, sometimes veering into conspiracy theories.

Here are five key takeaways from the debate.

Harris leans in quickly on lowering costs

Harris used the first question to lean into her plan for an “opportunity economy,” seeking to cut into Trump’s advantage on the issue with swing voters by presenting herself as the candidate of the middle class while calling Trump a corporate tax-cutter.

“I was raised as a middle-class kid, and I am actually the only person on this stage who has a plan that is about lifting up the middle class and working people of America,” Harris said. “We know that we have a shortage of homes and housing, and the cost of housing is too expensive for far too many people. We know that young families need support to raise their children, and I intend on extending a tax cut for those families of $6,000, which is the largest child tax credit that we have given in a long time, so that those young families can afford to buy a crib, buy a car seat, buy clothes for their children.”

Trump for his part, blasted the Biden-Harris economy, saying, “I’ve never seen a worse period of time.” He also defended his tariff plans and called Harris “a Marxist,” even as he accused her of copying his policies: “I was going to send her a MAGA hat.”

Both candidates seek the mantle of change

In the opening minutes of the debate, both rivals sought to claim the mantle of change in a country full of voters who are hungry for it.

“In this debate tonight, you’re going to hear from the same old, tired playbook: a bunch of lies, grievances and name-calling,” Harris said of Trump. “What you’re going to hear tonight is a detailed and dangerous plan called Project 2025, that the former president intends on implementing if he were elected.”

Harris returned to that message later in the debate: “The American people are exhausted with the same entire playbook.” Harris went back to it later when criticizing Trump for inciting the Jan. 6 riot.

“Let’s turn the page on this. Let’s not go back,” she said.

Trump, meanwhile, sought to portray Harris as a continuation of President Joe Biden on immigration and the economy.

On migrants coming into the United States illegally, Trump said, “These are the people that she and Biden led into our country, and they’re destroying our country. They’re dangerous.”

And on the economy, Trump said: “She copied Biden’s plan. And it’s like four sentences. Run, spot, run.”

Trump attacks as Harris defends policy shifts

A significant weakness for Harris in her 2024 campaign has been the left-wing positions she took as a Democratic presidential primary candidate in 2020 that she has since abandoned or backtracked from — such as banning fracking, a mandatory buyback of semi-automatic firearms and decriminalizing border crossings. She was asked about her evolution again.

“I made that very clear on 2020 I will not ban fracking,” Harris said. “I have not banned fracking as vice president. In fact, I was the tie-breaking vote on the inflation Reduction Act which opened new leases for fracking.”

Harris added, “My values have not changed.”

Trump sought to capitalize.

“She wants to do transgender operations on illegal aliens that are in prison. This is a radical left liberal that would do this. She wants to confiscate your guns and she will never allow fracking in Pennsylvania,” Trump said. “If she won the election, fracking in Pennsylvania will end on day one.”

Trump dodges on vetoing federal abortion ban

Trump and Harris engaged in a lengthy clash on abortion, during which the former president declined twice to say whether he would veto a federal abortion ban if Congress passed one.

“Well, I won’t have to,” Trump replied. He said he’s “not signing” such a ban because there’s “no reason to,” arguing that “everybody” is happy with the termination of Roe v. Wade.

When told that his vice presidential nominee, Sen. JD Vance, said he would veto such a ban, Trump contradicted Vance. the Ohio senator made his comments recently on NBC News’ “Meet the Press.”

“Well, I didn’t discuss it with JD, in all fairness. JD — and I don’t mind if he has a certain view, but I think he was speaking to me,” he said, arguing that Congress won’t pass any major abortion bill.

“I pledge to you: when Congress passes a bill to put back in place the protections of Roe v. Wade as President of the United States, I will proudly sign it in to law,” she said. “But understand, if Donald Trump were to be reelected, he will sign a national abortion ban.”

Harris baits Trump into missed opportunities

Harris came into the debate with the hope of rattling Trump, and she appeared to succeed at some moments, baiting the president into a defensive posture rather than highlighting his strongest issue: concerns about inflation and the cost of living.

She attacked him on abortion rights, linked him to the right-wing policy blueprint Project 2025, highlighted his praise for Chinese President Xi Jinping around the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. Both times, he jumped in to defend himself. She invited Americans to watch a Trump rally.

“He talks about fictional characters like Hannibal Lecter. He will talk about ‘windmills cause cancer.’ And what you will also notice is that people start leaving his rallies early out of exhaustion and boredom,” Harris said, looking into the camera.

That didn’t sit well with Trump, who said he has “the most incredible rallies in the history of politics” and went on a tangent by citing a debunked conspiracy theory about some migrants eating pets. “They’re eating the dogs, the people that came in, they’re eating the cats,” Trump said.

Trump bashes Biden, sparking pithy Harris reply

Trump’s performance included a wide sprinkling of attacks on Biden, who dropped out after his disastrous late-June debate showing against Trump. He criticized Biden’s handling of classified documents, knocked him for opposing the Keystone XL pipeline and called the Biden’s administration “the most divisive presidency in the history of our country.”

“Where is our president? We don’t even know if he’s the president,” Trump said toward the end of the debate. “They threw him out of a campaign like a dog. We don’t even know. Is he our president? We have a president that doesn’t know he’s alive.”

Harris replied, “It is important to remind the former president: You’re not running against Joe Biden, you are running against me.”

When Trump later said, “She is Biden,” Harris responded: “Clearly, I am not Joe Biden. And I am certainly not Donald Trump.”

This story first appeared on NBCNews.com. More from NBC News:

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The Democratic vice president moved to get under the skin of the former Republican president, provoking him with reminders about the 2020 election loss that he still denies and delivering derisive asides at his other false claims. Harris’ needling prompted Trump to launch into the sort of freewheeling personal attacks and digressions that his advisers and supporters have tried to steer him away from.

The high-pressure matchup after a tumultuous campaign summer offered Americans their most expansive look at a campaign that’s been dramatically changed just hours before the first early presidential ballots will be distributed.

The vice president moved to far more effectively press the Democratic case against Trump than President Joe Biden did in June, presaging a more contentious and competitive race now that Harris is the one taking on Trump.

The pair outlined sharply opposite visions of where the nation is and where they intend to take it if elected. Harris promised tax cuts aimed at the middle class and said she would push to restore a federally guaranteed right to abortion overturned by the Supreme Court two years ago. Trump said his proposed tariffs would help the U.S. stop being cheated by allies on trade and said he would work to swiftly end the Russia-Ukraine war, even if it meant Ukraine didn’t achieve victory on the battlefield.

Harris at times shook her head derisively as Trump spoke, occasionally staring at him with a hand on her chin, while Trump seemed to avoid looking toward the Democrat. Trump hewed closely to his rally talking points and the familiar attacks that have proven popular with his Republican base but his advisers worry don’t appeal to a broader cross section of voters.

In one moment, Harris turned to Trump and said that as vice president, she had spoken to foreign leaders, “And they say you’re a disgrace.”

Trump again denied his loss to President Joe Biden four years ago, when his efforts to overturn the result inspired the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection.

“Donald Trump was fired by 81 million people,” Harris said, “So let’s be clear about that. And clearly he is having a very difficult time processing that.”

Trump in turn tried to link Harris to Biden, questioning why she hadn’t acted on her proposed ideas while serving as vice president. “Why hasn’t she done it?” he said. Trump also focused his attacks on Harris over her assignment by Biden to deal with the root causes of illegal migration.

The Republican pledged anew to deport millions of people in the U.S. illegally and warned that Harris was “worse than Biden” and her policies would turn the U.S. into Venezuela.

He repeatedly dismissed her and Biden as weak, and cited the praise of Hungary’s nationalist prime minister Viktor Orbán to show that he is a widely respected by leaders around the world, saying Orbán calls him the “most feared person.”

Saying it’s “time to turn the page,” Harris delivered an appeal to Republicans and independents turned off by Trump’s style and his efforts four years ago to overturn the 2020 presidential election, saying there’s a place in her campaign for them “to stand for country, to stand for our democracy, to stand for rule of law and to end the chaos.”

Trump twice declined to say that it was in the best interest of the U.S. for Ukraine to win its war against Russia. Harris said it was an example of why America’s NATO allies were thankful he was no longer in office, as she and Biden have sent tens of billions of dollars to help Kyiv fend off Russia’s invasion.

As the former president made a series of false claims about migrants, Harris seemed to smirk as he said that migrants are “taking jobs that are occupied right now by African Americans and Hispanics.”

“Talk about extreme,” Harris responded, when Trump repeated unsubstantiated claims that immigrants in Ohio are eating their neighbors’ dogs and cats.

The candidates met in a small, blue-lit amphitheater converted into a television studio, with no live audience, meaning there was no rowdy applause, cheers or jeers. The intimate setting — with the candidates’ lecterns positioned less than 10 feet from each other — belied the contentious debate to follow.

As Harris seemed to try to interject during one of his responses, Trump replied, “I’m talking now, sound familiar?” harkening back to a moment when shut down an interruption from then-Vice President Mike Pence.

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Harris sharply criticized Trump for the state of the economy and democracy when he left office, as the COVID-19 pandemic ravaged the nation and after his supporters stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in a bid to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

“What we have done is clean up Donald Trump’s mess,” Harris said. She opened her answer by saying she expects voters to hear “a bunch of lies, grievances and name calling” from her GOP opponent during their 90-minute debate.

Trump, meanwhile, quickly went after Harris for abandoning some of her past liberal positions and said: “She’s going to my philosophy now. In fact, I was going to send her a MAGA hat.” Harris smiled broadly and laughed.

Harris has sought to defend her shifts away from liberal causes to more moderate stances on fracking, expanding Medicare for all and mandatory gun buyback programs — and even backing away from her position that plastic straws should be banned — as pragmatism, insisting that her “values remain the same.”

As the debate opened, Harris walked up to Trump’s lectern to introduce herself, marking the first time the two had ever met. “Kamala Harris,” she said, extending her hand to Trump, who received it in a handshake — the first presidential debate handshake since the 2016 campaign.

Harris, in zeroing in on one of Trump’s biggest electoral vulnerabilities, laid the end of national abortion rights at Trump’s feet for his role in appointing three U.S. Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v. Wade, leaving more than 20 states in the country with what she called “Trump abortion bans.”

Harris gave one of her most impassioned answers as she described the ways women have been denied abortion care and other emergency care and said Trump would assign a national abortion ban if he wins.

Trump declared it “a lie,” and said, “I’m not signing a ban and there’s no reason to sign a ban.”

The Republican has said he wants the issue left to the states.

Harris used a question about her plans to improve the economy by saying she would extend the tax cut for families with children and a tax deduction for small businesses while attacking Trump’s plans to impose broad tariffs as a “sales tax” on goods that the American people will ultimately pay.

Trump was stone-faced during her answer but retorted: “I have no sales tax. That’s in incorrect statement. She knows that.”

Trump, who is trying to paint the vice president as an out-of-touch liberal while trying to win over voters skeptical he should return to the White House continued to call Harris a “Marxist,” and said “Everyone knows she’s a Marxist.”

Trump, 78, has struggled to adapt to Harris, 59, who is the first woman, Black person and person of South Asian descent to serve as vice president. The Republican former president has at times resorted to invoking racial and gender stereotypes, frustrating allies who want Trump to focus instead on policy differences with Harris.

“I read where she was not Black,” Trump said when asked about comments questioning Harris’ race, and then he added a minute later, “and then I read that she was Black.” He seemed to suggest her race was a choice, saying twice, “That’s up to her.”

“I think it’s a tragedy that we have someone who wants to be president who has consistently over the course of his career attempted to use race to divide the American people,” Harris responded.

Harris said Trump has a long history of racial division, going back to when his family’s company was investigated for refusing to rent to black people decades ago. She also mentioned that he called for the death penalty for the “Central Park Five,” who were falsely accused of rape, and spread false “birther” theories about President Barack Obama.

“I think the American people want better than that, want better than this,” she said, nodding toward Trump.

Harris hit Trump on one of his biggest sources of pride, his freewheeling campaign rallies. Harris noted how at the events, Trump, as he meanders through subjects, will sometimes muse on “fictional characters like Hannibal Lecter” and whether “windmills cause cancer,” and then said that if you watch his events “you will also notice that people start leaving his rallies early out of exhaustion and boredom.”

“The one thing you will not hear him talk about is you. Your needs, your dreams and your desires.”

Trump tried to use his next question to respond by accusing Harris of having no one attending her rallies except the people that he claimed, without evidence, that she has bused in and paid to be there.

“She can’t talk about that. People don’t leave my rallies. We have the biggest rallies, the most incredible rallies in the history of politics,” he said.

In rapid fashion after the June 27 debate between Trump and Biden, the incumbent bowed out of the race after his disastrous performance, Trump survived an assassination attempt and bothsides chose their running mates.

The debate subjected Harris, who has sat for only a single formal interview in the past six weeks, to a rare moment of sustained questioning.

Trump at one point launched into an attack on Biden, questioning his mental acuity by making the claim that Biden “doesn’t even know he’s alive.”

Harris quickly tried to turn it around to make Trump look less than sharp.

“First of all, I think it’s important to remind the former president, you’re not running against Joe Biden. You’re running against me,” she said.

The senator from Ohio, as well as other Republican lawmakers and several conservative commentators, have in recent days asserted without evidence that the arrival of thousands of immigrants from Haiti had created chaos in Springfield. 

In a post on X, Vance wrote Monday that “people have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn’t be in this country.” 

The Springfield Police Division said in a statement that they were aware of the “rumors” and had no information to support them. 

“In response to recent rumors alleging criminal activity by the immigrant population in our city, we wish to clarify that there have been no credible reports or specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals within the immigrant community,” the police said in a statement emailed to NBC News. 

They added that they had no information to support similar assertions about immigrants squatting or disrupting traffic. 

“Additionally, there have been no verified instances of immigrants engaging in illegal activities such as squatting or littering in front of residents’ homes. Furthermore, no reports have been made regarding members of the immigrant community deliberately disrupting traffic,” the police said. 

After NBC News asked the Vance campaign about the lack of evidence for his claim, a spokesperson said that the senator had received “a high volume of calls and emails over the past several weeks from concerned citizens in Springfield” and that “his tweet is based on what he is hearing from them.” 

The spokesperson did not say, however, whether any of those calls or emails had included evidence of violence against pets, and did not offer proof of Vance’s statements.

There is a long history of conservative politicians and pundits denigrating Haitian immigrants in particular, including with baseless allegations of cannibalism, according to historians who have studied the former French colony. 

Viles Dorsainvil, president of the Haitian Community Help and Support Center, a nonprofit organization in Springfield, condemned the recent rumors as uninformed and racist. 

“It’s just bigotry, discrimination and racism,” he said. “There is a group of people who have been fabricating some news just to denigrate Haitians.” 

Dorsainvil said his organization helps immigrants with job applications, legal support and more. He added that Haitians have moved to Ohio because of the gang conflict and political turmoil in their home country. 

“They are looking for a place to raise their family and look for a job. But it happens that the city has not been prepared for the influx of Haitians coming here,” he said. 

The false claims about threats to pets began going viral on social media over the weekend, fueled in part by a fourth-hand story that appeared to come from a Facebook group focused on local crime in Springfield. 

The group was set to private on Monday, but according to screenshots posted on X, someone in the Facebook group posted that “my neighbor informed me that her daughters friend had lost her cat.” The poster went on to describe Haitians allegedly taking the cat for food. 

Conservative pundit Charlie Kirk posted a screenshot of the Facebook post Sunday on X, and within 24 hours, it had received more than 3 million views. 

The rumor was picked up by other right-wing commentators, including Jack Posobiec, who posted about it on X more than 30 times Sunday and Monday. Others echoed the allegations, including X owner Elon Musk, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio. 

“Please vote for Trump so Haitian immigrants don’t eat us,” Cruz wrote on X, as a caption on a photo of cats. 

By midday Monday, Haitians were the No. 1 trending topic in the U.S. on X. 

In his post on X, Vance attributed his information about pets to unspecified “reports” and suggested that Vice President Kamala Harris was to blame for Haitian immigrants’ “generally causing chaos all over Springfield, Ohio.” In 2021, President Joe Biden tasked Harris with tackling the “root causes” of migration. 

Vance also asserted without evidence that the Haitian population in question is made up of illegal immigrants. 

A Springfield city website says that’s not true. “Haitian immigrants are here legally, under the Immigration Parole Program,” the website says, referring to a federal humanitarian program for migrants. 

Representatives for Kirk, Posobiec, Musk, Cruz and Jordan did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

X and Meta, the parent company of Facebook, also did not immediately respond to requests for comment. 

As many as 20,000 Haitian immigrants have arrived in the Springfield area in recent years, and although they’ve helped to revitalize the city, there have been protests, The New York Times reported this month. In May, a jury found a Haitian immigrant guilty of causing a school bus crash that killed an 11-year-old boy.

NBC News’ Alec Hernández contributed.

This story first appeared on NBCNews.com. More from NBC News:

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This live blog has ended. See full coverage of Decision 2024 here.

Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday said congressional Republicans should pursue a government shutdown if they cannot attach a hardline voting bill to the temporary funding resolution that would keep the government open.

“If Republicans in the House, and Senate, don’t get absolute assurances on Election Security, THEY SHOULD, IN NO WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM, GO FORWARD WITH A CONTINUING RESOLUTION ON THE BUDGET,” the Republican presidential nominee wrote in a Truth Social post.

“THE DEMOCRATS ARE TRYING TO ‘STUFF’ VOTER REGISTRATIONS WITH ILLEGAL ALIENS. DON’T LET IT HAPPEN – CLOSE IT DOWN!!!”

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is currently trying to pass a six-month stopgap funding bill paired with the controversial SAVE Act, a legislative proposal that would require individuals to show proof of citizenship at the ballot box.

Congressional Democrats have repeatedly signaled they will not pass a funding bill attached to such a policy, which they see as a “poison pill,” or a controversial bill tied to a piece of legislation as a way to tank the overall deal.

“The House Republican CR is an unserious and uncooked product,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said on the Senate floor Tuesday. “Republicans should work with Democrats on a bipartisan package, one that has input from both sides, one that avoids harmful cuts, one that is free of poison pills.”

Congress has until Sept. 30 to strike a funding deal or else risk triggering a partial government shut down.

As that deadline inches closer, Johnson has showed no signs of backing down from the SAVE Act bill attachment, staying in line with Trump’s wishes even as Democrats remain firm on their pledge to vote against it.

As Democrats and Republicans approach a deadlock, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is willing to break with hardliners who insist the party must preserve the SAVE Act, even at the cost of a government shutdown.

“Shutting down the government is always a bad idea,” McConnell said Tuesday.

That same day, the House approved the rule for the CR, which would fund the government until March 2025, with the SAVE Act included.

The final House vote to pass the funding bill is set to take place Wednesday. But even if it passes, the bill would still be dead on arrival in the Democratic-controlled Senate.

— NBC News’ Sahil Kapur contributed to this report.

When they do, they’ll both be asked adhere to a set of rules the candidates agreed upon last week.

As the debate gets underway, here’s a look at what to expect.

Here’s a look at what to expect:

What time is the debate tonight?

The first presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. CT on Tuesday, Sept. 10 at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.

It will last for an estimated 90 minutes.

List of debate rules

The parameters now in place for the Sept. 10 debate are essentially the same as they were for the June debate between Trump and President Joe Biden.

According to ABC News, the candidates will stand behind lecterns, will not make opening statements and will not be allowed to bring notes during the 90-minute debate. David Muir and Linsey Davis will moderate the event.

“Moderators will seek to enforce timing agreements and ensure a civilized discussion,” the network noted.

A Harris campaign official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss planning around the debate, said a candidate who repeatedly interrupts will receive a warning from a moderator, and both candidates’ microphones may be unmuted if there is significant crosstalk so the audience can understand what’s happening.

After a virtual coin flip held Tuesday and won by Trump, the GOP nominee opted to offer the final closing statement, while Harris chose the podium on the right side of viewers’ screens. There will be no audience, written notes or any topics or questions shared with campaigns or candidates in advance, the network said.

Here’s the full list of rules:

– The debate will be 90 minutes with two commercial breaks.

– The two seated moderators, David Muir and Linsey Davis, will be the only people asking questions.

– A coin flip was held virtually on Tuesday, Sept. 3, to determine podium placement and order of closing statements; former President Donald Trump won the coin toss and chose to select the order of statements. The former president will offer the last closing statement, and Vice President Harris selected the right podium position on screen (stage left).

– Candidates will be introduced by the moderators.

– The candidates enter upon introduction from opposite sides of the stage; the incumbent party will be introduced first.

– No opening statements; closing statements will be two minutes per candidate.

– Candidates will stand behind podiums for the duration of the debate.

– Props or prewritten notes are not allowed onstage.

– No topics or questions will be shared in advance with campaigns or candidates.

– Candidates will be given a pen, a pad of paper and a bottle of water.

– Candidates will have two-minute answers to questions, two-minute rebuttals, and one extra minute for follow-ups, clarifications, or responses.

– Candidates’ microphones will be live only for the candidate whose turn it is to speak and muted when the time belongs to another candidate.

– Candidates will not be permitted to ask questions of each other.

– Campaign staff may not interact with candidates during commercial breaks.

– Moderators will seek to enforce timing agreements and ensure a civilized discussion.

– There will be no audience in the room.

Trump reluctantly agreed to the mute function when he faced Biden in June, but after that debate, his team determined it was a net positive if voters did not hear from the Republican former president while his opponent was speaking. Harris’ team was pushing to return to a normal format without mute buttons.

Are other debates planned?

Though the September debate is currently the only debate currently planned between Harris and Trump, Harris’ campaign said that a potential October debate was contingent on Trump attending the Sept. 10 debate.

In addition to the planned Harris-Trump debate on Sept. 10, vice presidential candidates Tim Walz and JD Vance also agreed to a debate, scheduled to be hosted by CBS News on Oct. 1.

When is Election Day?

Voters will officially head to the polls just over a month later on Nov. 5 for Election Day, though early voting starts significantly earlier in many states.

In Illinois, early voting will begin on Sept. 26 and will run through Nov. 4, with Election Day voting held at a designated polling place from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Nov. 5.

The event, at 9 p.m. Eastern in Philadelphia, will offer Americans their most detailed look at a campaign that’s dramatically changed since the last debate in June. In rapid fashion, President Joe Biden bowed out of the race after his disastrous performance, Trump survived an assassination attempt and bothsides chose their running mates.

Harris is intent on demonstrating that she can press the Democratic case against Trump better than Biden did. Trump, in turn, is trying to paint the vice president as an out-of-touch liberal while trying to win over voters skeptical he should return to the White House.

Trump, 78, has struggled to adapt to Harris, 59, who is the first woman, Black person and person of South Asian descent to serve as vice president. The Republican former president has at times resorted to invoking racial and gender stereotypes, frustrating allies who want Trump to focus instead on policy differences with Harris.

The vice president, for her part, will try to claim a share of credit for the Biden administration’s accomplishments while also addressing its low moments and explaining her shifts away from more liberal positions she took in the past.

The debate will subject Harris, who has sat for only a single formal interview in the past six weeks, to a rare moment of sustained questioning.

“If she performs great, it’s going to be a nice surprise for the Democrats and they’ll rejoice,” said Ari Fleischer, a Republican communications strategist and former press secretary to President George W. Bush. “If she flops, like Joe Biden did, it could break this race wide open. So there’s more riding on it.”

Decision 2024 Sep 9

When is the 2024 presidential debate? How to watch the Trump, Harris debate

news Sep 9

Harris previews her Trump debate plan: ‘I think he's gonna lie'

Tim Hogan, who led Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s debate preparations in the 2020 Democratic presidential primaries, said Harris, a former California attorney general, would bring a “prosecutor’s instincts to the debate stage.”

“That is a very strong quality in that setting: having someone who knows how to land a punch and how to translate it,” Hogan said.

The first early ballots of the presidential race will go out just hours after the debate, hosted by ABC News. Absentee ballots are set to be sent out beginning Wednesday in Alabama.

Trump plans to hit Harris as too liberal

Trump and his campaign have spotlighted far-left positions she took during her failed 2020 presidential bid. He’s been assisted in his informal debate prep sessions by Tulsi Gabbard, the former Democratic congresswoman and presidential candidate who tore into Harris during their primary debates.

Harris has sought to defend her shifts away from liberal causes to more moderate stances on fracking, expanding Medicare for all and mandatory gun buyback programs — and even backing away from her position that plastic straws should be banned — as pragmatism, insisting that her “values remain the same.” Her campaign on Monday published a page on its website listing her positions on key issues.

The former president has argued a Harris presidency is a threat to the safety of the country, highlighting that Biden tapped her to address the influx of migrants as the Republican once again makes dark warnings about immigration and those in the country illegally central to his campaign. He has sought to portray a Harris presidency as the continuation of Biden’s still-unpopular administration, particularly his economic record, as voters still feel the bite of inflation even as it has cooled in recent months.

Trump’s team insist his tone won’t be any different facing a female opponent.

“President Trump is going to be himself,” senior adviser Jason Miller told reporters during a phone call Monday.

Gabbard, who was also on the call, added that Trump “respects women and doesn’t feel the need to be patronizing or to speak to women in any other way than he would speak to a man.”

His advisers suggest Harris has a tendency to express herself in a “word salad” of meaningless phrases, prompting Trump to say last week that his debate strategy was to “let her talk.”

The former president frequently plows into rambling remarks that detour from his policy points. He regularly makes false claims about the last election, attacks a lengthy list of enemies and opponents working against him, offers praise for foreign strongmen and comments about race, like his false claim in July that Harris recently “happened to turn Black.”

Harris wants to argue Trump is unstable and unfit

The vice president, who has been the Biden administration’s most outspoken supporter of abortion access after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, is expected to focus on calling out Trump’s inconsistencies around women’s reproductive care, including his announcement that he will vote to protect Florida’s six-week abortion ban in a statewide referendum this fall.

Harris was also set to try to portray herself as a steadier hand to lead the nation and safeguard its alliances, as war rages in Ukraine more than two years after Russia’s invasion and Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza drags on with no end in sight.

She is likely to warn that Trump presents a threat to democracy, from his attempts in 2020 to overturn his loss in the presidential election, spurring his angry supporters to attack the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, through comments he made as recently as last weekend. Trump on social media issued yet another message of retribution, threatening that if he wins he will jail “those involved in unscrupulous behavior,” including lawyers, political operatives, donors, voters and election officials.

Harris has spent the better part of the last five days ensconced in debate preparations in Pennsylvania, where she participated in hours-long mock sessions with a Trump stand-in. Ahead of the debate, she told radio host Rickey Smiley that she was workshopping how to respond if Trump lies.

“There’s no floor for him in terms of how low he will go,” she said.

___

AP Polling Editor Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux in Washington and Associated Press writers Thomas Beaumont in Las Vegas, Bill Barrow in Atlanta and Josh Boak in Pittsburgh contributed to this report.

“Can you imagine you’re a parent and your son leaves the house and you say, ‘Jimmy, I love you so much, go have a good day in school,’ and your son comes back with a brutal operation? Can you even imagine this? What the hell is wrong with our country?” Trump said Saturday at a campaign rally in Wisconsin, a vital swing state. 

Trump made similar remarks — saying children were returning home from school after having had surgical procedures — the previous weekend at an event hosted by Moms for Liberty, a parent activist group that has gained outsized influence in conservative politics in recent years.

Asked by one of the group’s co-founders how he would address the “explosion in the number of children who identify as transgender,” Trump said: “Your kid goes to school and comes home a few days later with an operation. The school decides what’s going to happen with your child.”

There is no evidence that a student has ever undergone gender-affirming surgery at a school in the U.S., nor is there evidence that a U.S. school has sent a student to receive such a procedure elsewhere. 

About half the states ban transition-related surgery for minors, and even in states where such care is still legal, it is rare. In addition, guidelines from several major medical associations say a parent or guardian must provide consent before a minor undergoes gender-affirming care, including transition-related surgery, according to the American Association of Medical Providers. Most major medical associations in the U.S. support gender-affirming care for minors experiencing gender dysphoria. For those who opt for such care and have the support of their guardians and physicians, that typically involves puberty blockers for preteens and hormone replacement therapy for older teens.

A spokesperson for Trump’s campaign did not substantiate his claims and pointed NBC News to reports about parents’ being left in the dark about their children’s gender transitions at school. 

“President Trump will ensure all Americans are treated equally under the law regardless of race, gender or sexual orientation,” said the spokesperson, Karoline Leavitt.

Kate King, president of the National Association of School Nurses, said that even when it comes to administering over-the-counter medication such as Advil or Tylenol, school nurses need explicit permission from a physician and a parent.

“There is no way that anyone is doing surgery in a classroom in schools,” she said when she was asked about Trump’s remarks.

Trump’s claims stand out even amid years of allegations by conservative politicians and right-wing media pundits that teachers, Democratic lawmakers and LGBTQ adults are “grooming” or “indoctrinating” children to become gay or transgender. 

The practice of labeling LGBTQ people, particularly gay men and trans women, as “groomers” and “pedophiles” of children had been relegated to the margins for decades, but the tropes resurfaced during the heated debate over Florida’s so-called Don’t Say Gay law, which Gov. Ron DeSantis signed in March 2022. The law limits the instruction of sexual orientation and gender identity in school and has been replicated in states across the country.

At the Republican National Convention in July, at least a dozen speakers — including DeSantis and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga. — mentioned gender identity or sexuality negatively in their speeches, according to an NBC News analysis. DeSantis, for example, alleged that Democrats want to “impose gender ideology” on kindergartners.

Nearly 70% of public K-12 teachers who have been teaching for more than one year said topics related to sexual orientation and gender identity “rarely or never” come up in their classrooms, according to a recent poll from the Pew Research Center. Half of all teachers polled, including 62% of elementary school teachers, said elementary school students should not learn about gender identity in school.

Trump vowed last year that if he is re-elected he would abolish gender-affirming care for minors, which he equated to “child abuse” and “child sexual mutilation.” This year, Trump also said he would roll back Title IX protections for transgender students “on day one” of his potential second presidential administration.

His campaign website says he would, if he is re-elected, cut federal funding for schools that push “gender ideology on our children” and “keep men out of women’s sports.”

More broadly, Trump has promised to eliminate the Education Department, claiming that doing so would give states more authority over education.

During his first administration, Trump barred trans people from enlisting in the military — which he has vowed to do again if he is re-elected — and rolled back several antidiscrimination protections for LGBTQ people. 

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Here are the moderators of the presidential debate

“World News Tonight” anchor and managing editor David Muir and “World News Tonight” Sunday anchor and ABC News Live “Prime” anchor Linsey Davis will moderate the debate.

Muir joined ABC News in August 2003. Davis joined ABC News in June 2007.

Where and when is the presidential debate?

The first 2024 presidential debate between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris is set to be held at Philadelphia’s National Constitution Center in the battleground state of Pennsylvania on Tuesday, Sept. 10.

There will be no audience in the room.

The planned debate comes nearly three weeks after the conclusion of the 2024 Democratic National Convention, in which Harris formally accepted the party’s nomination after a turbulent month kickstarted by Biden’s withdrawal.

What time does it start and how can I watch?

The debate is scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. ET.

NBC News will broadcast the full debate live and offer extensive primetime coverage beginning at 8 p.m. ET.

NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt and TODAY co-anchor Savannah Guthrie will anchor a pre-debate primetime special starting at 8 p.m. ET on NBC, followed by a live presentation of the ABC News-hosted debate at 9 p.m. ET.

Holt and Guthrie will continue special coverage following the debate.

After a disastrous performance in the first general election debate of this cycle in June, President Joe Biden ended his reelection bid, upending the campaign in its closing months and kicking off the rapid-fire process that allowed Harris to rise as Democrats’ nominee in his place.

As was the case for the June debate, there will be no audience present.

Pennsylvania is perhaps the nation’s premier swing state, and both candidates have spent significant time campaigning across Pennsylvania. Trump was holding a rally in Butler, in western Pennsylvania, in mid-July when he was nearly assassinated by a gunman perched on a nearby rooftop. Harris chose Philadelphia as the spot where she unveiled Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate in August.

In 2020, it was Pennsylvania’s electoral votes that put Biden over the top and propelled him into the White House, four years after Trump won the state. Biden’s victory came after more than three days of uncertainty as election officials sorted through a surge of mail-in votes that delayed the processing of some ballots, and the Trump campaign mounted several legal challenges.

An estimated 51.3 million people watched Biden and Trump in June. But that was before many people were truly tuned into the election, and the potential rematch of the 2020 campaign was drawing little enthusiasm.

Tuesday’s debate will almost certainly reach more people, whether or not it approaches the record debate audience of 84 million for the first face-off between Hillary Clinton and Trump in 2016.

Here’s a look at what to expect:

When is the 2024 presidential debate?

The presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump takes place at 8 p.m. CT/9 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Sept. 10, at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.

The planned debate comes nearly three weeks after the conclusion of the 2024 Democratic National Convention, in which Harris formally accepted the party’s nomination after a turbulent month kickstarted by Biden’s withdrawal.

How to watch the presidential debate

NBC News will broadcast the full debate live and offering extensive primetime coverage beginning at 8 p.m. ET. You can watch it here on the News4 streaming channel.

NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt and TODAY co-anchor Savannah Guthrie will anchor a pre-debate primetime special starting at 8 p.m. ET on NBC, followed by a live presentation of the ABC News-hosted debate at 9 p.m. ET. Holt and Guthrie will continue special coverage following the debate. 

Viewers can watch the debate live on NBC4 or on the News4 streaming channel, which is available 24/7 and free of charge across nearly every online video platform, including The Roku Channel, Samsung TV Plus and the NBC News app on smartphones and smart TVs.

Will mics be on or off? Full list of debate rules

The parameters now in place for the Sept. 10 debate are essentially the same as they were for the June debate between Trump and President Joe Biden.

According to ABC News, the candidates will stand behind lecterns, will not make opening statements and will not be allowed to bring notes during the 90-minute debate. David Muir and Linsey Davis will moderate the event.

“Moderators will seek to enforce timing agreements and ensure a civilized discussion,” the network noted.

A Harris campaign official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss planning around the debate, said a candidate who repeatedly interrupts will receive a warning from a moderator, and both candidates’ microphones may be unmuted if there is significant crosstalk so the audience can understand what’s happening.

After a virtual coin flip held Tuesday and won by Trump, the GOP nominee opted to offer the final closing statement, while Harris chose the podium on the right side of viewers’ screens. There will be no audience, written notes or any topics or questions shared with campaigns or candidates in advance, the network said.

Here’s the full list of rules:

– The debate will be 90 minutes with two commercial breaks.

– The two seated moderators, David Muir and Linsey Davis, will be the only people asking questions.

– A coin flip was held virtually on Tuesday, Sept. 3, to determine podium placement and order of closing statements; former President Donald Trump won the coin toss and chose to select the order of statements. The former president will offer the last closing statement, and Vice President Harris selected the right podium position on screen (stage left).

– Candidates will be introduced by the moderators.

– The candidates enter upon introduction from opposite sides of the stage; the incumbent party will be introduced first.

– No opening statements; closing statements will be two minutes per candidate.

– Candidates will stand behind podiums for the duration of the debate.

– Props or prewritten notes are not allowed onstage.

– No topics or questions will be shared in advance with campaigns or candidates.

– Candidates will be given a pen, a pad of paper and a bottle of water.

– Candidates will have two-minute answers to questions, two-minute rebuttals, and one extra minute for follow-ups, clarifications, or responses.

– Candidates’ microphones will be live only for the candidate whose turn it is to speak and muted when the time belongs to another candidate.

– Candidates will not be permitted to ask questions of each other.

– Campaign staff may not interact with candidates during commercial breaks.

– Moderators will seek to enforce timing agreements and ensure a civilized discussion.

– There will be no audience in the room.

Are other debates planned?

Though the September debate is currently the only debate currently planned between Harris and Trump, Harris’ campaign said that a potential October debate was contingent on Trump attending the Sept. 10 debate.

In addition to the planned Harris-Trump debate on Sept. 10, vice presidential candidates Tim Walz and JD Vance also agreed to a debate, scheduled to be hosted by CBS News on Oct. 1.

When is Election Day?

Voters will officially head to the polls just over a month later Tuesday, Nov. 5, for Election Day, though early voting starts significantly earlier in many states.

Decision 2024 Sep 4

Trump and Harris campaigns agree to rules for ABC debate

They have just three weeks to do so. Funding for the government runs out at the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30, and former President Donald Trump is urging Republicans to force a shutdown unless certain demands are met, NBC News reports. A shutdown would close federal agencies and national parks, while limiting public services and furloughing millions of workers just weeks before the election.

The presidential race looms over the final stretch for Congress; it is expected to leave again at the end of the month and return after Election Day. When the House left town for its summer break on July 25, President Joe Biden had just dropped out of the presidential race, Democrats were preparing to pick Vice President Kamala Harris as their new standard bearer, and Republicans were rushing to draw up a new playbook against Harris.

House Republicans have now settled on some lines of attack, which they’ll highlight in politically charged GOP hearings and investigations into both Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, on issues from border security to the Afghanistan withdrawal.

Here’s what to expect during Congress’ final three-week sprint before it returns to the campaign trail in October.

Another shutdown threat

The single biggest task for Congress is to fund the government by the Sept. 30 deadline. It’s a foregone conclusion that lawmakers will need a stopgap bill to keep the government open past the election — they are nowhere close to agreement on a full-year funding measure. But the details and length of the bill are a source of consternation.

Under pressure from Trump and right-wing members, the Republican-led House released a stopgap bill that would keep money flowing through March 28 and tie it to the SAVE Act, a GOP-led bill to overhaul voting laws nationwide by requiring proof of citizenship to vote. Democrats oppose the latter measure, noting that it’s already illegal for noncitizens to vote, with hefty penalties that make the practice very rare. They also say it could deter Americans from voting, as many lack easy access to passports or birth certificates.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said House Republicans are “taking a critically important step to keep the federal government funded and to secure our federal election process.” But if the bill passes the House, it’s going nowhere in the Democratic-led Senate, and Johnson will have to decide whether to back off or hold firm, as the GOP risks being blamed for a shutdown as the party that instigated the standoff.

“If Speaker Johnson drives House Republicans down this highly partisan path, the odds of a shutdown go way up, and Americans will know that the responsibility of a shutdown will be on the House Republicans’ hands,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Patty Murray, D-Wash., said in a joint statement Friday after the release of the bill.

Also expiring on Sept. 30 is the farm bill for agriculture programs, which has already been punted once and is expected to be extended on a stopgap basis with a continuing resolution.

House GOP probes

After spending much of the 118th Congress focused on investigating Biden, House Republicans are now shifting their focus to Democrats’ new presidential ticket.

The House Education Committee subpoenaed Walz last week for information about how his administration responded to a large pandemic fraud scheme in Minnesota. While the committee has been investigating this issue since 2022 and had previously requested information from the state Education Department, this subpoena was the first outreach to Walz himself.

The House Oversight Committee, meanwhile, launched an investigation last month into contact Walz has had with Chinese Communist Party entities and officials, dating to the early 1990s, when Walz was a teacher leading student groups on educational trips to China.

Republicans are also focusing on the botched U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, which the Trump campaign has criticized Harris over. McCaul has threatened to hold Secretary of State Antony Blinken in contempt unless he agrees to testify about Afghanistan on Sept. 19.

House Republicans also have a full lineup of hearings this week focused on the “Biden-Harris administration.” There’s a Judiciary Committee hearing on “The Biden-Harris Border Crisis: Victim Perspectives.” An Energy and Commerce subcommittee is holding one called “From Gas to Groceries: Americans Pay the Price of the Biden-Harris Energy Agenda.” And the Veterans Affairs Committee has a hearing titled “Accountable or Absent?: Examining VA Leadership Under the Biden-Harris Administration.”

While the House committees conducting the impeachment investigation of Biden released a report in August saying that the president committed impeachable offenses, it’s unlikely the full House will attempt to vote to impeach the president given the GOP’s razor-thin majority and skepticism from some rank-and-file members. Johnson only thanked the committees and encouraged Americans to read the report in a statement at the time.

Democrats strike back

House Democrats have launched their own investigations into the GOP presidential nominee, Trump, though they lack subpoena power in the minority.

Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee, and Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., the top Democrat on the panel’s subcommittee for national security, the border and foreign affairs, sent a letter to Trump last week asking him to show proof he had never received any money from Egypt.

The top Democrats said they were probing a possible “$10 million cash bribe from Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi” to Trump’s 2016 campaign, after The Washington Post reported on Aug. 2 about a secret Justice Department probe into the alleged bribe; NBC News has not independently verified that report.

“Surely you would agree that the American people deserve to know whether a former president — and a current candidate for president— took an illegal campaign contribution from a brutal foreign dictator,” the Democrats wrote.

The Trump campaign responded by calling the story “fake news.”

In the Senate, Schumer has put members on notice that they will vote to confirm nominees and Biden-picked federal judges for the remainder of this year — including in the lame duck session after the election.

This story first appeared on NBCNews.com. More from NBC News:

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The most populous presidential swing state has sided with the winner of the past two elections, each time by just tens of thousands of votes. Polling this year suggests Pennsylvania will be close once more in November.

A loss in the state will make it difficult to make up the electoral votes elsewhere to win the presidency. Trump and Harris have been frequent visitors in recent days, and the former president was speaking in Butler County on July 14 when he was the target of an assassination attempt.

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The stakes may be especially high for Harris: No Democrat has won the White House without Pennsylvania since 1948.

Pennsylvanians broke a string of six Democratic victories in the state when they helped propel Trump to victory in 2016, then backed native son Joe Biden in the 2020 race against Trump.

“They say that ‘If you win Pennsylvania, you’re going to win the whole thing,’” Trump told a crowd in Wilkes-Barre’s Mohegan Arena in August.

Republicans are looking to blunt Trump’s unpopularity in Pennsylvania’s growing and increasingly liberal suburbs by criticizing the Biden administration’s handling of the economy. They hope to counter the Democrats’ massive advantage in early voting by encouraging their base to vote by mail.

Harris is looking to reassemble the coalition behind Biden’s winning campaign, including college students, Black voters and women animated by protecting abortion rights.

Democrats also say it will be critical for Harris to win big in Philadelphia — the state’s largest city, where Black residents are the largest group by race — and its suburbs, while paring Trump’s large margins among white voters across wide swaths of rural and small-town Pennsylvania.

The debate is set for the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. The city is a Democratic stronghold where Trump in 2020 notoriously said “ bad things happen,” one of his baseless broadsides suggesting that Democrats could only win Pennsylvania by cheating.

Biden flipped Pennsylvania in 2020 not just by winning big in Philadelphia, but by running up bigger margins in the heavily populated suburbs around Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. He also got a boost in northeastern Pennsylvania in the counties around Scranton, where he grew up.

Ed Rendell, a former two-term Democratic governor who was hugely popular in Philadelphia and its suburbs, says Harris can do better than Biden in the suburbs.

“There’s plenty of votes to get, a Democrat can get a greater margin in those counties,” Rendell said.

Lawrence Tabas, chair of Pennsylvania’s Republican Party, said Trump can make gains there, too. The GOP’s polling and outreach shows that the effect of inflation on the economy is a priority for those suburbanites, he said, and that the issue works in the party’s favor.

“A lot of people are really now starting to say, ‘Look, personalities aside, they are what they are, but we really need the American economy to become strong again,’” Tabas said.

Rendell dismisses that claim. He said Trump is veering off script and saying bizarre things that will ensure he gets a smaller share of independents and Republicans in the suburbs than he did in 2020.

“He’s gotten so weird that he’ll lose a lot of votes,” Rendell said.

Harris has championed various steps to fight inflation, including capping the cost of prescription drugs, helping families afford child care, lowering the cost of groceries and offering incentives to encourage home ownership.

Pennsylvania’s relatively stagnant economy usually lags the national economy, but its unemployment rate in July was nearly a full percentage point lower. The state’s private sector wage growth, however, has slightly lagged behind the nation’s since Biden took office in 2021, according to federal data.

Meanwhile, Democrats are hoping the enthusiasm since Biden withdrew from the race and Harris stepped in will carry through Election Day in November.

For one, they hope she will do better with women and Black voters, as the first female presidential nominee of Black heritage. Rendell said he is more optimistic about Harris’ chances to win Pennsylvania than he was with Biden in the race.

“I think we’re the favorite now,” Rendell said.

The debate takes place before voting starts — in Pennsylvania and everywhere else.

A national Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research survey conducted in July showed that about 8 in 10 Democrats said they would be satisfied with Harris as the party’s nominee compared with 4 in 10 Democrats in March saying they would be satisfied with Biden as the candidate.

There is some optimism among Pennsylvania Democrats even in Republican-leaning counties, including a number of whiter, less affluent counties near Pittsburgh and Scranton that once voted for Democrats consistently.

In Washington County, just outside Pittsburgh in the heart of the state’s natural gas-producing region, Larry Maggi, a Democratic county commissioner, thinks she will outrun Biden there.

Maggi is seeing more lawn signs for Harris than he ever saw for Biden, as well as more volunteers, many of whom are young women concerned about protecting abortion rights.

“I’ve been doing this for 25 years and I’m seeing people I’ve never seen,” Maggi said.

Democrats also hope there is a growing number of voters like Ray Robbins, a retired FBI agent and registered independent, who regrets voting for Trump in 2016. Robbins did so, he said, because he thought a businessperson could break congressional deadlock.

“He’s a liar,” Robbins said. “I think he’s totally devoid of any morals whatsoever. And you can quote me: I think he’s a despicable human being even though I voted for him.”

But Republicans have reason to be optimistic, too.

In the nation’s No. 2 gas-producing state, even Democrats acknowledge that Harris’ prior support for a fracking ban in her run for the 2020 nomination could prove costly. In this campaign, the vice president said the nation can achieve its clean energy goals without a ban, though Trump insists she will reverse course again.

Meanwhile, the Democratic advantage in the state’s voter registration rolls has steadily shrunk since 2008, from 1.2 million to about 350,000 now.

Republicans credit their outreach to younger voters, as well as Black, Asian and Hispanic voters.

“A lot of them tell us it’s the economy,” Tabas said. “And in Philly, it’s also the crime and safety in the neighborhoods and communities.”

Those gains have yet to translate into GOP wins as Democrats have beaten Republicans by more than 2-to-1 in statewide contests the past decade.

Daniel Hopkins, a political science professor at the University of Pennsylvania, chalks up the narrowing registration gap, in part, to “Reagan Democrats” who have long voted for Republicans, but did not change their registration right away.

One of those voters is Larry Mitko, a longtime Democrat-turned-Republican who lives in a Pittsburgh suburb.

Mitko, 74, voted for Trump in 2016 and Biden in 2020, and was leaning toward voting for Trump in 2024 because of inflation and Biden’s handling of the economy before Biden exited the race.

That is when Mitko became sure he would vote for Trump.

“I don’t like the fact of how they lied to us telling us, ‘He’s OK, he’s OK,’ and he can’t walk up the steps, he can’t finish a sentence without forgetting what he’s talking about,” Mitko said of Biden.

Harris’ late entry into the race could mean that many voters are still learning about her, said Kathleen Hall Jamieson, a University of Pennsylvania professor of communication who researches presidential debates.

More voters than usual may not be locked into a decision even as voting looms, Jamieson said, so this debate could make a difference.

The threat was issued in a post on Truth Social, his social media website, and repeated his false claims that the 2020 election was stolen, accusing Democrats of “rampant Cheating and Skullduggery.”

“The 2024 Election, where Votes have just started being cast, will be under the closest professional scrutiny and, WHEN I WIN, those people that CHEATED will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the Law, which will include long term prison sentences so that this Depravity of Justice does not happen again,” he wrote.

He continued, “Please beware that this legal exposure extends to Lawyers, Political Operatives, Donors, Illegal Voters, & Corrupt Election Officials. Those involved in unscrupulous behavior will be sought out, caught, and prosecuted at levels, unfortunately, never seen before in our Country.”

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The threat was one of the most wide-ranging that he’s made while running for president after his 2020 defeat — going beyond threatening old foes and issuing warnings to those involved with the current election.

While he spent much of the 2016 campaign threatening to jail his opponent Hillary Clinton, he tends not to go after people on the periphery, like donors and election workers.

Election workers across the country have been subject to threats, most famously Ruby Freeman and her daughter Shaye Moss, two election workers whose entire lives were uprooted when Trump and his allies targeted them after the 2020 election with false accusations of fraud.

In the lead-up to the 2020 election, Trump began making baseless warnings of election interference that grew louder after he lost and culminated in a mob attacking the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 in an attempt to block certification of Biden’s election. He’s begun making similar statements ahead of the 2024 election.

He also emphasized the GOP’s focus on election integrity this cycle during a speech Saturday in Wisconsin, suggesting that if Republicans stop Democrats from cheating, he does not need to continue campaigning. 

“We gotta stop the cheating. If we stop that cheating, if we don’t let them cheat, I don’t even have to campaign anymore,” Trump said. “We’re going to win by so much. In the meantime, too big to rig, too big to rig.”

Trump and his allies filed dozens of unsuccessful cases after the 2020 election in an attempt to overturn the results. Some Democrats say that Republicans’ new legal fights in battleground states ahead of the November election raise concerns that Republicans are attempting to sow seeds doubts about the result if Donald Trump loses.

A spokesperson for the Trump campaign could not immediately be reached on Saturday night to provide additional context regarding Trump’s plan.

This article first appeared on NBCNews.com. Read more from NBC News here:

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On Saturday, they took their campaign against the conservative Project 2025 blueprint, written by allies of Republican Donald Trump, to the sky above college football stadiums in key swing states.

Democratic National Committee -sponsored banners pulled by small airplanes flew Saturday over Michigan Stadium, where the defending national champion Wolverines lost to Texas, and at home games for Penn State and Wisconsin. A banner set to fly over Georgia’s home game was grounded due to weather.

Vice President Kamala Harris and her allies have spent months warning about Project 2025, betting that the initiative makes Trump seem especially extreme. More than 900 pages and produced by the conservative Heritage Foundation, the plan lays out how Trump in his second term might do everything from firing tens of thousands of federal workers to abolishing government departments to imposing new restrictions on abortion and diversity initiatives.

Trump has rejected a direct connection to Project 2025, though he’s also endorsed some of its key ideas.

Saturday’s gambit aimed to put Democratic messaging over stadiums with a total capacity of 380,000-plus, with tens of thousands of fans more in the vicinity of each game.

“JD Vance ‘hearts’ Ohio State + Project 2025,” read the message going over Michigan Stadium, suggesting Trump’s running mate loves the project as much as he famously does Michigan’s hated archrival.

In Wisconsin, which hosted South Dakota, the message was “Jump Around! Beat Trump + Project 2025,” a nod to fans jumping with enough ferocity to shake Camp Randall Stadium when House of Pain’s “Jump Around” plays between the third and fourth quarters.

Penn State’s Bowling Green matchup got more general messages urging fans to “Beat Trump, Sack Project 2025.

Banners started flying around four hours before each kickoff, said DNC deputy communications director Abhi Rahman. The Trump campaign did not answer a message Saturday seeking comment.

Harris’ campaign and party bring up Project 2025 multiple times each day, often unprompted.

The DNC marked Labor Day by arguing that Project 2025 would undermine overtime rules and “hard-fought” worker rights. It also paid for internet ads on the initiative that flashed up for users searching “back to school.” Democrats have further pointed to Project 2025 in seemingly incongruous places, while highlighting Vance getting booed at a recent firefighters convention or slamming Trump for laying into his perceived political enemies in online posts.

“We want people to know exactly what Project 2025 is, what the ties are to Trump,” Rahman said. “Finding creative avenues to get the message out is something that we’re always trying to do.”

Democratic strategist Brad Bannon warned that Harris’ focus on Project 2025 “can’t overwhelm her positive message about the changes she wants to make.”

“She can’t afford to go overboard,” he said, “if it interferes with her establishing her own personal profile.”

A large portion of Saturday’s game crowds, meanwhile, may support Trump. Many college football fans hail from rural, more Republican areas, well beyond the confines of reliably Democratic college towns.

“One of the really interesting things when political candidates try to leverage sports is that they’re putting themselves at risk,” said Amy Bass, who is a professor of sport studies at Manhattanville University in Purchase, New York.

She pointed to Trump being surprised to get booed while attending Game 5 of the 2019 World Series — though the former president also made largely successful stops at tailgates before the Iowa-Iowa State football game in 2023 and when South Carolina hosted Clemson after last Thanksgiving.

Sports crowds have “a propensity to get loud, also have the added layer of alcohol and tailgating and all kinds of things pregame, and they haven’t curated that crowd,” Bass said.

Rahman, though, shrugged off such concerns.

“They can get rowdy all they want at a banner,” he said. “But the message is definitely there. It’s there for a reason.”

They told her that Donald Trump had been posting on social media about a false and racist rumor that Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, were eating people’s pets. The former president might mention it during the debate, they said.

The warning, described by two people with knowledge of the conversation, proved spot on.

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While answering a question about immigration policy, Trump said migrants in Springfield were “eating the dogs” and “they’re eating the cats.” Harris laughed, shook her head and stared at her Republican opponent in amazement. “Talk about extreme,” she said, and then moved on.

It was easily the most bizarre moment from last week’s debate, spawning an explosion of online memes and parody videos. Now, Harris is trying to use her performance as an ongoing source of momentum, hoping to rekindle the kind of energy that she generated when she replaced President Joe Biden at the top of the Democratic ticket.

It is unclear whether the debate will affect the outcome of the Nov. 5 election. In a flash poll of viewers conducted by CNN afterward, opinions of Trump were unchanged and Harris received only a slight bump in the share of people who view her favorably. But her team is making the most of it, turning key points into television advertisements and flooding the internet with clips. No equivalent effort is apparent from Trump’s side, despite his repeated insistence that he came out on top.

There almost certainly will not be another debate; Trump has said he will not do one. That means the debate at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia may be the only chance that voters will have to see the candidates side by side.

This story is based on interviews with five people close to Harris, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe private conversations and reveal new details about how she prepared for and handled the debate. It was her first time meeting Trump in person.

Harris spent five days getting ready at a hotel in downtown Pittsburgh after a breakneck few weeks of campaigning.

Her team recreated the set where she would debate Trump on the night of Sept. 10. It was a far more professional setup than Harris had used eight years earlier as she was running for Senate in California, when campaign staff taped together cardboard boxes to serve as makeshift lecterns.

Two communications aides — one man, one woman — stood in for David Muir and Linsey Davis, the ABC News debate moderators.

Philippe Reines, a longtime aide to Hillary Clinton, reprised his role as Trump, which he played when the former secretary of state ran for president. Reines wore a dark suit, a long red tie and orange bronzer to embody Trump.

One challenge would be the microphones.

When Biden was running, his team agreed that the debate microphones should be muted when it was not a candidate’s turn to speak. But Harris’ staff wanted the microphones hot at all times, which would allow her to jump in and create more opportunities for Trump to make outbursts.

But their campaign could not reach an agreement to change the rules, and the original plan remained in place.

Harris decided to make the most of the split screen format, where each candidate would be on camera at all times. Biden had flubbed the visual test when he debated Trump in June, often looking aimless with his mouth slightly agape. Harris provided silent commentary through her expressiveness — laughing, raising her eyebrows, bringing her hand to her chin with a quizzical look.

At one point during preparations, staff members suggested practicing mannerisms that Harris could use. The vice president waved them off, saying she would be fine without that kind of rehearsal.

Harris rarely left the hotel during preparations. On Sept. 7, she took a field trip to Penzeys Spices, where she picked up some seasoning mixes. One woman in the store wept as Harris hugged her. On Sept. 8, Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, went to a military airbase and took a walk for about a half hour. Because of security considerations, the tarmac was the only place where they could stretch their legs.

Asked if she was ready for the debate, Harris gave reporters a thumb’s up and said “ready.”

She ended up leaving Pittsburgh on Sept. 9 rather than the day of the debate, canceling an extra mock debate and getting to Philadelphia earlier than expected.

As the clock ticked down to the start of the debate, dozens of staff members in the campaign’s Delaware headquarters assembled in assigned seats in front of four television screens. Some were nervous, still rattled from watching Biden implode in his own debate with Trump.

But Harris’ opening move, striding toward Trump to shake his hand as they took the stage, helped ease those jitters.

Throughout the debate, Harris mocked and needled Trump, throwing him off balance with jabs about the size of crowds at his campaign rallies. She pounced on questions about abortion and promised the country a new generation of leadership, while Trump became increasingly agitated and missed opportunities to press his case against her.

During the final commercial break, Trump departed the stage with a sigh. Harris stayed at her lectern, writing on her notepad, reviewing her words and taking a sip of water.

In her closing statement, she told viewers that “I think you’ve heard tonight two very different visions for our country — one that is focused on the future and the other that is focused on the past.”

Trump ended his remarks by calling Harris “the worst vice president in the history of our country.”

There was no live audience in the room to react to the candidates, and it was not always clear whether certain lines or expressions were hitting their marks.

So when Harris left the stage, she had a question for her staff: How did I do?

In 2013, Jackson Jr. pleaded guilty to conspiring with his then-wife, Sandi Jackson, to illegally use $750,000 in campaign funds for personal purposes. He was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison and served about half of that term behind bars before being released to a halfway house in March 2015 to finish the sentence.

“We worked with him on a regular basis. His concern and care for his constituents’ needs were always present,” the mayors of South Chicago suburbs wrote. “Like you, we also make decisions that affect people in their everyday life. Oftentimes we must reflect upon ‘never judging a man based on his worst day.’ We believe that Congressman Jackson has better days ahead.”

The push for a pardon comes the day after Biden’s son, Hunter, pleaded guilty to federal tax charges. Earlier this year, the younger Biden was convicted on three counts related to his illegal purchase of a handgun. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Thursday that the president remains committed to his promise not to pardon his son.

The White House declined to comment on the mayors’ request that Biden pardon Jackson Jr.

This is not the first time elected officials have appealed to Biden on Jackson Jr.’s behalf. Several members of Congress — including Jackson Jr.’s successor, Rep. Robin Kelly, D-Ill. — have encouraged the president in recent years to use his pardon power to help the former lawmaker. So has Jackson Jr.’s father.

The 82-year-old Reverend Jesse Jackson, who is battling Parkinson’s Disease, appeared on stage in a wheelchair at the Democratic convention Aug. 19. Surrounded by fellow civil rights leaders, he received a long standing ovation.

Biden issued blanket pardons for certain marijuana offenses in 2022 and 2023, moves that together affected thousands of people who were convicted on drug-related charges. Outside of that, he has been sparing in his use of the constitutional power to grant pardons.

The Justice Department lists 25 people who were pardoned by Biden since he took office in January 2021. Donald Trump pardoned more than 140 people, including former members of Congress, political allies and Charles Kushner, the father of his son-in-law. Presidents often issue bursts of pardons in their final days in office, and most of Trump’s were granted between his November 2020 defeat and his departure from the White House a little more than two months later.

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The GOP presidential nominee’s full response fell short of offering a coherent vision or policy for how he’d address child care needs, as he pivoted to promoting his proposed tariffs on imported goods to the U.S. and touting the revenue they would bring in.

Asked if he would “commit to prioritizing legislation to make child care affordable” and “what specific piece of legislation” he would support during a Q&A session at the Economic Club of New York Thursday, Trump said:

“Well, I would do that, and we’re sitting down. You know, I was somebody — we had, Senator Marco Rubio, and my daughter Ivanka, was so impactful on that issue. It’s a very important issue.

“But I think when you talk about the kind of numbers that I’m talking about — that, because look, child care is child care, couldn’t — you know, there’s something — you have to have it in this country. You have to have it. But when you talk about those numbers, compared to the kind of numbers that I’m talking about by taxing foreign nations at levels that they’re not used to. But they’ll get used to it very quickly. And it’s not going to stop them from doing business with us. But they’ll have a very substantial tax when they send product into our country. Those numbers are so much bigger than any numbers that we’re talking about, including child care, that it’s going to take care. We’re going to have — I look forward to having no deficits within a fairly short period of time, coupled with the reductions that I told you about on waste and fraud and all of the other things that are going on in our country.

“Because I have to stay with child care. I want to stay with child care. But those numbers are small relative to the kind of economic numbers that I’m talking about, including growth, but growth also headed up by what the plan is that I just — that I just told you about. We’re going to be taking in trillions of dollars. And as much as child care is talked about as being expensive, it’s, relatively speaking, not very expensive compared to the kind of numbers will be taking in.

“We’re going to make this into an incredible country that can afford to take care of its people. And then we’ll worry about the rest of the world. Let’s help other people. But we’re going to take care of our country first. This is about America first. It’s about make America great again. We have to do it because right now, we’re a failing nation. So we’ll take care of it. Thank you. Very good question. Thank you.”

Trump’s response went viral online after the clip and transcript were shared, sparking criticism from the campaign of Democratic presidential rival Kamala Harris and leaving policy experts across the ideological spectrum baffled.

“Somewhere in that incoherent word salad was a claim that the proposed tariffs could both balance the budget and pay for free child care across the country, which is of course mathematically absurd,” said Brian Riedl, an economic policy expert with the conservative Manhattan Institute and a former policy adviser to prominent Republicans. “Trump sounded like the student who hadn’t studied for the test and was making up numbers.”

The Harris campaign responded by attacking Trump’s tariffs while highlighting her proposals to expand the child tax credit.

“Billionaire-bought Donald Trump’s ‘plan’ for making child care more affordable is to impose a $3,900 tax hike on middle class families,” Harris campaign spokesperson Joseph Costello said, citing estimates from two think tanks on the impact of Trump’s tariff plan. “The American people deserve a President who will actually cut costs for them, like Vice President Harris’ plan to bring back a $3,600 Child Tax Credit for working families and an expanded $6,000 tax cut for families with newborn children.”

The Harris proposal is less aggressive than what the Biden White House has endorsed for families with children, which includes capping child care expenses for the middle class at 7% of income, as well as universal preschool. The Harris campaign didn’t respond when asked if she’d push for those provisions if elected president.

White House spokesperson Andrew Bates mocked Trump’s answer during a Friday interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”

“If you have any idea what the hell that answer means, you’re a better detective than I am,” Bates said, before citing analyses by nonpartisan experts that Trump’s tariffs would limit economic growth.

Reshma Saujani, who asked Trump the child care question at the Economic Club of New York, told NBC News after the event that the former president’s answer “kind of blew my mind.”

“He basically said that child care was not that expensive or that tariffs would solve it,” said Saujani, who is a member of the board and said the club had invited her to ask Trump a question. “That demonstrates to me how out of touch he really is. If you’re talking to parents and moms and families on the campaign trail, they’re talking about child care and the cost of it.”

In her question to Trump, Saujani, a founder of the groups Moms First and Girls Who Code, cited statistics showing that child care costs a total of $122 billion a year and described it as “one of the most urgent economic issues facing our country.”

She asked him to mention a specific piece of legislation he would advance to address the problem.

Trump did not answer her directly. Instead, he talked about the amount of money that would come into the U.S. through tariffs on foreign countries. He seemed to be suggesting that those sums could more than pay for child care needs, although he did not outline a plan for how the government should cover them.

For her part, Saujani believes Trump was making a different point that she called “shocking”: that the cost of child care is not that a big problem for the U.S. when compared to the sums involved in tariff collection.

Asked to clarify his response, Trump spokesperson Karoline Leavitt replied: “President Trump’s first-term economic policies uplifted families by putting more money in our pockets, while making expanded access to childcare and paid family leave top priorities in his Administration. Now in Kamala Harris’ America, hardworking families are struggling to buy basic groceries, diapers, and baby formula for their children. President Trump will make America strong, safe, and prosperous again for struggling American families when he returns to the White House.”

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During the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Mallory McMorrow, a 37-year-old state senator from Michigan, brought out a giant copy of the roughly 900-page “Mandate for Leadership” and slammed it on the lectern, making an expression to signal how heavy it was as she opened to start reading.

“They went ahead and wrote down all the extreme things that Donald Trump wants to do in the next four years,” McMorrow said from the stage. “We read it.”

The lengthy plan drafted by conservatives serves as a blueprint to remake the federal government in a second Trump administration. The former president, meanwhile, has tried to distance himself from Project 2025, claiming he doesn’t know anything about has “no idea who is in charge of it, and, unlike our very well received Republican Platform, had nothing to do with it.”

However, many of Trump’s key allies and former administration officials are writers and architects of Project 2025.

“Don’t believe it when (Trump’s) playing dumb about this Project 2025. He knows exactly what it’ll do,” Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said Aug. 9 at a campaign event in Glendale, Arizona.

Here’s what to know about Project 2025:

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What is Project 2025?

Led by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, Project 2025 is a detailed, 920-page handbook for governing under the next Republican administration.

The document outlines a dramatic expansion of presidential power. The overarching theme of Project 2025 is to strip down the “administrative state.” This, according to the blueprint, is the mass of unelected government officials who pursue policy agendas at odds with the president’s plans.

Much of the new president’s agenda would be accomplished by reinstating what’s called Schedule F — a Trump-era executive order that would reclassify tens of thousands of federal employees as essentially at-will workers who could more easily be fired and replaced by Trump loyalists.

It calls for the U.S. Education Department to be shuttered, and the Homeland Security Department dismantled, with its various parts absorbed by other federal offices.

There’s a “top to bottom overhaul” of the Department of Justice, particularly curbing its independence and ending FBI efforts to combat the spread of misinformation

The plan says the Department of Health and Human Services should “pursue a robust agenda” to protect “the fundamental right to life,” and the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of medications used in abortions should be reversed. It also calls for reviving a 19th century law, the Comstock Act, to ban any abortion medications, equipment, or materials from being sent through the U.S. Postal Service.

Diversity, inclusion and equity programs would be gutted. Promotions in the U.S. military to general or admiral would go under a microscope to ensure candidates haven’t prioritized issues like climate change or critical race theory.

On immigration, proposals include targeted raids on immigrant communities for mass deportations, ending birthright citizenship and reversing the Flores settlement to make way for family separation. It also proposes restricting legal immigration by doing away with many of the programs that offer immigrants a pathway to citizenship, including work and student visas, DACA, family-based immigration, TPS and visas for victims of crime and human trafficking.

While presidents typically rely on Congress to put policies into place, the Heritage project leans into what legal scholars refer to as a unitary view of executive power that suggests the president has broad authority to act alone.

To push past senators who try to block presidential Cabinet nominees, Project 2025 proposes installing top allies in acting administrative roles, as was done during the Trump administration to bypass the Senate confirmation process.

John McEntee, another former Trump official advising the effort, said the next administration can “play hardball a little more than we did with Congress.”

In fact, Congress would see its role diminished — for example, with a proposal to eliminate congressional notification on certain foreign arms sales.

Who is behind Project 2025?

Some of the people involved in Project 2025 are former senior administration officials with deep GOP ties. The project’s former director, Paul Dans, served as chief of staff at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management under Trump. Dans stepped down from the role in July after the project “completed exactly what it set out to do: bringing together over 110 leading conservative organizations to create a unified conservative vision, motivated to devolve power from the unelected administrative state, and returning it to the people,” Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts said in a statement.

Trump’s former White House budget chief, Russell Vought, was a key architect of the plan and was also appointed to the Republican National Committee’s platform writing committee. Vought is likely to be appointed to a high-ranking post in a second Trump administration. And he’s been drafting a so-far secret “180-Day Transition Playbook” to speed the plan’s implementation to avoid a repeat of the chaotic start that dogged Trump’s first term.

John McEntee, a former director of the White House Presidential Personnel Office in the Trump administration, was a senior adviser. McEntee told the conservative news site The Daily Wire earlier this year that Project 2025’s team would integrate a lot of its work with the campaign after the summer when Trump would announce his transition team.

More than a hundred conservative organizations have contributed to the project, recruiting an “army” of Americans to go to Washington and “flood the zone with conservatives” if Republicans took back the White House.

What does Trump say about Project 2025?

Trump has tried to distance himself from Project 2025 and has denied knowing who is behind the plan.

Yet he spoke highly about the group’s plans at a dinner sponsored by the Heritage Foundation in April 2022, saying: “This is a great group, and they’re going to lay the groundwork and detail plans for exactly what our movement will do and what your movement will do when the American people give us a colossal mandate to save America.”

Trump’s recent attempts to reject the blueprint are complicated by the connections he has with many of its contributors.

The decision to make Ohio Sen. JD Vance his running mate was taken by some as one more connection to Project 2025. Heritage’s President Kevin Roberts has said he’s good friends with Vance and that the Heritage Foundation had been privately rooting for him to be the VP pick.

Vance penned the foreword to Roberts’ own new book, which was set to be out in September but has now been postponed as Project 2025 hits turmoil. Roberts is holding off the release of his potentially fiery new book until after the November presidential election.

Stephen Miller, a former Trump White House adviser who now runs America First Legal, has also been closely involved. Miller has also sought to distance himself, insisting in a statement to NBC News that he’s “never been involved with Project 2025.”

Democrats for months have been using Project 2025 to hammer Trump and other Republicans, arguing to voters that it represents the former president’s true — and extreme — agenda.