Former President Donald Trump's advisers may have publicly insisted he doesn't need any debate prep, but the former president is preparing more than he's letting on, sources tell ABC News.Trump is holding informal policy sessions with a small team of advisers, including GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz and former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who once challenged Vice President Kamala Harris on the debate stage in 2019, the sources said.Gaetz has been firing questions at Trump around some of the more challenging issues, such as his legal troubles, including his federal indictments on election interference and retaining classified documents, criminal conviction in the New York hush-money case and stance on abortion, according to the sources.Two people familiar with Trump's preparation also told ABC News that Trump has been briefed on Harris' past debates, including the headline-making moment when she hit back at former Vice President Mike Pence with the words, "Mr. Vice President, I’m speaking." That exchange went viral then, and Trump has privately told his allies he won't let that happen to him.Sources told ABC News that Trump's recent press address on Friday has left some on the GOP side with pre-debate concerns.While Trump has continued with his campaign schedule, his movements on Friday puzzled some Republicans. Trump, following his appeal of the $5 million a federal jury awarded writer E. Jean Carroll after finding him liable for sexually assaulting and defaming her, came before the cameras rattling off -- in often vivid detail -- the accusations of sexual misconduct from multiple women over the years. All of which he has denied.Meanwhile, as ABC News previously reported, Harris has been engaged in traditional debate prep in Pittsburgh.The cameras caught her in the city on Sunday on a walk with second gentleman, Doug Emhoff. But, she ignored two shouted questions on Trump's claims that he’ll jail his political opponents and how she plans to respond to personal attacks from Trump on the debate stage.On Saturday, Trump posted on TruthSocial, writing, "… 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."Trump's false claims of election fraud in the 2020 election have continually been disproven.Harris, on Sunday, did respond to a third question shouted at her by the media about whether she was ready by echoing, "ready," and giving a thumbs up before disappearing around the side of a building.In related news, Trump's running mate, Sen. JD Vance, will appear in the spin room following the debate, ABC News has confirmed.The ABC News presidential debate will take place on Sept. 10 at 9 p.m. ET and air on ABC and stream on ABC News Live, Disney+ and Hulu.Source: https://abcnews.go.com/

Former Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., a once-rising star in the GOP who fell out with her party over her criticism of Donald Trump, slammed the former president as an "unrecoverable catastrophe" in her call for other Republicans to vote against him this year."We see it on a daily basis, somebody who was willing to use violence in order to attempt to seize power, to stay in power, someone who represents unrecoverable catastrophe, frankly, in my view, and we have to do everything possible to ensure that he's not reelected," Cheney told "This Week" co-anchor Jonathan Karl."You have many Republicans out there who are saying, 'Well, you know, we're not going to vote for him, but we will write someone else in.' And I think that this time around, that's not enough, that it's important to actually cast a vote for Vice President Harris," Cheney added.This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.Source: https://abcnews.go.com/

Tuesday's presidential debate marks a rare historical moment in that it pits against each other two candidates with significant track records in the White House.That "political baggage" can be a curse for the candidates, according to experts who've studied debates, but also a blessing, depending on how it's portrayed and defended.When they square off in the ABC News debate in Philadelphia, both Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump will need to walk a fine line between affirming what they consider their successes during their administrations. And in Harris' case, that includes both supporting -- and separating herself -- from President Joe Biden's record, while also offering what she calls a "new way forward.""The question the candidates face is how much credit do you take and what effects will that have on gaining more votes from undecideds," Kathleen Hall Jamieson, the director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania told ABC News.The history of sitting VPs on the debate stageThis will mark only the fourth election cycle that a sitting vice president will take part in a presidential debate.Aaron Kall, director of the University of Michigan's Debate Program, told ABC News that in all of those previous cases, while the vice president was a candidate at the top of the ticket following very successful two-term presidents, it didn't guarantee victory.Only one of those sitting vice presidents, George H.W. Bush, went on to win the White House.The ABC News presidential debate will take place on Sept. 10 at 9 p.m. ET and air on ABC and stream on ABC News Live, Disney+ and Hulu."Some of the reasons incumbent vice presidents have tough times is because when it's three terms in a row of the same party, voters get fickle with that and want change," Kall said.Kall said that vice presidents have to toe the line between repeating the rhetoric and plans that the incumbent has set forth and laying a foundation for their own vision.Experts cited Vice President Al Gore's 2000 campaign as a prime example of that struggle -- and how that strategy can backfire.Gore went into the election in the aftermath of President Bill Clinton's Monica Lewinsky scandal and aimed to distance himself from that by focusing less on Clinton's record, according to Jamieson.The problem was that despite the scandal, Clinton's policies and record, especially when it came to the economy, were well-liked by voters and Gore failed to acknowledge that or run his campaign by capitalizing on that, Jamieson said."Gore might have been elected president had he not run away from the Clinton record," she said.Harris faces opportunity, risksAfter Harris assumed the lead of the Democratic presidential ticket in July, she inherited a host of advantages and risks going into her first matchup against Trump, according to the experts.For starters, she is running in the rare occasion where a sitting president declined to run for a second term and does not have the near decade of standing that other sitting vice presidents had when they ran for office, according to Kall and Jamieson.Although Biden's approval ratings were low prior to his exiting the race, many of his policies and actions were popular among Americans, according to Kall. Harris has already taken advantage of that by touting the success on the campaign trail such as the bipartisan infrastructure bill and the CHIPs bill.She campaigned with Biden on Labor Day touting the administration's pro-labor policies.At the same time, Harris has to deal with the shortcomings faced by the administration such as tackling rising prices and the immigration issue, according to experts. Harris has begun to address those concerns by presenting her own policy differences, such as her proposed change to a Biden plan that would tax capital gains at a lower rate than he proposed."She doesn't want to say she wants to continue the same policies as Biden, she needs to look forward to the future and set her own voice," Hall said. "She'll likely be preparing her debate in a similar way."Kall noted that Harris also has the bigger advantage on her side: the split-screen with her older opponent. Biden took a major hit during the last debate because he appeared to be less tuned-in to the questioning, which gave weight to critics who contended the president was not fit for office.Harris, who is 17 years younger than Trump, will likely try to use Trump's age to her advantage."Being of a younger age, being of a different generation, and her personal backstory … all of those things will allow her to keep her distance from both Trump and Biden on stage," he said.Kall noted that the last-minute change to the ticket gave Harris' campaign less time to prepare for the debate, and, more importantly, less time to follow up on any mistakes or successes from the matchup."Timing is a premium and here because Harris is less defined and not present in this situation, how she does in those 90 minutes will show people how she can handle the job," he said.Trump has to contend with his recordTrump is one of the few former presidents to run for re-election after being voted out. Grover Cleveland is the only president to win a second term in office after losing his bid for re-election in 1888.Since the start of the 2024 campaign, Trump has been touting his record during his time in office while also going on the attack against Biden, Harris and the Democrats.Jamieson said Trump's argument is similar to the often-repeated question "Are you better off than you were four years ago?" however, that question isn't necessarily a boon for either side."The Democrats want you to remember the pandemic and Republicans want you to remember the economy. And in both cases there are reasons to vilify the candidates on their past," she said.The former president is coming into Tuesday's debate with more experience than Harris, as he has taken the presidential debate stage six times over the last eight years. Harris has not been in a debate since the 2019 Democratic primary.Trump has continually bashed Biden and Harris over the administration's handling of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 and rising prices throughout his campaign stops, including a controversial visit to Arlington National Cemetery last month."A lot of Trump's debate performances have been similar to his rallies so I expect Afghanistan to come up in the next debate," she said.Kall also predicted that Trump would bring up Biden and try to make voters believe that he and Harris are fully aligned in their policies."I think he'd prefer that he'd debate Biden a second time, but harping too much could turn off independents who want to move on," he said.Trump's record has the most baggage of the two candidates from his two impeachments, the criminal conviction in New York and three outstanding indictments supersede any of his actions while in office, Jamieson said."There are some legacies that are carrying through and Trump is going to bring them in," she said. "The issue is how much that is brought up in the debate and how voters view his responses."Ultimately, the experts said, the issue over the candidates' White House records will matter most to the key group of undecided most looking at the demeanor and how they handle policies that matter to them the most."The election is going to be close and those undecided voters in the handful of states will be key states," Hall reiterated. "They all certainly know Trump and Harris' past but they're going to be focused on what they will do going forward."Source: https://abcnews.go.com/

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the presidential debate Tuesday between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump is more important for Harris than Trump.“I think this is actually a much more important night for her because it's so rare that we hear from her, that we hear her take questions or that we know anything that she actually stands for,” Sanders told “This Week” co-anchor Jonathan Karl on Sunday.The ABC News presidential debate will take place on Sept. 10 at 9 p.m. ET and air on ABC and stream on ABC News Live, Disney+ and Hulu.This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.Source: https://abcnews.go.com/

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, a close ally of former President Donald Trump, argued the presidential debate Tuesday between Vice President Kamala Harris and the Republican nominee is more important for Harris than Trump, who has participated in six general election debates across three cycles."I think this is actually a much more important night for her because it's so rare that we hear from her, that we hear her take questions, or that we know anything that she actually stands for," Sanders told “This Week” co-anchor Jonathan Karl on Sunday.The ABC News presidential debate will take place on Sept. 10 at 9 p.m. ET and air on ABC and stream on ABC News Live, Disney+ and Hulu. The prime time event comes less than two months after President Joe Biden ended his reelection campaign and endorsed Harris to replace him as the Democratic Party's nominee. This will be the first time Harris and Trump debate each other -- and the first time they've met face-to-face.Asked about the former president’s debate preparations, Sanders said, "I think every day is debate prep for Donald Trump. He'll go in game-time ready, just as he does for every interview, every rally that he does.""This is not something that is a heavy lift for him. ... Donald Trump has a good story to tell. He shows up at this debate from a position of strength. She shows up from a position of weakness. The administration that she is totally responsible and accountable for has been an abysmal failure," Sanders said, also predicting that Harris would perform poorly in the debate.“I don't think that she's up to the challenge in large part, not just because I don't know that she's a great debater, but she's so wrong on the issues that Americans care about, and she has a terrible track record to talk about,” Sanders said.Karl also asked Sanders about former Rep. Liz Cheney's decision to endorse Harris this past week. Cheney, the former number three in House Republican leadership and daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, told Karl in a separate, exclusive interview on "This Week" on Sunday that she believes Trump "presents a challenge and a threat fundamentally to the republic," and said her backing for Harris in November will mark the first time she'll vote for a Democrat in her life.Sanders, who served as Trump’s White House press secretary, brushed off the endorsement and called Cheney “a non-factor.”“I'm not trying to be rude, but you don't get to call yourself a conservative or a Republican when you support the most radical nominee that the Democrats have ever put up," she told Karl. “What should come as a shock is that she is trying to call herself a conservative Republican, or either one of those two words, while supporting somebody who so clearly does not represent conservative principles.”In her interview, Cheney argued that Trump's proposal to slap widespread tariffs on imported foreign goods "is fundamentally an anti-conservative policy." Asked how she squares that proposal with conservative policies, Sanders defended the former president.“He wants to make sure that we're actually making things in America.There's nothing more conservative than empowering Americans and American companies to build things here versus building them overseas,” she said.“In the next administration, we have to decide -- who do we want to be the world leaders?” Sanders asked. “I want it to be the United States. And there's only one person, and one president and one administration who's done that before and will do it again, and it's Donald Trump.”Source: https://abcnews.go.com/

MOSINEE, Wis. -- With just days to go before his first — and likely only — debate against Vice President Kamala Harris, former President Donald Trump posted a warning on his social media site threatening to jail those “involved in unscrupulous behavior” this election, which he said would be under intense scrutiny.“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,” Trump wrote, again sowing doubt about the integrity of the election, even though cheating is incredibly rare.“Please beware,” he went on, “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."Trump's message represents his latest threat to use the office of the presidency to exact retribution if he wins a second term. There is no evidence of the kind of fraud he continues to insist marred the 2020 election; in fact, dozens of courts, Republican state officials and his own administration have said he lost fairly.Just days ago, Trump himself acknowledged in a podcast interview that he had indeed “lost by a whisker.”While Trump's campaign aides and allies have urged him to keep his focus on Harris and make the election a referendum on issues like inflation and border security, Trump in recent days has veered far off course.On Friday, he delivered a stunning statement to news cameras in which he brought up a string of past allegations of sexual misconduct, describing several in graphic detail, even as he denied his accusers’ allegations. Earlier, he had voluntarily appeared in court for a hearing on the appeal of a decision that found him liable for sexual abuse, turning focus to his legal woes in the campaign's final stretch.Earlier Saturday, Trump had leaned into familiar grievances about everything from his indictments to Russia's meddling in the 2016 election as he campaigned in one of the most deeply Republican swaths of battleground Wisconsin.“The Harris-Biden DOJ is trying to throw me in jail — they want me in jail — for the crime of exposing their corruption,” Trump claimed at an outdoor rally at Central Wisconsin Airport, where he spoke behind a wall of bullet-proof glass due to new security protocols following his July assassination attempt.There’s no evidence that President Joe Biden or Harris have had any influence over decisions by the Justice Department or state prosecutors to indict the former president.Trump has eschewed traditional debate preparation, choosing to holding rallies and events while Harris has been cloistered in a historic hotel in downtown Pittsburgh, working with aides since Thursday.Harris has agreed so far to a single debate, which will be hosted by ABC. At the rally, Trump outlined his plans to “Drain the swamp” — a throwback to his winning 2016 campaign message as he ran as an outsider challenging the status quo. Though Trump spent four years in the Oval Office, he vowed anew to “cast out the corrupt political class” if he wins again and to “cut the fat out of our government for the first time, meaningfully, in 60 years.”As part of that effort, he repeated his plan, announced Thursday, to create a new “Government Efficiency Commission” headed by Elon Musk that will be charged with conducting “a complete financial and performance audit of the entire federal government" to root out waste.After again maligning the Congressional committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the nation’s capitol by his supporters after his election loss in 2020, Trump told the crowd of thousands that he would “rapidly review the cases of every political prisoner unjustly victimized by the Harris regime” and sign their pardons on his first day back in office.Trump has repeatedly defended those who have been jailed for crimes including violent attacks on law enforcement. And he said he would “completely overhaul” what he labeled “Kamala’s corrupt Department of Injustice.”“Instead of persecuting Republicans, they will focus on taking down bloodthirsty cartels, transnational gangs, and radical Islamic terrorists,” he said.Harris campaign spokesperson Sarafina Chitika responded to his comments with a statement warning that, if Trump is reelected, he will “use his unchecked power to prosecute his enemies and pardon insurrectionists who violently attacked our Capitol on January 6."Both Harris and Trump have been frequent visitors to Wisconsin this year, a state where four of the past six presidential elections have been decided by less than a percentage point. Several polls of Wisconsin voters conducted after Biden withdrew showed Harris and Trump in a close race.Democrats consider Wisconsin to be one of the must-win “blue wall” states. Biden, who was in Wisconsin on Thursday, won the state in 2020 by just under 21,000 votes. Trump carried it by a slightly larger margin, nearly 23,000 votes, in 2016.As Trump was campaigning, Harris took a short break from debate prep to visit Penzeys Spices in Pittsburgh’s Strip District, where she bought several seasoning mixes. One customer saw the Democratic nominee and began openly weeping as Harris hugged her and said, “We’re going to be fine. We’re all in this together.”Harris said she was honored to have endorsements from two major Republicans: former Vice President Dick Cheney and his daughter, Liz Cheney, the former Wyoming congresswoman.“People are exhausted, about the division and the attempts to kind of divide us as Americans,” she said, adding that her main message at the debate would be that the country wants to be united.“It’s time to turn the page on the divisiveness,” she said. “It’s time to bring our country together, to chart a new way forward.”Trump held his rally in the central Wisconsin city of Mosinee, with a population of about 4,500 people. It is within Wisconsin's mostly rural 7th Congressional District, a reliably Republican area in a purple state. During his speech, he railed against Harris in dark and ominous language, claiming that if the woman he calls “Comrade Kamala Harris gets four more years, you will be living (in) a full-blown Banana Republic" ruled by “anarchy” and “tyranny.”Trump also railed against the administration's border policies, calling the Democrats’ approach “suicidal" and accusing them of having “imported murderers, child predators and serial rapists from all over the planet."Many studies have found immigrants, including those in the country illegally, commit fewer violent crimes than native-born citizens. Violent crime in the U.S. dropped again last year, continuing a downward trend after a pandemic-era spike.He dismissed warnings from U.S. officials about ongoing Russian attempts to spread disinformation ahead of November's election, including an indictment this past week that alleged a media company linked to six conservative influencers was secretly funded by Russian state media employees.“The Justice Department said Russia may be involved in our elections again,” Trump told the crowd. “And, you know, the whole world laughed at it this time.”Among those in the crowd was Dale Osuldsen, who was celebrating his 68th birthday Saturday at his first ever Trump rally. He hopes a second Trump administration will take on “cancel culture” and bring the country back to its “foundational past.“We’ve had past administrations say they want to fundamentally change America,” Osulden said. “Fundamentally changing America is a bad thing.”Many supporters embarked on hours-long drives from across Wisconsin to see Trump speak. Some came from even further. Sean Moon, a Tennessee musician who releases MAGA-themed rap music under the stage name, “King Bullethead,” blasted his songs from a truck in the event parking lot. As a musician, he said Trump rallies approximate the experience of a raucous concert. “Trump is a rockstar,” Moon said. “He’s incredible. People see he represents them and the deep state trying to kill him and take him out. But he’s standing strong, and he stands for the normal person.” Democrats have relied on massive turnout in the state's two largest cities, Milwaukee and Madison, to counter Republican strength in rural areas like Mosinee and the Milwaukee suburbs. Trump must win the votes in places like Mosinee to have any chance of cutting into the Democrats' advantage in urban areas.Republicans held their national convention in Milwaukee in July and Trump has made four previous stops to the state, most recently just last week in the western Wisconsin city of La Crosse.Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, last month filled the same Milwaukee arena where Republicans held their national convention for a rally that coincided with the Democratic National Convention just 90 miles away in Chicago. Walz returned Monday to Milwaukee, where he spoke at a Labor Day rally organized by unions.___Bauer reported from Madison and Colvin from New York. Associated Press writer Josh Boak in Pittsburgh contributed to this report.Source: https://abcnews.go.com/

The judge in former President Donald Trump's criminal hush money case has delayed his sentencing from Sept. 18 until Nov. 26 -- after the presidential election.The decision, issued in a court filing Friday, means Trump will not face consequences for falsifying business records related to a hush payment to Stormy Daniels before voters choose the next president.Judge Juan Merchan also said he would now rule on Trump's motion to set aside the verdict on Nov. 12.Trump is seeking to have the case dismissed on the grounds of presidential immunity, after the Supreme Court ruled in blockbuster decision that Trump is entitled to immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts undertaken while in office."The public's confidence in the integrity of our judicial system demands a sentencing hearing that is entirely focused on the verdict of the jury and the weighing of aggravating and mitigating factors free from distraction or distortion," Merchan wrote in his ruling Friday. "The members of this jury served diligently on this case, and their verdict must be respected and addressed in a manner that is not diluted by the enormity of the upcoming presidential election."Merchan appeared to arrive at the decision reluctantly, ruling that sentencing would be "adjourned to avoid any appearance -- however unwarranted -- that the proceeding has been affected by or seeks to affect the approaching Presidential election in which the Defendant is a candidate."Merchan's opinion noted that any conflict was of Trump's own making as the former president repeatedly sought to delay the proceedings."Notably, had Defendant been sentenced on July 11, 2024, as originally scheduled, there would of course have been no cause for delay," the judge wrote.Merchan also chided Trump for attempting to bolster his argument with "a litany of perceived and unsubstantiated grievances from previous filings that do not merit this Court's attention."Trump was found guilty in May on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to a hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in order to boost his electoral prospects in the 2016 presidential election.He has denied all wrongdoing and has said he will appeal the decision.Source: https://abcnews.go.com/

Former President Donald Trump repeated claims about E. Jean Carroll for which he was found liable of defamation as he spoke to reporters on Friday after appearing in court for an appeal hearing.The former president spoke for nearly an hour at Trump Tower in New York after briefly attending oral arguments where his lawyers pushed for a new civil trial after a jury's 2023 verdict that Trump pay $5 million for sexually assaulting Carroll in the mid-1990s in a department store dressing room and later defaming her in his denials of her claims after she went public in 2019. Trump's appearance in court on Friday was voluntary, not mandatory.He talked about multiple accusations against him from three different women, often making derogatory comments about Carroll and two other accusers: Jessica Leeds and Natasha Stoynoff.Trump has been accused of sexual misconduct by about two dozen women, and has denied all such claims. Carroll's battery allegation was the first to make it before a jury.At one point, he claimed the photo of him and Carroll could've been AI generated."I never met her. I have never touched her. I would have no interest in meeting her in any shape or form," Trump said Friday. He said Carroll's testimony was "a made-up fabricated story by somebody just looking to promote a book."Carroll's attorney said they were listening to Trump repeat some of the same statements the jury found to be defamatory."I've said before and I'll say it again: all options are on the table," Carroll's attorney Roberta Kaplan told ABC News.Speaking about his alleged encounter with Leeds -- who claimed Trump groped her on an airplane in the 1970s, an accusation Trump has long denied -- Trump at one point said it couldn't have happened because she "wouldn't have been the chosen one.""And frankly, I know you are going to say it's a terrible thing. But it couldn't have happened," he said. "It didn't happen. She would not have been the chosen one. She would not have been the chosen one."Trump went on to claim that Leeds will follow Carroll by suing him."Now, I assume she'll sue me for defamation like I got sued by E. Jean Carroll, who interestingly said she's been hurt and damaged," claiming Carroll made money out of the case.With his lawyers standing behind him, Trump expressed frustration with his legal team for how they handled Friday morning's hearing."I'm disappointed in my legal talent, I'll be honest with you," Trump said as he ticked through arguments he wanted them to bring up that they did not.Trump used Carroll's case to highlight what he calls a weaponization of the justice system, trying to tie his legal challenges to the Biden-Harris White House with no evidence."This is a long and complicated web and story, but it all goes back to the DOJ and Kamala and Sleepy Joe and all the rest of them. We have a whole rigged election system," Trump said.ABC News' Aaron Katersky contributed to this report.Source: https://abcnews.go.com/

With Donald Trump sitting in the courtroom, a federal appeals court in New York appeared skeptical Friday of the former president's push for a new civil trial in the 2023 defamation and assault case brought by the writer by E. Jean Carroll, telling the defense it would be "very hard" to overturn the jury's verdict.Trump, seated alone in court, said nothing during the short proceeding but warmly greeted sketch artist Jane Rosenberg upon entering the room. He did not appear to make eye contact with Carroll, seated just feet away.A jury last May found Trump should pay $5 million for defaming and sexually assaulting Carroll in the mid-1990s in a department store dressing room, an outcome his attorney argued should not stand.Trump attorney D. John Sauer called it "a quintessential 'he said, she said' case" that was "funded and encouraged by Donald Trump's political enemies" and a "textbook example of implausible allegations being propped up by highly inflammatory, inadmissible propensity evidence."Judge Danny Chin cut Sauer short, saying, "It's very hard to overturn a jury verdict based on evidentiary rulings ... so why should we order a new trial here?"Sauer reiterated his claim that there was "error in the admission" of the infamous "Access Hollywood tape," on which Trump is heard boasting of grabbing women, as well as the testimony of two women who alleged Trump assaulted them decades ago, which he denies.One of those women, Jessica Leeds, had testified that Trump grabbed her chest and ran his hand up her skirt as they sat side-by-side in first class on a New York City-bound flight in the 1970s. Sauer argued Friday that it was "manifestly erroneous" to have allowed the jury to hear the testimony because what Trump was accused of doing was not explicitly considered a crime at the time.Roberta Kaplan, an attorney for Carroll, suggested some of the arguments raised by Sauer overcomplicated the matters before the appellate panel, framing a dispute about the relevance of sexual assault case law as "too many lawyers trying to screw in a lightbulb." She argued that the testimony showed Trump's alleged propensity to assault women."He had a pattern of, kind of, pleasant chatting with a woman and then out of nowhere he would, for lack of a better term, pounce," Kaplan said -- prompting Trump, sitting at the defense table, to shake his head "no."At one point during the oral argument Judge Chin chided Sauer, who was racing through his presentation, telling the attorney, "You're speaking so fast. Why don't you slow down a little bit?""It's an important case and I'm passionate about it," Sauer replied.Trump, following the hearing, ignored a shouted question from ABC News about whether he was satisfied with his lawyer's argument.The former president's appearance in the courtroom, in front of a three-judge panel of the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, was voluntary, not mandatory.The panel did not immediately issue a ruling. Judge Myron Perez said the case would be taken under advisement.Later Friday, in remarks to reporters, Trump again called Carroll's accusations "a made-up fabricated story by somebody just looking to promote a book" and said, "I would have had no interest in meeting her."Kaplan, listening to Trump repeat some of the same statements that jurors found defamatory, told ABC News, "I've said it before and I’ll say it again: All options are on the table."Carroll, who brought her lawsuit in November 2022, alleged that Trump defamed her in a 2022 Truth Social post by calling her allegations "a Hoax and a lie" and saying, "This woman is not my type!" when he denied her claim that Trump raped her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in the 1990s.The former Elle magazine columnist added a charge of battery under a New York law that allowed adult survivors of sexual abuse to sue their alleged attacker regardless of the statute of limitations. Trump has denied all allegations that he assaulted Carroll or defamed her."I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WHO THIS WOMAN IS," Trump posted to his Truth Social platform following the verdict last May. "THIS VERDICT IS A DISGRACE - A CONTINUATION OF THE GREATEST WITCH HUNT OF ALL TIME!"Trump is also appealing the outcome of a separate case by Carroll, related to the same allegations, in which a jury awarded her $83 million in damages.Source: https://abcnews.go.com/

Vice President Harris is spending most of Friday in Pittsburgh huddled with her team in debate strategy and policy meetings, according to a source close to Harris.Her plan for next Tuesday's ABC News presidential debate is to convey her bio to the American people, highlight her accomplishments and plans for the future, and draw the contrast with Donald Trump, according to the source.Harris’ team is aware that many Americans are still unfamiliar with her background. So, similar to her speech at the DNC, the source said Harris wants to underscore her middle-class upbringing and her background as a former prosecutor, attorney general, and senator.She will also convey her accomplishments in those roles, including going after big banks and prosecuting transnational gangs, the source said.The ABC News presidential debate will take place on Sept. 10 at 9 p.m. ET and air on ABC and stream on ABC News Live, Disney+ and Hulu.The source added that Harris will highlight her plans for the future, with a focus on the economic proposals she has laid out.That includes her plans to lower prices, support middle class families and help small businesses. Harris is not expected to unveil any new policies.Another key pillar of her strategy is to highlight the contrast with former President Donald Trump, the source told ABC News.Harris will frame herself as someone looking out for the American people versus Trump as only looking out for himself. She will paint him as dark and divisive versus herself as optimistic and forward-looking.Harris’ Trump stand-in for mock debates, former Hillary Clinton aide Philippe Reines, not only approaches his role as a method actor would, but he also wears a long red tie as Trump does.Source: https://abcnews.go.com/

The judge in former President Donald Trump's criminal hush money case has delayed his sentencing from Sept. 18 until Nov. 26 -- after the presidential election.The decision, issued in a court filing Friday, means Trump will not face consequences for falsifying business records related to a hush payment to Stormy Daniels before voters choose the next president.Judge Juan Merchan also said he would now rule on Trump's motion to set aside the verdict on Nov. 12.Trump is seeking to have the case dismissed on the grounds of presidential immunity, after the Supreme Court ruled in blockbuster decision that Trump is entitled to immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts undertaken while in office."The public's confidence in the integrity of our judicial system demands a sentencing hearing that is entirely focused on the verdict of the jury and the weighing of aggravating and mitigating factors free from distraction or distortion," Merchan wrote in his ruling Friday. "The members of this jury served diligently on this case, and their verdict must be respected and addressed in a manner that is not diluted by the enormity of the upcoming presidential election."Merchan appeared to arrive at the decision reluctantly, ruling that sentencing would be "adjourned to avoid any appearance -- however unwarranted -- that the proceeding has been affected by or seeks to affect the approaching Presidential election in which the Defendant is a candidate."Merchan's opinion noted that any conflict was of Trump's own making as the former president repeatedly sought to delay the proceedings."Notably, had Defendant been sentenced on July 11, 2024, as originally scheduled, there would of course have been no cause for delay," the judge wrote.Merchan also chided Trump for attempting to bolster his argument with "a litany of perceived and unsubstantiated grievances from previous filings that do not merit this Court's attention."Trump was found guilty in May on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to a hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in order to boost his electoral prospects in the 2016 presidential election.He has denied all wrongdoing and has said he will appeal the decision.Source: https://abcnews.go.com/

With Donald Trump sitting in the courtroom, a federal appeals court in New York appeared skeptical Friday of the former president's push for a new civil trial in the 2023 defamation and assault case brought by the writer by E. Jean Carroll, telling the defense it would be "very hard" to overturn the jury's verdict.Trump, seated alone in court, said nothing during the short proceeding but warmly greeted sketch artist Jane Rosenberg upon entering the room. He did not appear to make eye contact with Carroll, seated just feet away.A jury last May found Trump should pay $5 million for defaming and sexually assaulting Carroll in the mid-1990s in a department store dressing room, an outcome his attorney argued should not stand.Trump attorney D. John Sauer called it "a quintessential 'he said, she said' case" that was "funded and encouraged by Donald Trump's political enemies" and a "textbook example of implausible allegations being propped up by highly inflammatory, inadmissible propensity evidence."Judge Danny Chin cut Sauer short, saying, "It's very hard to overturn a jury verdict based on evidentiary rulings ... so why should we order a new trial here?"Sauer reiterated his claim that there was "error in the admission" of the infamous "Access Hollywood tape," on which Trump is heard boasting of grabbing women, as well as the testimony of two women who alleged Trump assaulted them decades ago, which he denies.One of those women, Jessica Leeds, had testified that Trump grabbed her chest and ran his hand up her skirt as they sat side-by-side in first class on a New York City-bound flight in the 1970s. Sauer argued Friday that it was "manifestly erroneous" to have allowed the jury to hear the testimony because what Trump was accused of doing was not explicitly considered a crime at the time.Roberta Kaplan, an attorney for Carroll, suggested some of the arguments raised by Sauer overcomplicated the matters before the appellate panel, framing a dispute about the relevance of sexual assault case law as "too many lawyers trying to screw in a lightbulb." She argued that the testimony showed Trump's alleged propensity to assault women."He had a pattern of, kind of, pleasant chatting with a woman and then out of nowhere he would, for lack of a better term, pounce," Kaplan said -- prompting Trump, sitting at the defense table, to shake his head "no."At one point during the oral argument Judge Chin chided Sauer, who was racing through his presentation, telling the attorney, "You're speaking so fast. Why don't you slow down a little bit?""It's an important case and I'm passionate about it," Sauer replied.Trump, following the hearing, ignored a shouted question from ABC News about whether he was satisfied with his lawyer's argument.The former president's appearance in the courtroom, in front of a three-judge panel of the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, was voluntary, not mandatory.The panel did not immediately issue a ruling. Judge Myron Perez said the case would be taken under advisement.Later Friday, in remarks to reporters, Trump again called Carroll's accusations "a made-up fabricated story by somebody just looking to promote a book" and said, "I would have had no interest in meeting her."Kaplan, listening to Trump repeat some of the same statements that jurors found defamatory, told ABC News, "I've said it before and I’ll say it again: All options are on the table."Carroll, who brought her lawsuit in November 2022, alleged that Trump defamed her in a 2022 Truth Social post by calling her allegations "a Hoax and a lie" and saying, "This woman is not my type!" when he denied her claim that Trump raped her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in the 1990s.The former Elle magazine columnist added a charge of battery under a New York law that allowed adult survivors of sexual abuse to sue their alleged attacker regardless of the statute of limitations. Trump has denied all allegations that he assaulted Carroll or defamed her."I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WHO THIS WOMAN IS," Trump posted to his Truth Social platform following the verdict last May. "THIS VERDICT IS A DISGRACE - A CONTINUATION OF THE GREATEST WITCH HUNT OF ALL TIME!"Trump is also appealing the outcome of a separate case by Carroll, related to the same allegations, in which a jury awarded her $83 million in damages.Source: https://abcnews.go.com/

Former President Donald Trump is once again brushing aside traditional debate preparations as his first match against Vice President Kamala Harris approaches, reverting to a similar strategy of policy meetings with advisers and a series of interviews and town halls.In the week leading up to the Sept. 10 ABC News debate, Trump was on campaign trail for a town hall in Pennsylvania, gave an economic address in New York and will hold a rally in Wisconsin this weekend. His campaign said the former president sees talking to voters is a form of debate prep, too."Our debate and prep is every day. It's called Donald Trump talking to voters," one Trump campaign adviser said.Trump campaign senior adviser Brian Hughes told ABC News that because Trump gives "dozens of unscripted interviews and can stand with reporters unscripted for hours at a time, he doesn't need staff cheat codes to go into a debate.""He is reviewing policy with advisers," Hughes said, adding that Trump is "always prepared to discuss his successful time as president."During a town hall event Wednesday with Fox News host Sean Hannity, Trump said he was "gonna let [Harris] talk" in the debate."When I had [President Joe] Biden, you and I had the same discussion. And I let him talk. I'm gonna let her talk," Trump told Hannity when asked how he will respond to Harris when she tries to get under his skin.In the last three weeks, Trump has only done two events that the campaign has described as rallies out of the nearly dozen campaign stops he has had -- a break in the campaign's traditional style.The campaign instead has been persistent with scheduling more smaller-scale, policy-focused speeches and participating in moderated discussion panels with allies. During these events, Trump has worked to fine-tune his attacks on Harris, though, at times, he often struggled to stay on topic.Trump and his campaign have long strayed from mock-style debates, and say that despite having a different challenger, his method remains the same. Rather, in between campaign stops, Trump and his campaign have been focusing on nailing down several different policy areas, a similar strategy to how he approached the June debate against Biden.Trump had limited outbursts and personal attacks on the debate stage against Biden in June, and his campaign said he will focus on a similar strategy against Harris. Still, Trump has not held back on the trail, lobbing personal attacks at Harris.The campaign has also tapped former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who recently endorsed Trump, for debate preparations. Campaign advisers took note of Gabbard's debate performance against Harris and Biden in the 2020 Democratic primary, and made headlines at the time for taking aim at Harris' record as a prosecutor.In public comments over the weekend, Gabbard offered insight into the types of tactics she would advise Trump about ahead of next week's debate, warning that Harris should not be "underestimated." The former president has previously said he thinks debating Harris will be "easier" than Biden."I think Kamala Harris has a lot of experience. She's not to be underestimated. President Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris have very different records," Gabbard said.She argued that Trump should focus on Harris' flip-flops, which "will be an opportunity for voters to look at and compare and contrast those records.""It really is just sharing the experience that I have with her on that debate stage in 2020 and frankly, helping to point out some ways that Kamala Harris has already shown that she is trying to move away from her record, move away from her positions, and how that contradicts the positions and statements that she is making now that she is the Democratic nominee," Gabbard said.Trump also recently sat down for a town hall with Gabbard in Wisconsin, answering questions from voters on issues such as the economy, immigration and national security.As the Trump campaign tries to focus on Harris' record, another attack anticipated on the debate stage is the distinction that Harris is currently serving in the White House and can make policy decisions now."That's one of the points that I will make all the time. Do it. You can do it right now," Trump claimed in an interview with the Daily Mail last month.The ABC News debate will take place on Tuesday, Sept. 10 at 9 p.m ET. A prime-time pre-debate special will air at 8 p.m. ET.Source: https://abcnews.go.com/

The New York judge overseeing former President Donald Trump's criminal hush money case will decide Friday whether to delay his sentencing, according to a court filing Thursday.Trump is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 18 after he was found guilty in May on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to a hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in order to boost his electoral prospects in the 2016 presidential election. He faces up to four years in prison.Trump had asked the judge in the case, Juan Merchan, to postpone the sentencing until after the election, and Merchan said Thursday that he would make the decision on Friday.The timing of the judge's decision was revealed by prosecutors in a letter to a federal appeals court that is considering whether to intervene in the case."The judge has now informed the parties that the decision will be rendered tomorrow, September 6, 2024," the letter said.On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein denied Trump's bid to move his criminal case to federal court. The next day, in a 28-page filing, Trump's attorneys asked the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit to stay Judge Hellerstein's order -- a move that would delay Trump's criminal case, including his sentencing, from moving forward."Absent the requested stay, President Trump and the American people will suffer irreparable harm," defense attorneys Emil Bove and Todd Blanche wrote.In a filing Thursday, the Manhattan district attorney's office asked the court to reject Trump's request, saying there was no reason for the appellate court to get involved."For one thing, state court is already considering defendant's request to defer a ruling on his post-trial motion and to delay the sentencing hearing until after the election," Steven Wu, chief of appeals in the Manhattan DA's office, said in a letter filed to the court.Trump's lawyers claimed in the appeal that the former president's case belongs in federal court because the allegations and evidence in the case relate to Trump's official acts as president -- an argument defense attorneys said was bolstered by the Supreme Court's recent ruling on presidential immunity.In their filing, Trump's attorneys emphasized the "irreparable harm" of allowing the sentencing to proceed because it could result in Trump's "unconstitutional incarceration while the 2024 Presidential election is imminent.""Unlawfully incarcerating President Trump in the final weeks of the Presidential election, while early voting is ongoing, would irreparably harm the First Amendment rights of President Trump and voters located far beyond New York County," defense attorneys wrote.Also Friday, a panel of judges on the same federal appeals court is set to consider Trump's appeal of a 2023 civil judgment that found him liable for the sexual abuse of magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll and awarded her $5 million in damages.Source: https://abcnews.go.com/

Former President Donald Trump is expected to be in court on Friday for oral arguments in his appeal of a 2023 judgment holding him liable for sexually abusing columnist E. Jean Carroll, according to sources familiar with his plans.A jury found Trump liable for battery and defamation in the E. Jean Carroll case in May 2023.Carroll, who brought the lawsuit in November, alleged that Trump defamed her in his 2022 Truth Social post by calling her allegations "a Hoax and a lie" and saying, "This woman is not my type!" when he denied her claim that Trump raped her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in the 1990s.The former Elle magazine columnist added a charge of battery under a recently adopted New York law that allows adult survivors of sexual abuse to sue their alleged attacker regardless of the statute of limitations. Trump has denied all allegations that he raped Carroll or defamed her.The jury awarded Carroll a total of $5 million in the lawsuit. Jury members found that Trump did not rape Carroll but sexually abused her, and awarded damages of $2 million in compensatory damages and $20,000 in punitive damages for battery.The jury awarded $1 million in damages, $1.7 million for reputation repair, and $280,000 in punitive damages, for defamation.Following the verdict, Trump called it "a disgrace," and a spokesperson for the former president said he would appeal."I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WHO THIS WOMAN IS," he posted to his Truth Social platform. "THIS VERDICT IS A DISGRACE - A CONTINUATION OF THE GREATEST WITCH HUNT OF ALL TIME!""Make no mistake, this entire bogus case is a political endeavor targeting President Trump because he is now an overwhelming front-runner to once again be elected President of the United States," a Trump spokesperson said in a statement following the verdict. "This case will be appealed, and we will ultimately win."Source: https://abcnews.go.com/

President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are set to face off in their first debate of the 2024 election next week, moderated by ABC News.With only weeks until Election Day, the debate is a crucial opportunity for both candidates to work to sway undecided voters in what's expected to be a close contest.The debate is a chance for Harris -- who became the Democratic candidate after President Joe Biden left the race following his lackluster June debate performance -- and Trump to explain their policies on key issues. It’s the first time the pair will meet in person.Likewise, the debate is Trump's first opportunity to attack Harris while laying out some of his own positions.Here's what to know about the debate and how to tune in.How to watch or livestream the debateThere are several ways to watch the ABC News presidential debate, which is being produced in conjunction with the ABC-owned Philadelphia news station WPVI-TV.It will air on ABC and stream on ABC News Live, Disney+ and Hulu. Viewers can also stream the debate on the ABC app on a smartphone or tablet, on ABC.com and connected devices.ABC News Digital and 538 will live blog the latest from the debate stage as it happens and provide analysis, fact checks and coverage of the biggest takeaways from the night.When and where is the presidential debate?The debate will take place in Philadelphia at the National Constitution Center on Tuesday, Sept. 10, at 9 p.m. EDT.Who is moderating the ABC News presidential debate?"World News Tonight" anchor and managing editor David Muir and ABC News Live "Prime" anchor Linsey Davis will serve as moderators.The prime-time pre-debate special, "Race for the White House," will be anchored by chief global affairs correspondent and "This Week" co-anchor Martha Raddatz, chief Washington correspondent and "This Week" co-anchor Jonathan Karl, chief White House correspondent Mary Bruce and senior congressional correspondent Rachel Scott. It will air at 8 p.m. EDT and stream on ABC's platforms.What are the ground rules?Both Harris and Trump accepted the debate rules, which include that their microphones will be muted when the time belongs to another candidate.The agreed-upon rules include:The debate will be 90 minutes with two commercial breaks.The two seated moderators 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.Source: https://abcnews.go.com/

A day after former President Donald Trump asked a federal appeals court for a stay that would delay the sentencing in his New York hush money case, the Manhattan district attorney's office on Thursday asked the court to reject Trump's request.Trump's longshot attempt to delay his Sept. 18 sentencing came a day after District Judge Alvin Hellerstein denied Trump's bid to move his criminal case to federal court.In a 28-page filing late Wednesday, Trump's attorneys asked the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit to stay Judge Hellerstein's order -- a move that would delay Trump's criminal case, including his sentencing, from moving forward."Absent the requested stay, President Trump and the American people will suffer irreparable harm," defense attorneys Emil Bove and Todd Blanche wrote.In their filing on Thursday, prosecutors said there's no reason for the appellate court to get involved."For one thing, state court is already considering defendant's request to defer a ruling on his post-trial motion and to delay the sentencing hearing until after the election," Steven Wu, chief of appeals in the Manhattan DA's office, said in a letter filed to the court.Trump's lawyers claimed in the appeal that the former president's case belongs in federal court because the allegations and evidence in the case relate to Trump's official acts as president -- an argument defense attorneys said was bolstered by the Supreme Court's recent ruling on presidential immunity.In their filing, Trump's attorneys emphasized the "irreparable harm" of allowing the sentencing to proceed because it could result in Trump's "unconstitutional incarceration while the 2024 Presidential election is imminent.""Unlawfully incarcerating President Trump in the final weeks of the Presidential election, while early voting is ongoing, would irreparably harm the First Amendment rights of President Trump and voters located far beyond New York County," defense attorneys wrote.Trump was found guilty in May on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to a hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in order to boost his electoral prospects in the 2016 presidential election. He has said he will appeal the decision.On Friday, a panel of judges on the same federal appeals court is set to consider Trump's appeal of a 2023 civil judgment that found him liable for the sexual abuse of magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll and awarded her $5 million in damages.Source: https://abcnews.go.com/

Former President Donald Trump has asked a federal appeals court for a stay that would delay the sentencing in his New York hush money case, which is scheduled for Sept. 18.The longshot attempt to delay the sentencing comes one day after District Judge Alvin Hellerstein denied Trump's bid to move his criminal case to federal court.In a 28-page filing late Wednesday, Trump's attorneys asked the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit to stay Judge Hellerstein's order -- a move that would delay Trump's criminal case, including his sentencing, from moving forward."Absent the requested stay, President Trump and the American people will suffer irreparable harm," defense attorneys Emil Bove and Todd Blanche wrote.Trump's lawyers claimed in the appeal that the former president's case belongs in federal court because the allegations and evidence in the case relate to Trump's official acts as president -- an argument defense attorneys said was bolstered by the Supreme Court's recent ruling on presidential immunity.In their filing, defense attorneys emphasized the "irreparable harm" of allowing the sentencing to proceed because it could result in Trump's "unconstitutional incarceration while the 2024 Presidential election is imminent.""Unlawfully incarcerating President Trump in the final weeks of the Presidential election, while early voting is ongoing, would irreparably harm the First Amendment rights of President Trump and voters located far beyond New York County," defense attorneys wrote.Trump made a similar argument unsuccessfully to Hellerstein, and legal experts generally agree that Trump will not have to serve whatever sentence he receives until after the election.Later this week, a panel of judges on the same federal appeals court is set to consider Trump's appeal of a 2023 civil judgment holding him liable for sexual abuse of columnist E. Jean Carroll and awarding her $5 million in damages.Source: https://abcnews.go.com/

Former President Donald Trump participated in another town hall Wednesday where he took several shots at his opponent Vice President Kamala Harris' record and continued to throw out falsehoods about her and his record in office in front of a friendly crowd in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.Advisers point to events like this as how Trump is preparing for next week’s ABC News debate in Philadelphia against Vice President Kamala Harris.The former president, who often downplays the need for formal debate preparations, did offer some insight into how he will approach sharing the debate stage with Harris, saying he would limit his outbursts during an audience Q&A portion of the event which will air later this week.“When I had Biden, you and I had the same discussion. And I let him talk. I’m gonna let her talk,” Trump told Fox News host Sean Hannity when asked how he will respond to Harris when she tries to get under his skin.“There are those who say that Biden is smarter than she is. If that’s the case, we have a problem,” Trump said, attacking Harris’ intelligence earlier by claiming she has “no idea what the hell she’s doing.”“You can go in with all the strategy you want but you have to sort of feel it out as the debate is taking place,” he said, going on to talk about his multiple debate appearances.“Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face” Trump quipped, quoting former boxing champion Mike Tyson.Trump zeroed in on what he characterized as Harris’ policy inconsistencies, something that advisers have encouraged him to focus on. He specifically highlighted her changed position on fracking in front of a crowd in one of the country’s top fossil fuel-producing states.“She wants no fracking. In Pennsylvania, she wants no fracking. She said it 100 times, there will be no fracking. There will be no fracking. There will be no fracking. Then just recently, she said, ‘Yes, I could approve fracking.’” Trump continued, “Look, this is a woman who is dangerous. I don't think it's too smart, let's see.”“You can't take the chance. You have no choice. You've got to vote for me, even if you don't like me,” he said, arguing that Americans didn’t know enough about Harris.Trump held a town hall in Wisconsin last week with former Democratic congresswoman and presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard. Gabbard was recently named to Trump’s presidential transition team and has been advising him during his debate preparations.Wednesday’s town hall, which was taped in the afternoon before airing during Hannity’s regular 9 p.m. ET time slot, comes in lieu of a debate that Fox was attempting to hold tonight. While debate invitations were sent to both candidates, only Trump accepted as Harris campaign officials said future debates are contingent on Trump showing up to the ABC News debate next week.“I think he's a nice guy,” Trump said, pointing to Hannity. “But I would have preferred a debate.”The former president and Hannity repeatedly criticized Harris’ lack of interviews as reasons to argue she’s unfit for office, pushing unfounded claims about her interview with CNN last week. However, while Trump sat down with Hannity for longer than Harris’ CNN interview, it was a friendly hour with the conservative TV host who rarely pushed back or pressed Trump on a number of topics.Trump was asked to detail the differences between his previous presidential campaigns.“It's not that different. It's still about the forgotten man and the forgotten woman. People are being treated horribly in this country.”Trump continued to spread anti-immigrant rhetoric, accusing Venezuelans of “taking over the whole town” in Aurora, Colorado, as he again promised to oversee the largest mass deportation operation in U.S. history.“Take a look at Aurora. In Colorado, where Venezuelans are taking over the whole town. They're taking over buildings, the whole town…They're knocking down doors and occupying apartments of people. The people are petrified. And it's getting worse and worse," Trump said, referring to a viral video that appeared to show an armed mob roaming around an apartment complex in Aurora.However, the Aurora Police Department vehemently denied accusations that the apartment complex is being run by a Venezuelan gang.“We've been talking to the residents here and learning from them to find out what exactly is going on, and there's definitely a different picture," Interim Police Chief Interim Heather Morris said in a Facebook video the department posted last week, while adding, "I'm not saying that there's not gang members that don't live in this community."The City of Aurora also provided clarity on the situation in a post on X, saying while there was a concern about a “small” presence of the Venezuelan gang members in Aurora, the city is taking the situation seriously. The city stressed that Aurora is a “safe community” and that reports of gang members are “isolated to a handful of problem properties alone.”Trump criticized Harris’s rhetoric after Hannity played a 2016 clip of Harris from a speech at a Los Angeles mosque, in which she urged the public not to use terms such as “radical Islamic terrorism” and “illegal alien.”“She wants to be politically correct, and we can't be politically correct,” Trump responded.“You need a president that's not going to be taking you into war. We won't have World War III when I'm elected, but with these clowns, you're going to end up having world war – it's going to be a war like no other.”Hannity briefly mentioned at the top of his program the school shooting earlier in the day in Winder, Georgia, where two students and two teachers were killed and nine people were injured. Trump cited Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban to tout his record on crime and national security.“Well, it's a sick and angry world for a lot of reasons, and we're going to make it better. We're going to heal our world. We're going to get rid of all these wars that are starting all over the place, and we're going to make it better,” Trump said.“You know, Victor Orban made a statement. They said, ‘Bring Trump back, and we won't have any problems.’ He was very strong about that.”Trump also took time to defend himself and his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, against Harris’ running mate Gov. Tim Walz’s argument that they’re “weird.” Trump fired back at that sentiment, poking fun at some of Walz’s quirks.“Something’s weird with that guy. He's a weird guy. JD is not weird. He's a solid rock. I happen to be a very solid rock,” said Trump. “We're not weird. We're other things, perhaps, but we're not weird. But he is a weird guy.”Source: https://abcnews.go.com/

Former Wyoming Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, a staunch critic of former President Donald Trump, announced Wednesday that she will be voting for Vice President Kamala Harris for president.Cheney, the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, revealed her decision during a panel at Duke University and reiterated her warnings of the dangers of a second Trump term."As a conservative and as someone who cares and believes in the Constitution, I have thought deeply about this and because of the danger Donald Trump poses, not only am I not voting for Donald Trump, but I will be voting for Kamala Harris," she said to a roaring crowd.Harris is "proud" to get "patriot" Cheney's endorsement, the Harris campaign said in a statement Wednesday night as it continues to court Republican voters ahead of the election."The Vice President is proud to have earned Congresswoman Cheney's vote. She is a patriot who loves this country and puts our democracy and our Constitution first," Harris campaign chair Jen O'Malley Dillon wrote. "As she noted in her powerful remarks, this election is a choice between the fundamental threat Donald Trump poses to our democracy and a leader who will stand up for our freedoms and the rule of law in Vice President Harris."Answering questions from the audience at a campaign event in Mesa, Arizona, Trump's running mate Ohio Sen. JD Vance blasted Cheney for backing Harris."A very good thing that I could say about the next Presidency of Donald J. Trump is that he's going to make sure that people like Liz Cheney are laughed out of the Oval Office instead of rewarded," Vance said.Cheney voted to impeach Trump following what she has called the "insurrection" of Jan. 6, 2021, and was vice chair of the House select committee that investigated the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. She received backlash from Trump and other Republicans for her criticism of the former president and was censured by the Republican National Committee.Trump said in March that Cheney and the entire Jan. 6 committee should be jailed.Cheney lost her seat in the 2022 primary to Trump-backed Harriet Hageman by more than 60,000 votes, according to election results.Since leaving Congress, Cheney has continued to criticize MAGA Republicans and Trump."I think we have to take everything that Donald Trump says literally and seriously," Cheney said in an interview with ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl in December."And I think that we saw, frankly, what he was willing to do already after the 2020 election in the lead up to Jan. 6, after Jan 6," she continued. "People need to remember that when Donald Trump woke up on the morning of Jan. 6, he thought he was going to remain as president. And we saw the extent to which he was willing to attempt to seize power when he lost an election."Source: https://abcnews.go.com/