Donald Trump and Kamala Harris barnstormed across the important swing state of Michigan on Friday, hoping to energize voters with 17 days to go before polls open.
Trump lashed out at the judge and prosecutor in his federal election conspiracy case as nearly 2,000 pages of heavily redacted prosecution documents were made public. And he once again suggested that the Civil War, which ended slavery in the United States, could have been “settled” without bloodshed.
In Michigan, Harris was headed to Grand Rapids, Lansing and Oakland County for three campaign stops. Trump was scheduled to appear in Oakland County for a roundtable event, and he’s holding an evening rally in Detroit.
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More: How Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are polling in battleground states
Microphone issues stall Trump rally in Detroit
Trump’s rally in Detroit hit a snag on Friday night when the audio stopped working and the Republican nominee was left on stage waiting for a fix.
The former president was in the middle of a riff about the economy in Michigan’s largest city when his microphone cut out.
He tried another hand held microphone as well that didn’t work. To pass the time, Trump walked around on the stage, talking to staffers amid cheers from the crowd, which at one point launched into a wave to pass the time.
– Darren Samuelsohn
Trump calls Michigan mayor’s endorsement an honor
Trump made a short stop in a Detroit enclave on Friday afternoon where he called it an honor to have the endorsement of Hamtramck Mayor Amer Ghalib who, in turn, described the GOP nominee’s visit to the city as historic.
“As you know, President Trump keeps saying that our country is in decline, and the ship is sinking. So sometimes it’s wise enough to sail against the wave so we can get to the shore safely under the leadership of President Trump and that’s why I endorsed President Trump in this area in Wayne County,” Ghalib said at an Oakland GOP outpost for Trump in the city home to the first all-Muslim city council in the U.S.
Wayne County is a Democratic stronghold where its diverse population represents the Democratic party’s coalition and the divides tearing it apart, including fractures over U.S. foreign policy toward Israel.
– Clara Hendrickson
Harris: It’s not ‘productive’ to emphasize differences with Biden
Harris said Friday that she does not think it would be “productive” for her to highlight policy differences with President Joe Biden on the campaign trail.
Biden opened the door for Harris to do so at an event in Philadelphia this week, where he said that Harris would “cut her own path” and “take the country in her own direction” if she’s elected president, just as he did following his vice presidency.
Asked about Biden’s comments and what she’d do differently, Harris told NBC in an interview, “Vice presidents are not critical of their presidents. I think that really, actually, in terms of the tradition of it, and also just going forward, it does not make for a productive and important relationship.”
Pressed by Peter Alexander, Harris said that “going forward, there is no question that I bring my own experiences and my own life experiences.”
She offered her proposals to expand Medicare to cover home health care and provide up to $25,000 of downpayment assistance to first-time homebuyers as examples.
– Francesca Chambers
Trump says Sinwar ‘not a good person‘
Speaking to reporters on an airport tarmac in Detroit, Trump made his first comments on the Hamas leader killed in an attack in Gaza Thursday, saying Yahya Sinwar “was not a good person.”
“That’s my reaction,” Trump told reporters Friday afternoon while en route to a rally in the battleground state.
Trump said he plans to call Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He said Netanyahu reached out earlier following Sinwar’s death but the two didn’t immediately connect. Trump also accused President Joe Biden of holding Netanyahu back during Israel’s war against Hamas.
“He’s doing a good job,” Trump said of Netanyahu. “Biden is trying to hold him back.” Trump added that “(Biden) probably should be doing the opposite actually. I’m glad that Bibi decided to do what he had to do.”
Biden, who talked to Netanyahu on Thursday, has called Sinwar’s death an opportunity to revive talks for a long-discussed cease-fire and hostage-release deal and pursue a path to end the Gaza war.
– Joey Garrison
Trump case evidence shows how Jan. 6 rally was funded
A 1,900-page trove of records released Friday in the federal election-interference case against former President Donald Trump described evidence such as how money was spent on his “Stop the Steal” rally on Jan. 6, 2021.
The documents show $3 million budgeted by an unnamed organization for the rally and related events.
Many of the unsealed documents are transcripts of depositions from the House committee that investigated the U.S. Capitol attack. The testimony documents the uncertainty at Trump’s White House election-night party about who won the 2020 presidential race and also Trump’s reaction to the Capitol attack as Congress met to certify Joe Biden’s victory.
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan is weighing the evidence to determine whether Trump is immune to federal criminal charges, based on a Supreme Court ruling in July.
Steven Cheung, a Trump campaign spokesperson, called the release election interference as part of “a sham and a partisan case.” Trump has pleaded not guilty to the criminal charges brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith.
–Bart Jansen and Josh Meyer
Harris mocks reported ‘exhaustion’ of Trump
Harris mocked Trump on Friday over a report that the former president is “exhausted” and turning down scheduled interviews as a result.
Over the past week, Trump backed out of interviews planned for NBC in Philadelphia and CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” in addition to a CBS “60 Minutes” interview this month.
The online news site The Shade Room had been in talks with the Trump campaign for an interview but was told by Trump advisers that the former president is “exhausted and refusing [some] interviews but that could change,” according to a report in Politico that cited two anonymous people familiar with the conservations.
“His team is saying that he is suffering from exhaustion, that’s the excuse,” Harris told reporters on Friday afternoon. “Being president of the United States is probably one of the hardest jobs in the world. And so we really do need to ask ourselves: If he’s exhausted from being on the campaign trail, is he fit to do the job?”
In the final weeks of the 2024 campaign, Harris has increasingly sharpened her attacks on the mental acuity of the 78-year-old Trump, arguing he is unfit for a second presidency.
Trump later Friday responded to Harris’ comments, telling reporters in Detroit: “I’m not even tired. I’m really exhilarated. You know why? We’re killing her in the polls, because the American people don’t want her.”
-Joey Garrison
Lizzo and Usher to join Harris on the campaign trail Saturday
Hip-hop stars Lizzo and Usher will join Democratic nominee Kamala Harris on Saturday in the key battleground states of Georgia and Michigan, a campaign official told USA TODAY.
Lizzo will campaign with Harris at a get-out-the-vote event in Detroit, and Usher will join Harris later in the day at a campaign rally in Atlanta. Usher grew up in Atlanta, while Lizzo was born and raised early in her life in Detroit.
The Harris campaign is working to energize Black voters, a key Democratic constituency whose support – though still overwhelmingly for Harris in polls – has shown signs of a slight shift toward Trump.
− Joey Garrison
Report questions Trump’s betting market surge
Four mystery accounts have collectively pumped $30 million in cryptocurrency wagers on a Trump victory into a popular prediction market, raising questions about the legitimacy of its results, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday.
Polymarket – a betting site often touted by billionaire Trump supporter Elon Musk – has gone from posting roughly even odds of a Harris or Trump victory just two weeks ago to giving Trump a 62% chance and Harris a 38% chance.
The surge has coincided with $30 million in Trump bets from four Polymarket accounts that were each funded by deposits from the same U.S. crypto exchange, according to Arkham, a firm that analyzes blockchain and crypto activity.
More: Elon Musk gave $75 million to PAC backing Donald Trump for president
Miguel Morel, founder of Arkham, told the WSJ: “There’s strong reason to believe they are the same entity.”
Although not illegal, or necessarily nefarious, the WSJ reported that some observers see the bets as part of an campaign to generate social media buzz and the perception that Trump is leading what polls say is an extremely close race.
The election forecast web site FiveThirtyEight – which relies on a model based on polls – gives Harris a slight edge, with a 52% chance compared to Trump’s 48% chance, to win the election.
− Joey Garrison
Trump on Lincoln and the Civil War: Why wasn’t it settled?
A day after casting blame on Ukraine for Russia’s invasion of that country, Trump on Friday appeared to question how an historic American leader handled a notably violent chapter: Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War.
“Lincoln was probably a great president, although I’ve always said, ‘Why wasn’t that settled?'” Trump said during an interview on “Fox & Friends.” “You know, I’m a guy that …. it doesn’t make sense, we had a civil war.” The Civil War, which was fought from 1861 to 1865, ended the institution of slavery in the United States.
Trump, who has questioned Lincoln’s stewardship before, was responding to a video question from a child viewer who asked about his favorite president growing up.
More: Civil rights groups denounce Donald Trump’s comment that Civil War ‘could have been negotiated’
The Republican candidate did not expound upon his analysis of the war, and Fox host Brian Kilmeade pointed out that southern states seceded from the Union before Lincoln took office in March of 1861. “Half the country left before he got there,” Kilmeade said.
On social media, Trump opponents took umbrage. “Did Trump just blame Lincoln for the Civil War?” said the organization Republicans Against Trump on X.
− David Jackson
Judge unseals documents in Trump’s election conspiracy case
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan has unsealed approximately 1900 heavily-redacted pages from a court document filed by Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith to support his election subersion conspiracy case against former President Donald Trump. Earlier this month, Chutkan made public a 165-page brief filed by Smith arguing that his prosecution of Trump should be allowed to proceed despite a Supreme Court decision granting former presidents broad immunity from prosecution.
That document contained damaging details of Trump’s alleged indifference to the Jan. 6, 2021 riot, when a mob of his supporters overran the Capitol and temporarily stopped the certification of Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory. The documents made public Friday were from an appendix of material supporting Smith’s argument.
In allowing the documents to be made public, Chutkan wrote that Trump’s “‘concern with the political consequences of these proceedings’ is not a cognizable legal prejudice.’”
Trump blased the judge as “the most evil person” during an interview Friday on the Dan Bongino Show and called Smith “a sick puppy.”
− Dan Morrison
More: New evidence unsealed of how Trump’s Jan. 6, 2021 rally was funded
Ryan Routh wants a new judge in Trump assassination plot case
Ryan Routh, who is charged with trying to assassinate former President Donald Trump, has asked for a different federal judge to preside over his trial in Florida because Trump appointed and has praised the judge assigned to the case as “very highly respected” and “very smart.”
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon is the same judge who dismissed charges against Trump that accused him of hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago home after leaving the White House.
She ruled the prosecutor, Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith, was appointed illegitimately, as Trump had argued. Smith has appealed her decision.
Routh was arrested last month after allegedly staking out a Trump golf course in Florida while armed with a rifle.
− Bart Jansen
More: Ryan Routh, charged with attempted assassination, asks to change judge Donald Trump appointed, praised
Republicans appeal to Georgia Supreme Court to revive ballot hand-count rule
The Republican National Committee and Georgia Republican Party appealed a court decision striking down seven new rules for the upcoming election, including a rule that would required thousands of poll workers to hand-count ballots.
Georgia Judge Thomas A. Cox Jr. held that the seven rules ran contrary to the state’s election laws and exceeded the boundaries of the Georgia State Election Board’s authority. The board has passed a spate of controversial new requirements in the final few months before the election.
Many of the new rules have been passed by the board’s three-person Republican majority, who were praised by former President Donald Trump at an August rally as “pit bulls.” In some instances, that majority has rejected the assessment of Republican Attorney General Chris Carr that proposed rules were probably unlawful.
The Republican groups are taking their appeal straight to the Supreme Court of Georgia, which is the state’s highest court.
– Aysha Bagchi
Trump roasts his own joke writers
A night after a pointed performance at the Al Smith dinner, Trump did not identify his joke writers – and did not praise their work. “I had a lot of people helping, a lot of people,” Trump said during a friendly interview on Fox & Friends.
Trump also told his hosts that he had “a couple people from Fox, actually. I shouldn’t say that, but they wrote some jokes.”
He added: “For the most part, I didn’t like any of them.”
After the Trump interview, Fox News said in a statement that “no employee or freelancer wrote the jokes.”
– David Jackson
Trump doesn’t want negative ads on Fox
Trump ended a friendly interview on Fox & Friends by telling the hosts that he would be meeting today with Rupert Murdoch – their big boss – about coverage of the campaign. Trump said he would tell Murdoch he doesn’t want to see negative ads or critical commentators on Fox during the final weeks of the campaign. “I’m going to say, Rupert, please do it this way,” Trump said. “And then we’re going to have a victory, because I think everyone wants to have a victory.”
– David Jackson
Barack and Michelle Obama to campaign with Harris in Georgia, Michigan
Former President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama will campaign with Democratic nominee Kamala Harris in two battleground states next week, the Harris campaign said Friday.
Barack Obama will join Harris for a get-out-the-vote event in Georgia Thursday, Oct.24. Michelle Obama will campaign with Harris two days later, Saturday, Oct. 26 in Michigan, marking the first day of statewide early voting in Michigan.
The campaign did not immediately provide additional details including the cities of the events.
It’s the first time Michelle Obama – who addressed the Democratic National Convention in Chicago earlier this summer – has hit the campaign trail for Harris. And it will be the first time either of the Obamas have campaigned directly alongside Harris ahead of the Nov. 5 election.
Barack Obama returned to the campaign trail last week with a solo campaign rally in Pittsburgh for Harris. The former president ripped Trump repeatedly in his speech, saying there’s “no evidence that this man thinks about anybody but himself.”
And in remarks earlier at a Harris campaign office, Obama admonished Black men reluctant to support Harris, suggesting that some aren’t rallying behind her candidacy because she is a woman. He urged them to get off the sidelines and back Harris.
– Joey Garrison
Trump speech last night at Al Smith dinner blasts Harris, De Blasio
Former President Donald Trump used his spotlight at a Catholic charity dinner Thursday to hurl insults and attacks on targets ranging from the absent Vice President Kamala Harris to former New York Mayor Bill DeBlasio.
Trump drew some groans and boos from the white-tied audience at the 79th annual Al Smith dinner, including what even he called a “nasty” joke about the breakup of the first marriage of Harris spouse Douglas Emhoff. Trump attacked Harris on items ranging from her late entry into the race to the way she laughs.
– David Jackson
How many days until Election Day?
There are 17 days until election day. Check out our election countdown clock here.
– Kinsey Crowley
Where do Harris, Trump stand in the polls?
Harris and Trump are neck-and-neck in national polls as Election Day approaches. In a Real Clear Politics average of national polls, Harris leads Trump by 1.5 percentage points.
It’s even closer in the pivotal swing states. For example, Trump leads Harris by 1.1 percentage points in Arizona in a Real Clear Politics polling average.
– Marina Pitofsky
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Where is Trump campaigning on Friday?
Donald Trump is holding a rally in Detroit, Michigan, on Friday.
Last week, Trump gave a speech to the Detroit Economic Club, outlining his agenda for raising tariffs as a way to help the auto industry but also criticizing Detroit as a nationwide model.
Trump is also scheduled to appear in Oakland County, which is northwest of Detroit, on Friday. He’ll be hosted by a group called Building America’s Future for a roundtable event that is also scheduled to include Republican Mike Rogers – who’s vying for Michigan’s open U.S. Senate seat against U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin.
– Todd Spangler, Clara Hendrickson
Where is Harris campaigning on Friday?
Harris will be in Michigan on Friday for three events – Grand Rapids, Lansing and Oakland County. She will return to Detroit on Saturday for her fifth event of the week in the Great Lakes State.
– Rachel Barber
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Election 2024 live updates: Judge unseals more Trump documents
