Donald Trump tries to block Joe Biden campaign funds being transferred to Kamala Harris
Donald Trump’s team is taking action against Kamala Harris for what they say would constitute the “biggest violation in the history of the Federal Election Campaign Act”.
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Donald Trump’s campaign team is trying to stop campaign funds raised for Joe Biden from being transferred to Kamala Harris, it’s been revealed.
Trump campaign general counsel David Warrington filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission on Wednesday AEST arguing “Harris is seeking to perpetrate a $US91.5 million ($A139m) heist of Joe Biden’s leftover campaign cash,”, CNN reports, citing a copy of the complaint.
The complaint is against Mr Biden, Ms Harris, the Biden campaign (now the Harris campaign) and campaign treasurer Keana Spencer.
Charles Kretchmer Lutvak, a spokesman for Ms Harris, responded in a statement to CNN: “Republicans may be jealous that Democrats are energized (sic) to defeat Donald Trump and his MAGA allies, but baseless legal claims – like the ones they’ve made for years to try to suppress votes and steal elections – will only distract them while we sign up volunteers, talk to voters, and win this election.”
It comes after Democrats chanted “Lock him up!” as an exuberant Ms Harris launched fresh attacks on Mr Trump at her first campaign rally in Wisconsin.
She whipped up a rapturous applause as she said Mr Trump wanted to “take the country backward.”
Meanwhile, Joe Biden returned to the White House after a bout of Covid and is set to deliver a rare “address to the nation” from the Oval Office on Thursday at 10am AEST.
BIDEN’S OVAL OFFICE ADDRESS COULD BE FINAL SPEECH
US President Joe Biden will give what could be his final Oval Office speech on Thursday AEST to explain why he dropped out of November’s election and deny that he will spend six months as a lame duck.
With the world’s eyes already on a looming clash between Vice President Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, Mr Biden will insist in his address to the nation that he still has work to do despite his historic decision to bow out.
The 81-year-old Democrat said on X he would discuss “what lies ahead, and how I will finish the job for the American people”.
The speech, expected to last eight to ten minutes, will be Mr Biden’s first since stepping aside from the race after weeks of pressure following a disastrous debate performance against Mr Trump.
He had promised in his withdrawal announcement — made while he was isolating with Covid at his Delaware beach home — that he would give Americans more details on his stunning decision.
It comes just over a week since his last Oval Office address following the assassination attempt on Mr Trump on July 13, but is only the fourth of his presidency overall — and could well be his last.
‘SHARPER, CLEARER CHOICE’: CLINTON SAYS HARRIS CAN WIN
Hillary Clinton has penned an emotive op ed declaring that Kamala Harris can beat Donald Trump at the US election in November.
“Elections are about the future. That’s why I am excited about Vice President Kamala Harris,” Ms Clinton wrote in The New York Times.
“She represents a fresh start for American politics.”
“There is now an even sharper, clearer choice in this election,” the former US secretary of state, who lost the US election to Donald Trimp in 2016, said.
Ms Clinton also spoke about the misogyny she expects Ms Harris will face in the coming months in her bid to be elected the first female US president.
“I know a thing or two about how hard it can be for strong women candidates to fight through the sexism and double standards of American politics,” Ms Clinton said.
“I’ve been called a witch, a ‘nasty woman’ and much worse.”
MELANIA’S BOLD MOVE TO RAISE CASH
Former first lady Melania Trump is helping to boost her husband’s campaign coffers in her own unique way by putting her name to a new range of jewellery.
Aimed primarily at men, the Fortitude Collection features a range of patriotic medallions that are destined to be a hit with Trump loyalists, The Times reports.
Kamala Harris has been quick off the mark to launch her own range of merchandise after Joe Biden dropped out, releasing a range of T-shirts, drinks containers and baseball caps.
HARRIS LEADS TRUMP IN NEW POLL
Vice President Kamala Harris is narrowly beating rival Donald Trump in a presidential poll, one of the first conducted since US President Joe Biden ended his re-election campaign.
Ms Harris holds a two-point lead over Mr Trump, 44 per cent to 42 per cent, according to the Reuters/Ipsos poll.
It was conducted in the two days after Mr Biden announced he was dropping out of the race and endorsing his Vice President.
In the previous week’s poll, Ms Harris, 59, and Mr Trump, now the elder in the presidential race at 78, were tied at 44 per cent.
Ms Harris’s performance in the polls, bolstered by the excitement among Democratic voters about the shake-up in the race, shows her apparently neutralising the bounce that a nominee gets in the days after his or her party’s nominating convention
HARRIS FACES IMPEACHMENT CALLS
A Republican Congressman is filing articles of impeachment against Vice President Kamala Harris over both her handling of the border and knowledge, if any, of US President Joe Biden’s alleged cognitive decline.
Tennessee politician Andy Ogles is accusing Ms Harris of breaching public trust and of wilfully refusing to uphold US immigration law in two impeachment articles, Fox News Digital reports.
The former article on public trust accused Ms Harris of having “knowingly misled the people of the United States and the Congress of the United States, principally to obfuscate the physical and cognitive wellbeing of the President of the United States, Joe Biden.”
WHO HARRIS COULD PICK AS RUNNING MATE
Kamala Harris will have her pick of new-generation Democratic leaders to turn to as she moves towards her first big candidacy decision — choosing a running mate.
The New York times has narrowed the top contenders down to five candidates.
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear and North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper are both seen as likely picks, the paper reported.
Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro are also likely to be in the running.
Candidates also in the mix but considered less likely, the paper says, include Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Maryland Governor Wes Moore.
TRUMP MOCKS BIDEN’S GOLF GAME IN VIDEO
Donald Trump still considers Joe Biden a rival on the golf course, a video posted by golfer Bryson DeChambeau has shown.
The two-time US Open champion released footage — filmed before the Butler rally shooting — of the pair’s round of golf at Mr Trump’s Bedminster course in New Jersey.
“You think Biden can do that? I don’t know,” Mr Trump said as he hit his tee shot onto the green.
“We had an argument about golf. Can you believe it?” Mr Trump asked in the footage, referring to his comments about his golfing prowess during the pair’s disastrous election debate.
🚨🇺🇸👀 #WATCH: Former President Trump hits a dart in the Break 50 with Bryson, and asks: “You think Biden can do that… I don’t know… We had an argument about golf, can you believe it?†pic.twitter.com/X8c0ZHOEl5
— NUCLR GOLF (@NUCLRGOLF) July 23, 2024
DeChambeau offered to host Mr Trump and Mr Biden for a match on his YouTube channel, which Mr Trump accepted.
He later stressed that the event was for charity, to raise money for the Wounded Warrior Project, where he and Mr Trump would each be donating $10,000 for every stroke they scored under par.
‘KAMALA IS BRAT’: POP WORLD BACKS HARRIS
The pop world has coalesced rapidly around Kamala Harris’s last-minute candidacy, as the US vice president gets a boost from an online explosion of videos mixing her speeches with hit songs.
Janelle Monae, John Legend and Charli XCX are among the star musicians who have publicly backed Harris, along with myriad Hollywood endorsements including from George Clooney, Viola Davis, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Robert De Niro.
Even Beyonce — who is known to strictly guard clearance of her music — reportedly has approved the Harris campaign to use her song Freedom on the trail.
The megastar’s mother, Tina Knowles, quickly backed the now-presumptive Democratic nominee Ms Harris after Mr Biden’s late-stage election exit.
British artist Charli XCX in particular has seen her smash album “brat” become core to the early online Harris campaign.
The “brat summer” meme was already alive and well before Harris became associated with it.
The trend emphasises an aesthetic and lifestyle inspired by Charli’s club album that offers a heavy dose of party-girl energy with undertones of youthful anxiety.
When fans began applying the inescapable lime-green “brat” filter to Kamala Harris images, Charli XCX voiced approval.
“kamala IS brat,” the 31-year-old pop star posted, a sign-off the Harris campaign quickly embraced.
HARRIS BLASTED OVER NETANYAHU ‘BOYCOTT’
Kamala Harris’s decision to skip Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress has been described by Israeli officials as a “boycott”.
The Vice President will instead attend a sorority event at a historically Black college in Indianapolis in an apparent snub to the Israeli Prime Minister.
Israeli officials told The Telegraph that the “disappointing” decision suggested she was “unable to distinguish between good and evil” and that skipping Mr Netanyahu's speech was “not a way to treat an ally”.
OBAMA ‘CAN’T STAND BIDEN’: TRUMP
Donald Trump has claimed “there’s no question” President Biden was pushed out of his re-election campaign by top Democrats such as former President Barack Obama, who “can’t stand him.
“Obama can’t stand him, and he can’t stand Obama. Obama had a part because he said he wasn’t going to support him,” Mr Trump told The New York Post.
“Nancy Pelosi dumped him,” he said. “They all dumped him, and they said, “Either you get out nice or we’re going to go after you.’
“And that’s what happened. And he had no choice. There’s no question about it.”
TRUMP WILL ‘ABSOLUTELY’ DEBATE HARRIS
Donald Trump’s campaign has been thrown into turmoil after the Biden departure, which now makes him the oldest ever US presidential candidate. But Mr Trump insisted that Ms Harris would be “easier” to beat in November than her boss.
Mr Trump, who survived an assassination attempt on July 13, also told reporters he would “absolutely” take part in at least one presidential debate with Ms Harris.
‘TRUST WOMEN’
Kamala Harris notably focused on abortion during her address at her first rally, accusing Mr Trump of trying to ban the procedure and saying that “we trust women to make decisions about their own bodies and not have their government tell them what to do.”
The pumped-up crowd repeatedly chanted “Kam-a-la” during her speech in Milwaukee, the same city where Mr Trump was crowned Republican nominee at his party’s conference just last week.
TRUMP WANTS TO TAKE OUR COUNTRY BACKWARD: HARRIS
An exuberant Kamala Harris whipped up a rapturous crowd at her first rally since effectively clinching the Democratic presidential nomination, as she launched fresh attacks on Donald Trump for trying to “take the country backward.”
In a stark contrast to outgoing President Joe Biden’s often stumbling and low-energy speeches, Vice President Harris gave a punchy and enthusiastic address that was greeted with cheers at the event in the battleground state of Wisconsin.
“Donald Trump wants to take our country backward,” Ms Harris told the crowd in Milwaukee.
“Do we want to live in a country of freedom, compassion and rule of law, or a country of chaos, fear and hate?”
Where Mr Biden used to target Mr Trump as a broad threat to democracy, Ms Harris took a more personal, targeted approach by pointing to her record as a California prosecutor who had dealt with what she said were “predators” and “fraudsters” like the former president and convicted felon.
“So hear me when I say I know Donald Trump’s type,” she said, echoing comments she made to campaign workers on Monday.
“I will proudly put my record against his any day of the week.”
‘WATCH AND LISTEN’: BIDEN
Joe Biden announced he will deliver a prime time speech from the Oval Office on Wednesday (10am AEST on Thursday) about “what lies ahead.”
Asked by reporters what he would say as he arrived back, Mr Biden replied: “Watch and listen. Why don’t you wait and hear what I say?”
Mr Biden’s doctor said he was now all clear of Covid.
Both he and Ms Harris are due to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week when he visits Washington.
‘BIDEN IN CONTROL’: WHITE HOUSE
Joe Biden returned to the White House for the first time since he isolated with Covid six days earlier.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said fears the severity of Mr Biden’s real condition were being concealed were “ridiculous”, and insisted the President was still “very much” in command.
“Obviously, he stepped down from running and being the nominee, but he’s very much still the president.
He still has the job, and we have a lot more to get done on behalf of the American people,” Ms Jean-Pierre told ABC’s “The View” on Tuesday.
“He wants to zero in and focus on that.”
‘BIG IMPROVEMENTS’: TRUMP REACTS TO SECRET SERVICE BOSS
Donald Trump said “big improvements” have been made to his Security Service detail since the dodged an assassin’s bullet.
Mr Trump said the agency’s former director Kim Cheatle, who resigned over the stunning security failure, never gave him “proper protection”.
“So I ended up having to take a bullet for democracy,” Mr Trump told Fox News Digital after she resigned.
“Many requests were made by on-site Secret Service for more people, always with a turn down or no response,” Mr Trump said. “I have the biggest crowds in history, and they should be treated accordingly.”
HARRIS HITS CAMPAIGN TRAIL AFTER SECURING NOMINATION
Kamala Harris hit the US campaign trail after effectively clinching the Democratic presidential nomination, heading to the battleground state of Wisconsin to renew her attacks on Republican candidate Donald Trump.
The Vice President took just 36 hours to secure enough delegates to be nominated, moving with lightning speed after US President Joe Biden’s exit from the race triggered one of the largest election upheavals in modern US history.
Top Democratic congressional chiefs – Senator Chuck Schumer and House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries – threw their weight behind her in a press conference.
Hollywood star George Clooney – who made waves earlier this month as one of the first high-profile Democratic activists to urge Mr Biden to drop his re-election bid – also said he is now behind 59-year-old Ms Harris’s campaign to face Mr Trump in November.
On her trip to Milwaukee, Ms Harris was expected to launch another attack on convicted felon Mr Trump as she leans into her past role as California’s top prosecutor.
“She is prepared to prosecute the case against Donald Trump,” said Wisconsin campaign spokeswoman Brianna Johnson.
‘NEVER AGAIN’: BIDEN TO APPOINT NEW SECRET SERVICE BOSS
Joe Biden said he would appoint a new Secret Service director to ensure the stunning security failure “can never happen again”.
Mr Biden thanked Secret Service Director Kim Cheatle for her “decades of public service”, which ended in the stunning assassination attempt of Donald Trump.
“The independent review to get to the bottom of what happened on July 13 continues, and I look forward to assessing its conclusions. We all know what happened that day can never happen again,” Mr Biden said.
Despite the attempted assassination, Mr Biden thanked Ms Cheatle as a “selflessly dedicated” leader who “risked her life to protect our nation”.
“As a leader, it takes honour, courage, and incredible integrity to take full responsibility for an organisation tasked with one of the most challenging jobs in public service,” Mr Biden said.
DAD OF TRUMP SHOOTER BREAKS SILENCE
The father of Thomas Matthew Crooks broke cover for the first time since the attempted assassination of Donald Trump.
Matthew Brian Crooks, 53, was seen leaving a market with a trolley overflowing with groceries after being holed up at his Pennsylvania home since the July 13 shooting.
“We just want to try to take care of ourselves right now,” Crooks told Fox News.
“We’re going to release a statement when our legal counsel advises us to do so — until then, we have no comment.”
BIDEN TO DELIVER DROP OUT SPEECH
Joe Biden will deliver a speech on Wednesday, local time, to address the end of his re-election campaign.
Quoting people familiar with the president’s plans, the Washington Post reported that Mr Biden would speak to the nation in more detail about his decision to drop out of the race against Donald Trump.
The speech is scheduled to on Thursday morning at 10am AEST.
Tomorrow evening at 8 PM ET, I will address the nation from the Oval Office on what lies ahead, and how I will finish the job for the American people.
— President Biden (@POTUS) July 23, 2024
‘BIDEN/HARRIS FAILED’: TRUMP
After news broke of the Secret Service director’s resignation, Donald Trump said Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were not able protect him.
“The Biden/Harris Administration did not properly protect me, and I was forced to take a bullet for Democracy. IT WAS MY GREAT HONOR TO DO SO!” Mr Trump said.
The Biden/Harris Administration did not properly protect me, and I was forced to take a bullet for Democracy. IT WAS MY GREAT HONOR TO DO SO!@realDonaldTrump Donald Trump Truth Social 10:32 AM EST 07/23/24
— Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) July 23, 2024
SECRET SERVICE DIRECTOR RESIGNS
US Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle has resigned, day after she acknowledged that the agency failed in its mission to prevent the assassination attempt against Donald Trump. Ms Cheatle was facing bipartisan calls to step down after a 20-year-old gunman wounded the Republican presidential candidate at a July 13 campaign rally in Pennsylvania.
“The Secret Service’s solemn mission is to protect our nation’s leaders and financial infrastructure,” Ms Cheatle wrote in a letter to her officers.
“On July 13th, we fell short on that mission. The scrutiny over the last week has been intense and will continue to remain as our operational tempo increases. As your Director, I take full responsibility for the security lapse.”
BIDEN CALL LABELLED ‘FAKE’ AFTER HARRIS GAFFE
Speculation is mounting that Joe Biden’s surprise phone call was prerecorded after an apparent slip-up by Vice President Kamala Harris left more questions than answers.
At some point in the exchange between the two, Ms Harris can be heard saying: ” “It is so good to hear our President’s voice. Joe, I know you’re still on the rec …”
Ms Harris quickly corrects herself to say: “On the call.”
“Does Kamala just stop short of saying “recording” instead of call?” asked Twitter/X user Libby Emmons.
Read more:
Joe Biden speaks for first time since dropping out of presidential race
CLOONEY BREAKS SILENCE
George Clooney broke his silence on Joe Biden dropping out of the 2024 election, after his brutal evisceration of the president opened the floodgates to his ouster.
The Hollywood A-lister said Mr Biden is “saving democracy once again” by making way for Vice President Kamala Harris to take on Donald Trump in November.
Clooney waited two days before commenting on Mr Biden’s decision, despite the actor’s op-ed in The New York Times widely seen as the signal for the Democratic Party establishment to turn on the president’s candidacy.
“President Biden has shown what true leadership is,” Clooney said in a statement to CNN.
Clooney endorsed Ms Harris to succeed Mr Biden on the Democratic Party ticket.
“We’re all so excited to do whatever we can to support Vice President Harris in her historic quest,” he said.
Read more:
George Clooney breaks silence on Biden as Hollywood backs Harris
OBAMA DECLINED TO PUBLICLY ENDORSE HARRIS
While former president Barack Obama declined to publicly endorse the Vice President, instead encouraging a transparent process to replace Mr Biden, a series of potential candidates swiftly rowed in behind her.
They included popular Democratic governors JB Pritzker of Illinois, Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan and Andy Beshear of Kentucky. Independent senator Joe Manchin – who briefly considered re-registering as a Democrat to challenge Ms Harris – said he would not run but urged the party to consider alternatives in a competitive process.
HARRIS SECURED NUMBERS TO WIN PARTY VOTE
Those calls became irrelevant hours later, however, as it was confirmed that Ms Harris had secured more than the 1976 Democratic Party delegates needed to win a majority at the party’s convention next month in Chicago.
Party chiefs said they were expecting to formalise her nomination before the convention in a virtual call in the first week of August.
HARRIS’ VP CANDIDATES PUT HAND UP
Ms Harris moved swiftly to consider vice presidential candidates to join her ticket, with about 10 Democrats asked to submit information for a rapid vetting process.
That list reportedly included North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and Arizona senator Mark Kelly, with Ms Whitmer, Mr Pritzker, Maryland Governor Wes Moore and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg also in the frame.
DEMOCRATS RAKE IN $122M IN DONATIONS
Mr Biden defied an internal rebellion for weeks after his disastrous debate performance against Mr Trump sparked fears the oldest president in history was not capable of beating him or serving for four more years.
But the 81 year old’s decision to walk away reignited the Democratic campaign, with Ms Harris raking in a whopping $US81m in donations ($A122m) in the 24 hours after announcing her White House run, in what her campaign said was a single-day fundraising record.
About 888,000 Americans chipped in to support her campaign, 60 per cent of whom were yet to contribute during this year’s election race.
A political action committee backing her campaign also received $US150m in commitments ($A226m) from donors in the hours after Mr Biden dropped out of the race.
‘I KNOW TRUMP’S TYPE’: HARRIS DECLARES
The Vice President was due to kick off her campaign in the battleground state of Wisconsin on Tuesday (local time) after visiting her campaign headquarters in Delaware.
Previewing her attack on the 78-year-old Republican, the former prosecutor and Californian attorney general said she had taken on “perpetrators of all kinds”.
“Predators who abused women, fraudsters who ripped off consumers, cheaters who broke the rules for their own gain. So hear me when I say: I know Donald Trump’s type,” Ms Harris said.
Mr Trump’s legal troubles are set to reignite in September when he is due to be sentenced over his conviction in the Manhattan Criminal Court for falsifying business records to cover up a hush money payment to a porn star on the eve of the 2016 election.
BIDEN VOWS TO ‘WORK LIKE HELL’ TO HELP HARRIS WIN
“I know yesterday’s news was surprising and hard for you to hear but it was the right thing to do,” he said.
“The name has changed on the top of the top of the ticket but the mission hasn’t changed at all. By the way, I’m not going anywhere. I’m going to be out there campaigning with Kamala.”
“We still need to save this democracy. Trump is still a danger to the community, he’s a danger to the nation.”
– with AFP
Originally published as Donald Trump tries to block Joe Biden campaign funds being transferred to Kamala Harris
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