Key events
Trumpâs news conference more closely resembled one of his rally speeches
Maanvi Singh
Donald Trump spoke for more than 45 minutes â repeating many of the signature lies and falsehoods that draw cheers at his rallies â before taking any questions from the press.
This is a well-worn tactic for Trump â a way to entice news networks to turn their cameras toward him for what is essentially free press. His press conference earlier this month â his first since Kamala Harris had entered the presidential race â ran on for about an hour and a half, during which Trump rambled about the crowd size at his January 6, 2021, rally and falsely claimed that no one died during the Capitol riot that day. When he finally took questions, he gave confusing and at times incoherent answers.
Trump used the same approach to a press conference back when he was president as well. In an April 2020 news analysis by the Guardianâs David Smith â Briefing or rally? Trump shifts to campaign mode as he rails against the media â my colleague details the surreal experience of attending one of Trumpâs coronavirus press briefings.
I was among an unlucky 13 reporters sitting in that room on Saturday, along with one standing at the back from Trumpâs beloved One America News Network which, having flouted reportersâ agreed physical distancing guidelines, is there at the invitation of the White House.
Laptops on knees, with several seats between us to maintain physical distancing, we were hardly a typical Make America Great Again crowd. But tellingly, while there was no sign of Dr Anthony Fauciâs reassuring presence, the seats to Trumpâs right included Mark Meadows, a vocal ally in Congress recently appointed White House chief of staff, and Kayleigh McEnany, the Trump 2020 campaign national spokesperson turned White House press secretary.
Both gazed up at their boss reverently and smiled at his jokes. Meanwhile Dr Deborah Birx, response coordinator on the coronavirus taskforce, stood on the podium and spent long periods staring expressionless into the middle distance as Trump reeled off some golden oldies.
âWe had the best economy in the history of the world, better than China, better than any country in the world, better than any countryâs ever had,â he said, waving his hand at what was ostensibly a coronavirus taskforce briefing. âWe had the highest stock market in history by far, and Iâm honoured by the fact itâs started to go up very substantially.â
Donald Trump is asked whether he agrees with the argument that his current strategy of personal attacks against Kamala Harris isnât working. He is also asked about his hiring of five new operatives.
Trump denies that this is a sign of a shifting strategy, and says Corey Lewandowski is coming in as a âpersonal envoyâ.
He says he believes he is âentitled to personal attacksâ because he is âvery angryâ at âwhat [Harris] has done to the countryâ. He adds:
I donât have a lot of respect for her. I thinks sheâll be a terrible president.
Donald Trump is asked whether he has put much thought into âwhy God saved your lifeâ during the assassination attempt last month, and âfor what purposeâ.
Trump, who once promised that he would only talk about the shooting once âbecause itâs actually too painful to tellâ, says it was a âmiracleâ. He says:
Itâs a miracle, and God had something â maybe itâs [because] we want to save the world.
Donald Trump is asked when he last spoke with Benjamin Netanyahu, Israelâs prime minister, following reports that the pair spoke on Wednesday about ongoing Gaza ceasefire and hostage release talks.
Trump says the last time he saw Netanyahu was at Mar-a-Lago last month. He says that he has a âvery good relationshipâ with Israel and claims that the Hamas attacks on southern Israel on 7 October âwould have never happenedâ if he had been in the White House at the time.
Trump says that his meeting with Netanyahu at the time was about two-and-a-half hours long, and that he hasnât spoken to him since then.
Donald Trump sold this as a news conference, but he has only just started taking questions from reporters â more than 45 minutes into his speech.
Trump is employing the trick of “calling a news conference” as a way to get cable news to give camera time as he reads from a teleprompter.
— Jonathan Chait (@jonathanchait) August 15, 2024
Donald Trump claims that Kamala Harris wants to âdefund the policeâ, despite the fact that the vice-president has distanced herself from previous remarks praising the movement following the murder of George Floyd in 2020.
Harris has not advocated abolishing police forces, and her spokesperson has said that âshe wants to fund the police, but she wants to do the other things as wellâ.
Donald Trump says Kamala Harris is âfar more radical than Bernie Sandersâ, and says she has picked herself a running mate, Tim Walz, who is also âfar more radicalâ than Sanders.
Harris âwants to change a free-enterprise-type country into a communist-type countryâ, Trump says.
He claims that as attorney general of California, Harris âdestroyedâ the state and that if elected, that she will do the same to the country.
Trump claims that in California âyouâre allowed to rob a store as long as itâs not more than $950â. This is not true.
Californiaâs Proposition 47 reclassified some felony crimes so that individuals who commit certain nonviolent drug and property crimes, including shoplifting merchandise under $950, would be sentenced on misdemeanor charges instead of felony charges.
A misdemeanor sentence would still lead to a person serving up to a year in county jail, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Trump claims there’s a law in California that says you can rob stores as long as you don’t rob more than $950 worth of stuff. Don’t try that home! pic.twitter.com/sI5GPwQAap
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 15, 2024
Donald Trump, speaking at a news conference from his New Jersey golf club, is sticking to a very similar script as when he addressed supporters at a rally yesterday in North Carolina.
Wednesdayâs rally was billed as a major address on the economy, an issue that is taking center stage in this presidential contest. Despite this, Trump said yesterday he was ânot sure the economy is the most important topicâ of the election.
Trump claims Kamala Harris wants âcommunist price controlsâ, calling them âthe Maduro planâ in reference to Venezuelaâs authoritarian socialist leader. He quotes various inflation statistics for various staples of US household diets, as well as higher car insurance premiums and fuel costs.
Donald Trump has begun speaking at his news conference in Bedminster, New Jersey, where he says he has âa lot of interestingâ and âsome very specific thingsâ to talk about.
Trump repeats his claim that the US is a âfailing nationâ with a âfailing economyâ, and says Kamala Harris has âbroke the worldâ and that she âdestroys everything she touchesâ.
He goes on to accuse Harris of being Bidenâs âborder czarâ, despite the fact that the vice-president was never made Bidenâs âborder czarâ. The homeland security secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas, is the official in charge of border security.
Trump claims that Harris is going to be easier to beat than Biden, and claims that he is leading in âmost of the pollsâ. In reality, polls are showing that Harris is ahead of Trump or at least tied with him in most of the battleground states.
The Ohio senator and the Republican vice-presidential candidate, JD Vance, said he hoped that Robert F Kennedy Jr will drop out as an independent presidential candidate and endorse Donald Trump.
Vance, speaking to reporters on his campaign plane today, said there were âa lot of peopleâ in Trumpworld who think Kennedy is âfundamentally running a campaign thatâs helping Kamala Harrisâ. He added:
At this point, I certainly hope that he drops out and endorses, you know, endorses President Trump.
Kennedy is âmuch closer on the issuesâ to Trump than to Harris,â Vance argued.
From ABC Newsâs Hannah Demissie:
Vice Presidential nominee JD Vance came to the back of his plane with donuts to talk to reporters. In the gaggle, he said he hopes RFK Jr. drops out of the race and endorses Trump, adding that the two are more aligned on the issues. pic.twitter.com/EAEkKUmXud
— Hannah Demissie (@hannahdemissie) August 15, 2024
Kamala Harrisâs campaign has released a new video in which she and her running mate, the Minnesota governor, Tim Walz, describe their ticket as joyful underdogs on the path to victory.
âOur campaign is the underdog campaign,â Harris says to Walz in the 10-minute video.
And with our joy, we also have to understand that weâre still up against some forces that are trying to divide our country.
Walz compares the election to a football game, saying itâs âhalf-time in Americaâ, to which Harris responds: âIâm looking at Coach Walz right now.â
The video recalls a similar one between Joe Biden and Barack Obama during the 2020 campaign, AP reported.
Secret Service approves new plan to better protect Trump outdoors â report
The Secret Service has approved a new security plan to better protect Donald Trump at outdoor events, the Washington Post is reporting.
The security plan includes the use of bulletproof glass to shield him on stage, the Post writes, citing a Secret Service official.
The effort comes after the Secret Service urged the Trump campaign to temporarily pause having him appear at outdoor rallies, after the assassination attempt on the former president at an open-air campaign rally last month.