Election 2024: Trump addresses Moms for Liberty group; Vance responds to Trump’s IVF comments (2024)

Trump’s lawyers seek post-Election Day delay for court fight over immunity decision fallout in interference case

Ryan J. Reilly

Daniel Barnesis reporting from the federal courthouse.

Ryan J. Reilly and Daniel Barnes

As the presidential candidates head into the mostheated phaseof the election year so far, former President Donald Trump has made a distinctive shift in tone on his Truth Social profile, lashing out in increasingly vulgar, misogynistic and vindictive posts.

Just this week, he’s reposted messages calling for his political opponents to be jailed, calling for a return of “public military tribunals” for people like former President Barack Obama, as well as making a graphic sexual joke about Vice President Kamala Harris and Democrat Hillary Clinton, his opponent in 2016. The repost of the sexual joke now appears to have been removed from Trump’s profile.

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Actress SigourneyWeaverstarted tearing up Wednesday when she was asked about Kamala Harris at a Venice Film Festival news conference. Weaver, 74, the star of “Alien,” was asked whether movies “can make it possible that a woman like Harris” could become president.

Swedish supergroupABBAhas askedDonald Trumpto stop using its music at campaign rallies, but the Republican presidential nominee’s campaign says it has permission.

“ABBA has recently discovered the unauthorized use of their music and videos at a Trump event through videos that appeared online,” said a statement to The Associated Press from the band, whose hits include “Waterloo,” “The Winner Takes It All” and “Money, Money, Money.”

“As a result, ABBA and its representative has promptly requested the removal and deletion of such content. No request has been received; therefore, no permission or license has been granted.”

Tiffany Justice, the co-founder of Moms for Liberty who moderated tonight's event with Trump, offered him her personal endorsem*nt.

"I want to tell you: Moms for Liberty is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, and we only endorse the school board races, but I want to tell you personally, sir, that I endorse you for president," Justice said at the close of her conversation with the former president.

Trump responded by saying, "Wow, I didn't even expect that. Thank you."

When the moderator at the Moms for Liberty event referred to a female boxer as "he," Trump responded he needs to be "politically correct.

As Trump used "he or she" to describe boxer Lin Yu‑ting, who is not known to identify as transgender or intersex, moderator Tiffany Justice interrupted Trump to call Lin a “he,” suggesting the boxer was male. That was repeated by members of the audience who shouted, “He! He!”

“Tiffany said it! I didn’t. See, I’m a politician. I have to be politically correct,” Trump said to laughter from the crowd.

While addressing Moms for Liberty, Trump was asked what his advice would be for people who want to run for office.

"Don't do it," the former president said.

The moderator quickly jumped in to dissuade attendees who might be tempted to take Trump's advice.

“Run for office! We want you to run for office!” the moderator said.

Puerto Rican artist Anuel AA endorsed Trump during his rally in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, today, telling Puerto Ricans to “stay united” and to “vote for Trump.”

Anuel’s appearance — and embrace — of Trump tonight in Pennsylvania can be consequential for a few reasons.

The first is Anuel’s magnitude as a Puerto Rican reggaeton/rap artist. He’s a frequent feature on smash hits with artists like Bad Bunny — and a major artist in his own right. The celebrity factor of the endorsem*nt is certainly not one to brush aside, despite Trump himself telling attendees that they may not “know who the hell” Anuel is.

But Anuel’s appearance and brief remarks may also be part of a larger Trump campaign effort to court artists of color to in turn engage voters of color in a new way.

Walz stopped for his final fundraiser of the night in McLean, Virginia, at the home of former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe.

McAuliffe, who introduced Walz, touted the Democratic ticket, saying voters can’t let Trump win a second term and criticizing the alleged altercation involving one of the former president’s aides at Arlington National Cemetery this week.

Walz accused Trump of stealing the country's joy and said that Harris is bringing joy back. He also said that Trump represented a threat to democracy and a threat to women’s reproductive freedom and called the former president “just weird as hell.”

Harris' interview last night with CNN anchor Dana Bash was watched by6.3 million TV viewers, according to data from themedia measurementcompany Nielsen.

Nielsen said the interview's performance exceeded a recent Fox News interview with Vance on the first day of the Republican National Convention last month. That interview was watched by6.18 million TV viewers, the company said.

Harris released a campaign statement bashing Trump for saying he'd oppose an abortion-related ballot measure in Florida that would broaden abortion access.

"Donald Trump just made his position on abortion very clear: He will vote to uphold an abortion ban so extreme it applies before many women even know they are pregnant," Harris said in the statement, referring to Florida's six-week law.

She reaffirmed her commitment to signing a bill to "restore reproductive freedom," saying, "I trust women to make their own health care decisions and believe the government should never come between a woman and her doctor."

During a fundraising stop in Bethesda, Maryland, tonight, Walz referred to Trump's position on IVF, after the former president told NBC News yesterday that as president, he would fight to make the government or insurance companies pay for IVF treatments.

"We might have to change, I guess, our talking points on this because apparently their position on IVF and fertility has changed today or something," Walz told the crowd at an outdoor gathering of about 150 people. "Look, women don’t trust them. They don’t trust women, so why the hell would women trust them? No one’s believing that."

Trump mispronounced Rep. Guy Reschenthaler's name at the rally, saying, "Guy Resenshaler — thaler. Guy Rethenshaler."

"That's the toughest name in all of show business," Trump commented.

Earlier, Trump incorrectly pronounced the word "acclimated," saying instead that people were getting "acclimented."

"You know what that means, 'acclimented?'" he added.

A federal judge today rejected Trump's filing attempting to move his New York state criminal case into federal court on technical grounds.

U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein said the motion was not properly filed and that Trump's attorneys need his permission to file the request. The docket entry also directed Trump's lawyer to refile with instructions on how to do so properly. If Hellerstein were to proceed with a hearing on the request, it could potentially result in the former president's Sept. 18 sentencing on falsifying business records charges being delayed.

“Contrary to the wishes of Radical Liberals, President Trump’s powerful petition to remove the Manhattan DA’s Witch Hunt to federal court has not been ruled on by a judge. In a standard procedural move, today, the clerk’s office asked President Trump’s legal team to file in a specific format and we are working with them to make sure it is properly filed on the electronic system,” Steven Cheung, Trump's campaign spokesperson, said following the ruling.

Trump took aim at Harris over her reversal on supporting a ban on hydraulic fracturing, a method of harvesting natural gas or oil known as “fracking.”

"She’s vowed repeatedly that we will ban fracking," Trump told the Johnstown, Pennsylvania, crowd. "People of Pennsylvania are smart. They’re not going to fall for it," Trump said, adding that without fracking "you don't have a Commonwealth."

Harris said during a CNN interview that aired last night that her values have remained consistent, even as she faces criticism over switching her positions on some issues, such as fracking.

A protester at the Trump rally jumped over a barricade, hopped onto the right side of a press riser and started yelling at Trump.

It was unclear what the protester was saying. He was quickly handcuffed and removed from the rally by security. Trump acknowledged the scuffle but continued speaking, saying, “He is on our side.”

After the rally, a campaign official told NBC News that an "individual jumped the press barricade and got up onto the riser" about 75 yards from Trump. The person is now in questioning with local law enforcement, according to the campaign official.

Trump detailed the lead-up to a reported altercation at Arlington National Cemetery after his campaign was criticized for allegedly pushing a cemetery employee.

"I don’t need publicity," Trump said at his rally in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, adding that he had taken several photos with families the cemetery at their request.

"It was so beautiful. And we left, and everything was nice. And then later on that day, I heard that we were using graves of those soldiers for public relations purposes," Trump said.

Trump, doing damage control for recent remarks on abortion that put him to the left of many members of his party, said he would be voting "no" on an abortion amendment that will be on the ballot in Florida this fall, falling in line with anti-abortion groups.

"You need more time than six weeks," he previously said in reference to Florida's six-week ban, indicating that he differs from many within his party who support stricter limits.

He continued by attacking Democrats for the prospect of abortions at nine months. (Late-term abortions are very rare.) Harris and many Democrats have been pushing to reinstate abortion rights nationwide consistent with those afforded by Roe v. Wade.

Speaking at a rally in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Trump slammed Harris' interview with CNN, which aired last night.

Trump called the interview "weak," saying he did not think Harris would be able to handle President Xi Jinping of China if she were elected.

As has become a pattern for Trump, he slammed Harris for not doing many interviews prior to this one. This was the first sit-down interview of her candidacy.

Trump is not conducting anything we would consider traditional “prep” in the sense that there’s no podium, and nobody playing Harris, according to two senior campaign officials.

One of these officials notes Trump’s habit of calling around to friends and allies to bounce ideas about topics — at any time, with or without notice — is in full effect now. (He’s basically workshopping ideas all the time).

Asked about Tulsi Gabbard’s involvement, the other official told NBC News that she’s been helpful in getting Trump to think about the pivot from attacking Harris, to his policies or what he would do differently. Taking things one step beyond the attack lines he gives at rallies, into a better debate answer. The campaign official says they’ve been trying to get her involved for a while.

Mail ballots submitted without a date, or with an inaccurate date, shouldn’t be rejected, a Pennsylvania court ruled on Friday.

“The dating provisions serve no compelling government interest,” the Commonwealth Court said in a majority opinion. “The refusal to count undated or incorrectly dated but timely mail ballots submitted by otherwise eligible voters because of meaningless and inconsequential paperwork errors violates the fundamental right to vote recognized in the free and equal elections clause.”

The president of the Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, a prominent anti-abortion group, told NBC News in a statement today that she chatted with Trump yesterday evening after the former president told NBC Newsthat Florida’s six-week abortion ban is “too short” and would not weigh in decisively on a ballot measure aimed at expanding abortion access in the state.

Marjorie Dannenfelser said, “I spoke with President Trump (last) evening. He has not committed to how he will vote on Amendment 4. President Trump has consistently opposed abortionsafter five monthsof pregnancy. Amendment 4 would allow abortion past this point. Voting for Amendment 4 completely undermines his position.

"We strongly support Florida’s current heartbeat law. For anyone who believes in drawing a different line, they still must vote against Amendment 4, unless they don’t want a line at all. Amendment 4 would lock unlimited abortion into the state constitution, preventing the Florida legislature from enacting any changes," she added.

The two Georgia election workers defamed by Rudy Giuliani are seeking to take possession of his multimillion-dollar homes in New York and Florida and some of his valuable personal property, including three Yankees World Series rings.

Ruby Freeman and her daughter, Wandrea “Shaye” Moss, were awarded $146 million in damages last year after a judge foundGiuliani liablefor repeatedly defaming them by falsely accusing them of election fraud during the 2020 presidential election. They filed the action seeking to get ahold of his properties in federal court in New York on Friday.

The pair are also seeking Giuliani’s 1980 Mercedes-Benz SL500, signed Reggie Jackson picture, signed Joe DiMaggio shirt and three Yankees World Series rings he was given during his time as New York City mayor. They also want a diamond ring he owns and his collection of about two dozen luxury watches.

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A proposal to put golf courses in a Florida state park — which has landed Gov. Ron DeSantis in hot water politically — involved two of the biggest names in professional golf history: Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus.

The proposal to build courses at Jonathan Dickinson State Park in Southeast Florida is now put on hold after bipartisan pushback and protests across the state. But had the idea received state approval, and both Woods and Nicklaus would have been involved in course-design work.

“There were actually going to be at least two courses; one would be a Tiger course and one would be a Jack course,” Eugene Stearns, an attorney who represents Nicklaus, told NBC News.

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“The Apprentice,”a film dramatizingDonald Trump’srise in New York City real estate and his relationship with political power brokerRoy Cohn, has found a distributor that will debut the film in the final stretch of the presidential election, according to a source with knowledge of the deal.

The independent distributor Briarcliff Entertainment plans to release the movie on Oct. 11, the source said. Sebastian Stan stars as Trump and Jeremy Strong of “Succession” fame plays Cohn, one of the former president’s mentors.

Reporting from Washington

Former President Donald Trump is in damage control on abortionafter telling NBC Newsthat Florida’s six-week ban is “too short” and declining to take a clear stance on a state ballot measure that would expand access to the procedure.

The backlash from anti-abortion advocates was fierce, with some warning that the Republican presidential nominee was risking support from a key bloc of the party’s base in the 2024 election.

Alarmed by what she saw, Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the influential anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, called Trump on Thursday to ask for clarity on his comments, according to a source with knowledge of the conversation. Trump told her that he didn’t state a position on an amendmenton his home state’s ballotthis fall, which would bar restrictions on abortion before fetal viability, around the 24th week of pregnancy.

Read the full story here.

Vance said in an interview on Fox News this morning that a future Trump Cabinet could feature a Democrat, though the examples he then gave were people who have left the Democratic Party.

"Oh, of course we would," he said when asked if a second Trump administration would have a Democrat in the Cabinet.

"We actually got a lot of great Democratic support," he continued. "We just got RFK, of course. Tulsi Gabbard, who endorsed the president in just the last couple of days. If you look at the Trump movement in 2024, it’s actually the common sense big tent movement in American politics. We don’t agree on everything, of course."

RFK Jr., who endorsed Trump for president last week, and former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who has also publicly backed the former president, are no longer Democrats.

Gwen Walz, wife of Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz, attacked Trump and Vance in remarks at a campaign stop in Virginia this morning over their comments regarding IVF and teachers who don't have children.

Minnesota's first lady said that she read that Vance once said he was really "disturbed" by teachers who don't have their own children. She said that she took that personally because of her prior struggles with infertility.

"I think it is [personal] for millions of Americans," she said at the Educators for Harris-Walzevent in Manassas. "We do not take kindly to folks like JD Vance telling us when or how to start our families."

She put on her glasses and said she wanted to use her "teacher voice." She said, "Mr. Vance, how about you mind your own business."

During a newly released clip of Trump's Wednesday interview with the Daily Mail, Trump reiterated that he did not know how he would vote on Florida's ballot initiative in November and that he wants more than six weeks.

"I’ll be expressing that soon. But I want more than six weeks. And in Florida, we have a six-week program, and that’s what I believe that you’re voting on, and I think it should be more than six weeks," he said.

The former president made similar comments during an NBC News interview yesterday prior to his remarks in Potterville, Michigan.

Reporting from New York

A Super PAC backing Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., is set to launch a six-figure TV ad buy targeting Republican Dave McCormick for mispronouncing the name of a famed Pennsylvania beer.

The ad is the latest piece of a broader strategy to attack McCormick, a Pennsylvania native who grew up in the state, for spending years living in Connecticut —a strategy used by Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., in his 2022 run against celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz, who lived in New Jersey.

The ad, cut by Senate Majority PAC, a Democratic group, targets McCormick for pronouncing Yuengling as “Yangling” during a podcast interview last year.

Harris's campaign started running this digital ad today on Snapchat geared toward younger voters. It’s short (8 seconds in length), and features the text “Vote For Our Future” on screen the whole time.

The spot is part of their Welcome Back to Campus Campaign. It’s only scheduled to run through tomorrow. The data from Snapchat indicates that they’ve spent $8,000 (which is on the high end for an ad that’s only been running for a few hours on Snapchat) and has received 141,000 impressions, so far.

Vance this morning responded to comments Trump made in an interview with NBC News yesterday that he would support mandating that government or insurance companies pay for IVF treatments. When asked if it was a similar notion to Obamacare, he dodged the question.

"You have insurance companies that obviously are forced to cover a whole host of services. The president explicitly said that he wants insurers to cover additional fertility treatments," he said. "I think it's also important to point out that it's become way too expensive to raise a family in this country."

He did not offer specifics about how IVF would be paid for under the proposed policy, saying, "all details get worked out in the legislative process."

An NBC News estimate, based on 2022 data from HHS, found that Americans spend roughly $7.8 billion on IVF treatments.

In an election where neither party agrees on much, both agree on this: The first presidential debate of the year was catastrophic for President Joe Biden, who was ousted as the presumptive nominee of his party as a direct result.

So as the scheduled Sept. 10 debate on ABC approaches, it’s no surprise now that Team Trump would want to keep the conditions of June’s debate precisely intact — and that Vice President Kamala Harris’ team wouldn’t.

That leads to themost recent dustup— which has now drawn outfor days — over microphones, a topic that’s proven to be the stickiest of all.The issue is whether a candidate’s microphone should be muted when it is not their turn to speak.

Republicans want them muted; Democrats don’t.

Read the full story here.

NBC News asked three students from Arizona State University about their most important issues. Two brought up gun violence.

"I do believe that we do have a big problem with gun violence around the United States, and I believe it’s very important to solve that if eliminating guns or restricting the access of guns to people who can’t or shouldn’t have access to that," Ritvik Vasisht, 20, said. "And I don’t believe as high schoolers or as students just in general, it should be a big worry that we need to be safe."

Isaac Young, 19, said, he worries about gun violence in his hometown of Detroit.

Harrisgave her first sit-down interview yesterday since she became the Democratic presidential nominee, touching onher agenda for 2025and a series of topics that she has so far avoided — and drawing instant criticism from Trump.

Harris presented herself as a pragmatist in the long-anticipated interview, given to CNN’s Dana Bash alongside her running mate, Tim Walz. She sought to strike a balance between defending the Biden-Harris administration’s legacy and charting her own path if she is elected president while taking questions about how some of her policy positions have changed since the last time she ran for president.

Read the full story here.

Harriswas pressed about her policy evolutions yesterday in her firstinterviewsince she became the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee, sitting alongside Walz.

The highly anticipated interview, with CNN’s Dana Bash, came after pressure had been building for Harris to answer more questions from impartial journalists and fully sketch out how her vision differs from Biden's. She has largely avoided doing either in the 39 days since he decided not to run for re-election and endorsed her instead.

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In a new book of photographs, Trump describes his term in office and his post-presidency in his own words, captioning photos of key moments in his political career.

The Trump-authored book, titled “Save America,”includes his recollections of meetings with foreign leaders, photos of family milestones and appearances alongside celebrity golfer Jack Nicklaus and musician Kid Rock, according to excerpts obtained by NBC News.It is set to be released Tuesday.

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Harris campaign allies will hit the campaign trail next week for a "reproductive freedom" bus tour, which will kick off on Trump's home turf in Palm Beach, Florida.

The first stop, on Tuesday, will feature Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Harris campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez and TV personality Ana Navarro, according to the campaign.

The bus tour will make at least 50 stops this fall, the campaign said in a news release. Second gentleman Doug Emhoff and Minnesota first lady Gwen Walz will make stops on the tour "in the coming weeks," the campaign said.

"This election is about freedom — and the American people want and deserve the freedom to make their own health care decisions," Chavez Rodriguez said in a statement.

Harrishas been diligently preparing for the debate stage for months —first by gearing up to face the Republican vice presidential nominee and now, over the past several weeks, to debate Trump, according to four sources familiar with her preparations.

The prep sessions have been sandwiched between campaign stops, official duties as vice president and preparation for her first joint interview with Walz, which aired last nighton CNN, the sources said.

Read the full story here.