Biden says attacks on Haitian immigrants have ‘no place in America’; Trump holds first press conference since debate – live

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Joe Biden said the hostile attacks on Haitian immigrantsin the US “[have] to stop” afterDonald Trump repeated a false and derogatory claim about a Haitian community in Ohio.

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Donald Trumprepeated racist claims about Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, on Friday, doubling down on anti-immigrant rhetoric as residents in the town have faced bomb threats and have detailed their fears amid harassment.

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Some schools in Springfield were reportedly closed by administrators for a second day in a row as Trump and his allies spread unproven stories of pet-eating by Haitian migrants.

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Haitians have reportedly been intimidated and had their cars vandalized in Springfield since the campaign against them began. People chanted “we’re not eating cats” at a rally held byHarris’s running mate, Tim Walz, in Michigan yesterday.

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Trump also defended his association with Laura Loomer, a conspiracy theorist whose penchant for public displays of racism has unnerved even some of his most extreme allies.

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Kamala Harris is participating in a taped interview with a local station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to air later on Friday. Harris will also host a virtual livestream rally together with Oprah Winfrey next week.

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Pope Franciscriticized Donald Trump over his plan to deport millions of immigrants and Kamala Harris over her stance supporting abortion rights.

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Kamala Harris’s campaign stepped up its mockery of “chicken” Donald Trump for ducking out of another presidential debate, with the Democratic nominee telling her Republican rival he owes it to voters to face her again.

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Joe Biden and Keir Starmer, the UK prime minister, are meeting at the White House where they are expected to discuss a loosening of restrictions on Ukraine to launch long-range strikes into Russia.

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Joe Biden is planning a trip to Angola in the coming weeks. This would make Biden the first US head of state to visit sub-Saharan Africa since then president Barack Obama in 2015, according to Reuters.

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President Joe Biden is planning a trip to Angola in the coming weeks, Reuters is reporting, citing several sources familiar with the plans.

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The trip, Reuters reports, is likely to occur after the UN general assembly meeting in September and before the presidential election in November, according to a source.

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This would make Biden the first US head of state to visit sub-Saharan Africa since then president Barack Obama in 2015, according to Reuters.

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Biden had previously said he would visit Africa during his presidency.

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Despite the efforts of localleaders, Donald Trump has continued to demonize the Haitian community of Springfield, Ohio, vowing at a press conference to carry out “large deportations” in the town if returned to the White House. He also defended his association with Laura Loomer, a conspiracy theorist whose penchant for public displays of racism has unnerved even some of his most extreme allies. At a White House event celebrating Black excellence, Joe Biden said the attacks on Haitians have “no place in America”, and Kamala Harris was on her way to Pennsylvania for more campaign events this evening.

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Here’s what else has happened so far today:

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  Some schools in Springfield were reportedly closed by administrators for a second day in a row as Trump and his allies spread unproven stories of pet-eating by Haitian migrants.

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  Peoplechanted “we’re not eating cats” at a rally held byHarris’s running mate, Tim Walz, in Michigan yesterday.

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  Haitians have reportedly been intimidated and had their cars vandalized in Springfield since the campaign against them began.

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Donald Trump went on to threaten “large deportations” in Springfield, Ohio, which is home to a large Haitian community that he and his allies have vilified in recent days.

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“I can say this: we will do large deportations from Springfield, Ohio, large deportations. We’re going to get these people out,” Trump said.

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Haitians are currently shielded from deportation under the homeland security department’s Temporary Protected Status through 3 February 2026, due to their home country’s troubles.

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Donald Trump was asked about his association with Laura Loomer, the rightwing conspiracy theorist who has recently been spotted with him on the campaign trail, prompting complaints from some Republicans who see her as a bad influence.

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“Laura’s been a supporter, just like a lot of people are supporters, and she’s been a supporter of mine. She speaks very positively of the campaign,” Trump said.

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“I don’t control Laura. Laura has to say what she wants. She’s a she’s a free spirit.”

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Here’s more on the outcry over Loomer’s involvement with the Trump campaign:

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Following a delay of about 90 minutes,Donald Trumphas started his press conference in Rancho Palos Verdes, California.

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Before he started speaking, he yielded to Mayor John Cruikshank, who talked about the struggles of the community, where Trump has a golf course, including landslides.

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Here’s more about that:

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Joe Biden hosted a celebration of Black excellence at this White House his afternoon, where he made a point to condemn attacks on Haitian immigrants in Ohio made by Donald Trump and his allies.

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The president described Haitian Americans as a “community that’s under attack in our country right now” which he said was “simply wrong”.

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“There’s no place in America. This has to stop, what he’s doing. It has to stop,” Biden said, without mentioning Trump’s name.

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The former president and his running mate, Ohio senator JD Vance, have claimed that Haitians in the town of Springfield have been eating pets, which local officials say is not true.

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Vance has also blamed the entire community for the death of a child killed in a car accident involving a Haitian driver, prompting the boy’s father to publicly ask that the tragedy not be used for “political gain”:

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Donald Trump is set to give a press conference for the first time since his debate with Kamala Harris on Tuesday.

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He’ll speak to reporters at his golf course in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, a wealthy community near Los Angeles.

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Expect him to declare that he won his first debate against the vice-president, and perhaps elaborate as to why he has declined her invitation for a second face-off. It’ll also be interesting to see if he mentions the unproven pet-eating allegations he has spread in recent days, or avoids the topic.

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Two elementary schools and a middle school have been evacuated or are closed in Springfield, Ohio, the town that Donald Trump and his campaign have baselessly claimed is being menaced by immigrants who eat pets, a Spectrum News affiliate reports.

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Spectrum reports that the school disruptions were caused by unspecified information received by the police department:

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Trump and his running mate, JD Vance, who represents Ohio in the Senate, have in recent days accused people from Springfield’s Haitian immigrant community of eating pets, despite denials from city officials.

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In a memo released this morning, Harris campaign spokesman Ian Sams said Donald Trump should be held accountable for his refusal to answer questions dealing with some of the thorniest issues the president faces at Tuesday’s debate.

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Sams cited direct questions to Trump from the moderators about whether he would veto a national abortion ban, or if he wanted Ukraine to win its war against Russia – both queries to which the former president did not directly respond. Trump also restated his debunked belief that he won the 2020 election, and said that he would seek to repeal the Affordable Care Act, despite only having “concepts” of a plan to replace it.

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“The debate was a mess for Trump, yes. But these answers are simply toxic. In almost any other circumstance, any one of these answers might drive days of a media crisis for the candidate. Taken together, they are an unmitigated disaster,” Sams wrote, adding, “Trump should have to answer for these positions.”

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Perhaps he will, at his press conference set to take place at 12pm.

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Good morning, US politics blog readers. Donald Trump may have put the kibosh on another debate against Kamala Harris yesterday, but the vice-president isn’t letting the matter rest. Yesterday, Harris told a crowd in North Carolina that “I believe we owe it to the voters to have another debate”, and this morning, her campaign released a memo blasting Trump for the “toxic positions” he took during their encounter, and saying he should respond to them – implicitly in the form of another debate against the vice-president. The Harris campaign has said it would be happy to participate in such an event next month, but that would require Trump to reverse his position. Expect the former president to elaborate on the subject around 12pm ET, when he holds a press conference in Los Angeles.

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Here’s what else is going on today:

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  Harris campaigns at 6.35pm ET in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, the swing state that some believe will be the most important in deciding the outcome of this election.

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  Tim Walz, Harris’s running mate, is campaigning in the two other Great Lake swing states, Michigan and Wisconsin.

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  Joe Biden welcomes the UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, to the White House at 4.30pm, for his first visit since taking office in July.

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Summary

• Joe Biden said the hostile attacks on Haitian immigrantsin the US “[have] to stop” afterDonald Trump repeated a false and derogatory claim about a Haitian community in Ohio.

• Donald Trump repeated racist claims about Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, on Friday, doubling down on anti-immigrant rhetoric as residents in the town have faced bomb threats and have detailed their fears amid harassment.

• Some schools in Springfield were reportedly closed by administrators for a second day in a row as Trump and his allies spread unproven stories of pet-eating by Haitian migrants.

• Haitians have reportedly been intimidated and had their cars vandalized in Springfield since the campaign against them began. People chanted “we’re not eating cats” at a rally held byHarris’s running mate, Tim Walz, in Michigan yesterday.

• Trump also defended his association with Laura Loomer, a conspiracy theorist whose penchant for public displays of racism has unnerved even some of his most extreme allies.

• Kamala Harris is participating in a taped interview with a local station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to air later on Friday. Harris will also host a virtual livestream rally together with Oprah Winfrey next week.

• Pope Francis criticized Donald Trump over his plan to deport millions of immigrants and Kamala Harris over her stance supporting abortion rights.

• Kamala Harris’s campaign stepped up its mockery of “chicken” Donald Trump for ducking out of another presidential debate, with the Democratic nominee telling her Republican rival he owes it to voters to face her again.

• Joe Biden and Keir Starmer, the UK prime minister, are meeting at the White House where they are expected to discuss a loosening of restrictions on Ukraine to launch long-range strikes into Russia.

• Joe Biden is planning a trip to Angola in the coming weeks. This would make Biden the first US head of state to visit sub-Saharan Africa since then president Barack Obama in 2015, according to Reuters.

Joe Biden is meeting with the UK’s prime minister, Keir Starmer, at the White House.

The pair are expected to discuss – though not necessarily announce – a loosening of restrictions on Ukraine to launch long-range strikes into Russia.

Biden and Starmer took photos inside the Oval Office before sitting down for talks in the Blue Room alongside UK and US officials, per pool report.

Before talks began, Biden said the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, will not prevail in the war with Ukraine. He said he and Starmer would talk about Ukraine, the Middle East and the need for a hostage and ceasefire deal, as well as the Indo-Pacific region.

The White House’s press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, said political leaders should not be “attacking vulnerable communities” as she criticized Donald Trump for spreading false and racist theories targeting Haitians in Springfield, Ohio.

The Washington Post reported Jean-Pierre, whose parents immigrated from Haiti to New York, telling reporters today:

Political leaders should not be attacking vulnerable communities. That’s not who we should be. And if they’re going to fall for conspiracy theories online, maybe they shouldn’t be our leaders.

Pope Francis has criticized both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump for their policies on abortion and immigration, claiming both candidates are “against life”.

The pope was speaking to journalists on Friday when he was asked about the US presidential election. He replied:

Both are against life, be it the one who kicks out migrants, or be it the one who kills babies.

He went on to say that not welcoming migrants is a “grave” sin and compared undergoing an abortion to an assassination, Reuters reported.

Catholics would have to “choose the lesser evil” when they vote in November, he said, without elaborating.

Who is the lesser evil? That lady, or that gentleman? I don’t know. Everyone, in conscience, (has to) think and do this.

“Not voting is ugly,” he added. “It is not good. You must vote.”

Sam Levine

Kamala Harris is participating in a taped interview with Brian Taff for Action News 6 ABC, a local station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The interview will air on the station’s 6pm broadcast.

Oprah Winfrey and Kamala Harris will host a virtual livestream rally together next week.

The event, titled Unite for America, will take place on Thursday 19 September, at 8pm ET.

This comes as Winfrey, who said she was a registered independent, made a surprise appearance at the Democratic national convention last month and endorsed Harris for president.

Biden to make first Africa visit in coming weeks – report

President Joe Biden is planning a trip to Angola in the coming weeks, Reuters is reporting, citing several sources familiar with the plans.

The trip, Reuters reports, is likely to occur after the UN general assembly meeting in September and before the presidential election in November, according to a source.

This would make Biden the first US head of state to visit sub-Saharan Africa since then president Barack Obama in 2015, according to Reuters.

Biden had previously said he would visit Africa during his presidency.

MoveOn, a progressive public policy advocacy group, is partnering with ice-cream company Ben & Jerry’s to create a special limited edition Kamala Harris-inspired ice-cream flavor, titled Kamala’s Coconut Jubilee, as part of a get-out-the-vote initiative.

MoveOn announced on Friday that it will also be traveling to battleground states with an ice-cream truck, where it will hand out free ice-cream, and raffle off free, limited-edition, autographed pints of Kamala’s Coconut Jubilee – which is described as a coconut ice-cream with a caramel ripple and confetti stars.

To kick off our #ScoopTheVote campaign, we're raffling off free, limited-edition pints of Kamala’s Coconut Jubilee, a coconut ice cream with a caramel ripple and confetti stars, made by Ben Cohen & Jerry Greenfield!

Enter here for your chance to win: https://t.co/eKnQlI4Mvhhttps://t.co/tu29tb7DOOpic.twitter.com/BAjgZTtuOw

— MoveOn (@MoveOn) September 12, 2024

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The Scoop the Vote tour begins on 16 September in Philadelphia with the founders of Ben & Jerry’s, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, the organization said.

In addition to free ice-cream and other goodies, the tour will feature elected officials, activists and other special guests, MoveOn said.

And on top of the coconut ice-cream, MoveOn will also serve a variety of electorally themed ice-cream flavors, they said, that include: Unburdened by What Has Vanilla Bean, Inauguration Celebration Birthday Cake, Fight for Our Rights Sorbet and MoveOn Mobilizer Milk Chocolate.

The day so far

Despite the efforts of local leaders, Donald Trump has continued to demonize the Haitian community of Springfield, Ohio, vowing at a press conference to carry out “large deportations” in the town if returned to the White House. He also defended his association with Laura Loomer, a conspiracy theorist whose penchant for public displays of racism has unnerved even some of his most extreme allies. At a White House event celebrating Black excellence, Joe Biden said the attacks on Haitians have “no place in America”, and Kamala Harris was on her way to Pennsylvania for more campaign events this evening.

Here’s what else has happened so far today:

• Some schools in Springfield were reportedly closed by administrators for a second day in a row as Trump and his allies spread unproven stories of pet-eating by Haitian migrants.

• People chanted “we’re not eating cats” at a rally held byHarris’s running mate, Tim Walz, in Michigan yesterday.

• Haitians have reportedly been intimidated and had their cars vandalized in Springfield since the campaign against them began.

Donald Trump’s press conference has concluded, but before he wrapped up, the former president was prompted to talk about what he might do for California if he wins the election.

Trump turned it into a campaign pitch to Golden State voters, who haven’t backed a Republican presidential candidate since George HW Bush was on the ballot in 1988:

Vote for me, California. I’m going to give you safety. I’m going to give you a great border, and I’m going to give you more water than almost anybody has.

Notice the reference to water, an all-important issue in the western state, which is also the nation’s most populous:

Trump was asked again about his association with Laura Loomer, and what he thinks she brings to his campaign.

Loomer has pedaled conspiracy theories about the 9/11 attacks, and made racist posts on social media. Nonetheless, Trump said:

She brings a spirit to us that a lot of people have. We have very spirited people. And, in all fairness to her, she hates seeing what’s happened to the country.