Vice President Kamala Harris has chosen Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate, looking to strengthen the Democratic ticket in Midwestern states.
With both major party tickets now decided, the campaign is set to play out as a 90-day sprint, and the Rust Belt and the Sun Belt are prime fronts. Both the Harris-Walz and Trump-Vance campaigns will be on the trail in key states Michigan and Wisconsin Wednesday for their respective battleground state tours.
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Michigan county official endorses Harris, saying she ‘embodies the America we deserve’
Deputy Wayne County Executive Assad I. Turfe, the highest ranking Arab American official in Michigan’s largest county, endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign for president shortly after she gave remarks just outside Detroit on Wednesday.
Turfe told The Associated Press he spoke with Harris backstage at the event prior to his endorsement.
“Kamala Harris embodies the America we deserve – an America that stands for strength, inclusivity and unwavering commitment to justice,” Turfe said in a statement. “I wholeheartedly endorse Kamala Harris, as she represents the true spirit of our nation and the values we hold dear.”
Metro Detroit, home to one of the largest Arab American populations in the United States, has become a focal point of tension and unrest due to the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict. Harris’ speech outside Detroit was interrupted for several minutes Wednesday by a small group of pro-Palestinian protesters yelling.
Turfe also pressed the need for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war, but said Harris “gives us the best chance of achieving peace in that region moving forward.”
Trump will hold a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida
The Thursday news conference would be his first public appearance since Vice President Kamala Harris became the Democratic presidential nominee and selected Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate.
The former president announced the 2 p.m. EDT news conference on his Truth Social network and then posted he was eager to debate Harris. He had teased an announcement on the presidential debate earlier this week after pulling down from the scheduled ABC News debate. Trump had said he would rather the debate be on Fox News, but on Wednesday was showing willingness to reconsider ABC News.
“I will expose Kamala during the Debate the same way I exposed Crooked Joe, Hillary, and everyone else during Debates,” he said on Truth Social. “Only I think Kamala will be easier.”
Trump’s running mate JD Vance has criticized Harris for not conducting news conference or sitting down for interviews since President Joe Biden stepped aside and she launched her presidential bid. Harris sometimes answers shouted questions while boarding or leaving her plane for campaign stops.
Secretaries of state urge Elon Musk to fix AI chatbot spreading election misinformation on X
Five secretaries of state are urging Elon Musk to fix an AI chatbot on the social media platform X, saying in a letter sent Monday that it has spread election misinformation.
The top election officials from Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Washington told Musk that X’s AI chatbot, Grok, produced false information about state ballot deadlines shortly after President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential race.
While Grok is available only to subscribers to the premium versions of X, the misinformation was shared across multiple social media platforms and reached millions of people, according to the letter. The bogus ballot deadline information from the chatbot also referenced Alabama, Indiana, Ohio and Texas, although their secretaries of state did not sign the letter. Grok continued to repeat the false information for 10 days before it was corrected, the secretaries said.
The letter urged X to immediately fix the chatbot “to ensure voters have accurate information in this critical election year.” That would include directing Grok to send users to CanIVote.org, a voting information website run by the National Association of Secretaries of State, when asked about U.S. elections.
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