RawStory

2024 Elections

Marco Rubio explains Trump's bizarre stories aren't anything new — so people won't care

WASHINGTON — Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida is firmly behind former President Donald Trump, and he's dismissing any comments from the Tuesday night debate as nothing new.

"I don't think voters last night heard anything they hadn't seen before," Rubio said.

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Cincinnati mayor condemns Trump's 'personal attacks' and 'conspiracy theories'

CINCINNATI—On Tuesday, as Democrats gathered in a 100-year-old historic performing arts theater to watch Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump debate, the mayor of Cincinnati joined them to express his support of Democrats from the top of the ticket on down and his distaste for former President Donald Trump.

Aftab Pureval, Cincinnati's Democratic mayor since 2022, criticized the Trump campaign for being "proud of personal attacks and other, frankly, conspiracy theories." Trump's running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), has a home in Cincinnati —"I’m his mayor," Pureval said.

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'Hell to pay': Tommy Tuberville threatens Dems with another Jan. 6 riot

Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) threatened that there would be another Jan. 6 riot if Democrats did not pass a Republican-backed bill that would make it harder to vote.

At a Wednesday news conference, Tuberville urged Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to schedule a vote on the "Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act" or "SAVE Act." The bill would require a birth certificate or passport in order to vote, even though it is already unlawful for noncitizens to participate in federal elections.

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Trump-backing conservative melts down on 'incoherent' ex-president after debate fiasco

Joining a chorus of critics on both the left and the right who viewed Donald Trump's debate performance opposing Vice President Kamala Harris as a "trainwreck," longtime National Review columnist Andrew McCarthy pitched a fit on Wednesday morning claiming the former president had "one job" to do Tuesday night and he failed miserably.

Noting that he has gone out on a limb supporting Trump, despite all of his faults both politically and personally, while admitting that he saw this election as an uphill climb for the Republican nominee, McCarthy began his column by slapping aside conservative complaints about biased ABC moderators and stating the author of the debacle was Trump and Trump alone.

Getting right to the point, he griped, "If you’re obsessing over how bad, how in the tank for Kamala Harris, the two ABC news moderators were, it’s because you don’t want to come to grips with the brute fact that Donald Trump was a disaster last night."

ALSO READ: Something broke Trump’s brain

Continuing in that vein, he added, "He was unhinged, often incoherent, incapable of completing thoughts and sentences when he had points to make, and led into self-absorbed rabbit-holes — claims that he won the 2020 election, the size of his rallies, whether 'migrants' are eating stolen pets — that diverted him from opportunity after opportunity to expose Harris as a radical leftist now pretending to be a pragmatic centrist who suddenly loves her some guns."

Noting that the former president failed to turn Harris and her policies into a "punchline", he added "Trump couldn’t do it" and then proceeded to point to the former president's fatal flaw as a candidate this go-around.

"Trump also couldn’t stick to deconstructing Harris’s 'values' bunk because his own values are always negotiable. Because he’s an opportunist with some conservative leanings, rather than a conservative in search of opportunities to advance the cause, Trump often can’t decide whether to deride Harris’s cynical policy shifts or try to get to her left," he wrote before pointing out the warning signs were there when he debated President Joe Biden.

"Trump fans, naturally, spout their man’s delusional version of the first debate, to wit: Trump was a force of nature who annihilated Biden through his dazzling debating skills. The truth of the matter is that Trump was terrible that night," he recalled before adding, "There have always been Trump’s incorrigible problems: his hard ceiling, his unpopularity with suburban voters that Republicans need, his penchant to play to his base rather than build out his support, his bad breakups with former advisers who authoritatively brand him as unfit, and his schtick — more exhausting than ever in Trump Era year nine."

"Can we imagine Kamala Harris — until recently, unpopular but little known or cared about — as president of the United States?" he asked before concluding, "Last night, Donald Trump helped them answer, 'Yes.'"

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'That's insane!' Dem Rep. Jasmine Crockett nails Trump's 'crazy fantasies' at debate

Democratic lawmaker, Rep. Jasmine Crockett (TX) trashed former President Donald Trump's debate performance on Tuesday night for being filled with a slew of falsehoods.

MSNBC played a clip of Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) after the debate in the spin room, where even he seemed confused about the false claims Trump promoted about pets being kidnapped and eaten by immigrants.

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GOP official on CNN scrambles to justify Trump-inspired threats against election workers

Ohio's secretary of state Frank LaRose downplayed threats against election officials from Donald Trump supporters who believe his lies about alleged fraud.

The former president insisted once again, this time during Tuesday night's debate, that he did not lose the 2020 election, and CNN's Wolf Blitzer asked the Republican secretary of state about the corrosive effects those false claims have on voter confidence and public safety.

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'He talked about eating pets!' Sparks fly at House hearing over 'Trump's Project 2025'

A usually tame House Committee meeting became heated Wednesday after a Democrat tried to enter the conservative plan known as Project 2025 into the official record — and tied it to Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.

During a hearing before the House Committee on Natural Resources, two Republicans objected when Rep. Jared Huffman (D-CA) tried introducing "Trump's Project 2025."

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'Mask started to slip': Ex-Trump aide thinks MAGA sees through ex-president after debate

"The View" began the discussion about Tuesday night's debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump by celebrating the former's successes.

At the top of the show, Whoopi Goldberg gave a remembrance of the Sept. 11 attacks but then pivoted.

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Trump refuses debate ‘rematch’ — and says Harris ‘was beaten badly’

Former President Donald Trump has declined Vice President Kamala Harris' offer of a second debate. He compared himself to a top boxer, declaring himself the winner and wondering why he should bother with a rematch.

Trump and Harris had their first debate Tuesday night on ABC. Shortly afterward—less than an hour, according to ABC News—the Harris campaign asked for a followup debate in October. Fox News offered to be the host, which should have appealed to Trump, considering he wanted Tuesday's debate to be hosted on the conservative-leaning cable news outlet. But apparently, he's changed his mind.

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Trump defender admonished on CNN for lying about ex-president's debate answers

A former communications official in Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign was warned multiple times by CNN's Jim Acosta to stick to the truth during a contentious exchange on Wednesday morning.

Appearing on CNN for a postmortem on the Tuesday night debate between the former president and Vice President Kamala Harris, Bryan Lanza attempted to clean up claims Trump made about abortion which in turn led the CNN host to admonish him that he was not going to be allowed to lie on-air.

After Acosta noted Trump refused Tuesday night to say he would veto a national abortion ban bill if he was re-elected, Lanza replied, "I think he said in the past that he would not sign a national abortion ban. I think J.D. Vance has also stated that. I think what he said last night —."

ALSO READ: Is Trump's dementia the real reason behind his flip-flopping?

"He did not say he would veto it if it got passed and got to his desk, he didn't say he would veto it," Acosta reminded him.

"I was answering the question, Jim, thank you for giving me the opportunity," Lanza shot back before continuing and saying, "I think what he was saying —."

"Well, if you are not going to answer, I'm going to jump in Bryan, so..." Acosta interjected again.

"I'm about to answer the question," Lanza repeated. "That is the time you let me answer the question. As I was saying and trying to answer your deeply thoughted (sic) question, I think what he was trying to say last night and I think what he has said is, the country does not support late-term abortion. I think 91 percent of the country feels late-term abortion is a horrific thing."

"No, he said that in some states they are executing the babies after they are born, which is false," Acosta stated.

"Let me finish my answer, Jim. understand you don't want to hear it because it is inconvenient, but I'm still going to answer," the conservative parried.

"But Bryan, if you are not going to tell the truth I've got to jump in. I'm sorry," the CNN host cut in.

"Do you want the truth? Do you want me to answer your question?" Lanza shot back to which Acosta replied, "We want the truth. Yeah, go ahead."

"I'm trying to give you the truth with an explanation but you constantly keep interrupting which leads me to believe you don't want to hear the answer because it is inconvenient for you," Lanza attempted. "So for the fourth time, I'm going to try to answer this question. What he said about abortion, what his position has always been is he has always been proud of repealing abortion. He said it early on he gave a list from the Federalist Society who are going to return it to the states. That is what has happened."

Watch below or click here.

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'It's his kryptonite': GOP operatives said to be trashing Trump behind his back as 'old'

President Donald Trump's campaign is on the airwaves making excuses for his debate performance on Tuesday night. Behind the scenes, however, Republicans are reportedly calling it "a disaster."

MSNBC's Dasha Burns spoke from the debate site in Pennsylvania the morning after, revealing what GOP officials are saying behind Trump's back.

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'Laughing at your desperation': Alina Habba mocked for post-debate praise of Trump

Donald Trump made a surprise appearance in the post-debate spin room after his widely panned performance against Kamala Harris, and one of his attorneys tried to present that apparent cleanup attempt as "leadership."

The former president praised his own performance, saying that polling showed as many as 90 percent of viewers thought he won the debate, and one reporter interrupted to ask him to speak up while another asked where he was getting those poll numbers, although Trump didn't say.

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'What’s wrong with Trump?' Onlookers stunned as ex-president smiles at 9/11 memorial event

Former President Donald Trump's smiles and winks during the Sept. 11 memorial in New York City Wednesday outraged attendees and onlookers who blasted the Republican presidential nominee for a demeanor they dubbed disrespectful.

Trump drew much criticism after attending the commemorative ceremony for the 23rd anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks at Ground Zero, and while he was there as well, according to a video clip shared by C-SPAN communications director Howard Mortman.

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