Donald Trump again claims people don't know Kamala Harris' last name

Donald Trump once again claimed Americans don’t know the last name of Vice President Kamala Harris during a lengthy, meandering diatribe to the press Thursday afternoon.

The remarks, given steps away from a box of Froot Loops and other grocery items on a table, came during Trump’s speech on inflation, and soon after, Harris.

“I don’t think people know who she is yet,” Trump said. “I saw it on one of the shows today. They asked a man on the street: 'What's the last name of Kamala?' Nobody knew. It’s Harris.”

ALSO READ: Tiny 'Kamala'? Toddler 'Harris'? Bet on a baby name boom soon.

Harris has used both her first name and surname in campaign addresses. “Harris” was also the 28th most common last name in the nation, according to 2010 Census data. Even so, Trump claimed voters can’t remember it.

“Nobody knew the last name. I don't even use it because nobody knows who we’re talking about.”

Watch the clip below or at this link.


Fox News host fact-checks Republican governor who claimed 35 percent inflation

Fox News host Neil Cavuto gave New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu a math lesson on inflation during his Thursday afternoon broadcast after Sununu seemed to imply that the effects of inflation are cumulative.

While discussing the increased costs of living, Sununu said voters won’t look at the economy's recent strength, but rather price hikes that have come over President Joe Biden’s term.

“They are going to look at what's happened over the last 4 years – That’s where you are looking at 25, 30, 35 percent inflationary and cost increases on a lot of things,” Sununu said.

ALSO READ: Harris has figured out Trump’s greatest liability

If Trump can maintain his focus and professionalism on the campaign trail, Sununu says he’ll come out on top in November, but, “as soon as he goes off tangent that's where he’s letting Democrats take the election that should be his by a landslide.”

Cavuto asked Sununu to circle back to the 35-percent figure, “What’s that?”

“People will look at the cost of living over the life of the administration – so that's 10 percent inflation, 2020 or 2021, another 12 percent, another 7 percent, another 4 percent…” Sununu said. “It’s cumulative, it keeps adding up.”

“But it doesn’t,” Cavuto interrupted, talking over Sununu. “I know it looks that way, but it doesn’t. It's the rate of increases going — I don't mean the ... — you're right the inflation is weird, but the rate of increases is slowing down. You don't take these increases and just add them up.”

Watch the clip below or at this link.


Maggie Haberman reveals the 'mess' Trump's team is trying to clean up involving mega-donor

Donald Trump isn't making things easy for his advisors, who now have to try and mend relations with a conservative mega-donor that Trump lashed out at over text.

That's according to New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman, who shared the information during a CNN interview Wednesday night with Kaitlan Collins.

"It's a mess that Trump world would like to not be dealing with," Haberman said.

Trump's texts to Miriam Adelson, which accused her Preserve America PAC of being run by "RINOS," reveal how Trump is coping with recent setbacks. The Republican nominee's "anger is seeping out," Haberman notes, leading to "erratic behavior that people around him are seeing and seeing during times of stress."

ALSO READ: Sen. John Fetterman violates financial law with botched corporate bond disclosures

His team has begged the former president to stay on message, but Haberman said Trump could not help himself from veering during a Wednesday campaign stop in Asheville, North Carolina.

At this point in the campaign, Haberman said Trump's running mate, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, may actually be doing a better job as an "attack dog" while staying on target.

"He's actually delivering a more coherent message than Trump is about Harris," Haberman said. "Trump talking about the economy today is what his advisors wanted him to do because that's an area that he does well on against Harris."

"He still would prefer to attack," Haberman said.

Watch the clip below or at this link.


‘Got him in a chokehold’: Expert tells CNN Trump is having a ‘complete meltdown’

Donald Trump’s campaign is in a tailspin this week as the Republican presidential nominee’s attacks on Kamala Harris fail to land, one Democratic strategist told Anderson Cooper Wednesday.

“It’s very clear the former president is unraveling. He’s having a complete meltdown,” Ashley Etienne, a former Joe Biden staffer and political advisor, said during a segment on Cooper’s CNN show. “Kamala Harris has got him a chokehold that is really driving him to the point of insanity, and really driving his campaign to the point of paralysis.”

Etienne points out that Trump’s rise in the polls has flatlined, while Harris’ star continues to rise. She compared it to a shop that “needs new customers.”

ALSO READ: Sen. John Fetterman violates financial law with botched corporate bond disclosures

“Trump can’t help himself but to be Donald Trump and the more people see of him, the more they are turned off by him,” Etienne said. “There’s too many people that don’t like Donald Trump and he has no path to growth.”

What’s also frustrating for Trump is that “all of his attacks against Kamala Harris are being undermined by the facts,” Etienne said, noting the strong economic reports of late and border crossings down.

“You underestimate Kamala Harris at your own peril and Donald Trump is finding that out now,” Etienne said.

Watch the clip below or at this link.


Vance: If Harris can't face media, how can she 'sit in a room with Vladimir Putin?'

J.D. Vance chided Kamala Harris over her lack of candid media interviews during a segment with Fox News host Laura Ingraham Wednesday, suggesting he doesn’t think the vice president could “deal” with world leaders.

“If she can’t face a media that’s fundamentally biased and friendly to her, how is she ever going to sit in a room with Vladimir Putin, or Xi Jinping, or any of the world leaders that you have to deal with as United States president,” Vance said.

In the same interview, Vance deflected questions from Ingraham about whether he’d “be there” to debate Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz next month on CBS. But Vance preferred to discuss Harris’ alleged press shyness.

ALSO READ: Sen. John Fetterman violates financial law with botched corporate bond disclosures

“She’s terrified of the media. She's terrified of taking tough questions and the critics say it's because she’s not that smart and I actually disagree with that,” Vance said. “I think it’s because she knows that if her real views come out, the American people are never going to support a dangerous radical.”

Vance then went on to invoke one of Donald Trump’s favorite talking points and accuse Harris’ policies of turning San Francisco into a “disaster.”

Watch the clip below or at this link.

J.D. Vance deflects on debate with Tim Walz and decries no 'fake news media garbage'

Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance skirted questions from Fox News’ Laura Ingraham on whether he will “be there” for an Oct. 1 debate with Walz.

“I strongly suspect we're going to be there on October 1, but we’re not going to do one of these fake debates, Laura, where they don't actually have an audience there,” Vance said. “We’re not going to walk into a fake news media garbage debate.”

Vances’ response comes after Walz posted to social media "See you on October 1, JD,” on X Wednesday afternoon. The debate is scheduled to air on CBS. Since President Joe Biden dropped out of the race following a disastrous debate performance in June, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and Vance have been dodgy in committing to a debate with Democrats. Trump has, however, agreed to a September debate with Harris on ABC News.

During her show, Ingraham tried to pin down a slippery Vance on the topic.

"Senator, are you in?” she asked.

ALSO READ: Sen. John Fetterman violates financial law with botched corporate bond disclosures

“Look, Laura, we're certainly going to debate Tim Walz,” Vance said before deflecting. “We just heard about this thing three hours ago, so we are going to talk to them to figure out when we can debate.”

He continued: “I actually think we should do more than one debate so hopefully we're going to see him on October 1, but hopefully we're going to see him either before or after that, because I think it's important for the American people to actually see us discuss our views.”

Ingraham pressed Vance again.

"Senator, is there any doubt you will not be there on October 1 to debate Walz?” she asked.

“Look, Laura, we want to actually look at the debates, look at the moderators, talk about the rules a little bit,” he said.

Watch the clip below or at this link.


'They have a spy over there': Trump accuses rally-goer of being a Kamala Harris 'spy'

Amid a meandering rant on inflation, Donald Trump lobbed an odd attack against Kamala Harris at his North Carolina rally Wednesday — even accusing a crowd member of being a “spy.”

“Oh, look they have a spy in the audience right over there,” Trump said, pointing to the crowd.

“He’s spying.”

The remark came during a campaign rally in Asheville. Trump went from calling Harris “not a smart person,” to claiming she was “disrespectful” and mocking the “fake news” media as fawning over the Democratic presidential nominee.

ALSO READ: Harris has figured out Trump’s greatest liability

He then said that if elected, he would abolish taxes on social security payments, eliciting cheers from the crowd.

“She’ll probably announce this on Friday, too,” Trump snarked, before pointing out the supposed "spy."

Pantomiming someone taking notes, Trump mimicked someone telling Harris about his social security plan.

Conservative media personalities have riffed on the idea that Harris is somehow copying Trump's agenda all week amid her rise in the polls in swing states, which has narrowed the margins of the race to a nail-biter.

'This is inflation': Trump waves around tiny Tic Tac box to explain economy to supporters

During a rambling speech at a campaign rally in Asheville, North Carolina, Wednesday, Donald Trump, struck by a familiar impulse, searched his pockets for a prop to help demonstrate the concept of inflation to his supporters.

The Republican presidential nominee took to the stage in his usual fashion and delivered a lengthy and frequently ad-libbed address to the crowd. While discussing how grocery prices have gone up in recent years and a lack of “deals” for shoppers, Trump got an idea.

“They have less than half a deal. In fact, I have something here,” Trump said, searching his pockets. “I don’t know if you’ve seen it. I’ve used it once. I have it, I do have it.”

He pulled out a box of white Tic Tacs.

“So this is Tic Tacs, right?” Trump said, looking incredulously at the box.

”I don't know if I like the company – I‘ve never met, I have no idea, they are so lucky, look at all the televisions – This is the greatest commercial they ever had.”

ALSO READ: Trump's insatiable ego is destroying the former president

Trump then pulled out a second, miniature box of Tic Tacs.

“But this is what happened. This is inflation!” Trump said, waving the boxes. “This is Tic Tac. This is Tic Tac. This is inflation. This is what’s happened.”

Trump claimed someone had given him the tiny Tic Tacs box that day, “and I said, "I think I’ll put it up as an example of inflation.”

This isn’t the first time he’s used the breath mints as a prop during a rally. He made a similar comparison at a June event in Washington, D.C., and before that at a May rally in Minnesota, where he called them “Biden Tic Tacs.”

"Look at the size of that sucker,” Trump said at the time. “This is inflation."

Watch the clip below or at this link.

Kamala Harris must give interviews to prevail over 'corrupt, felonious rival': journalist

Kamala Harris’ campaign may be on a roll, but if she wants it to stay that way, she will need to go off script — and talk to the press, columnist Margaret Sullivan wrote for The Guardian.

“She is running for the highest office in the nation, perhaps the most powerful perch in the world, and she owes it to every US citizen to be frank and forthcoming about what kind of president she intends to be,” Sullivan writes. “To tell us – in an unscripted, open way – what she stands for.”

Sullivan, who is also the executive director for Columba University's Craig Newmark Center for Journalism Ethics and Security, said Harris’ reluctance to grant impromptu interviews with reporters makes sense, as her campaign stands to benefit little from it. But the pressure for her to speak candidly with the media – as Donald Trump so frequently does – is growing and she needs to avoid becoming a candidate “shrouded from public scrutiny,” she said, quoting Semafor's Benjy Sarlin.

“I don’t have a lot of confidence that the broken White House press corps would skillfully elicit the answers to those and other germane questions if given the chance,” Sullivan writes. “But Harris should show that she understands that, in a democracy, the press – at least in theory – represents the public, and that the sometimes adversarial relationship between the press and government is foundational.”

ALSO READ: Trump's insatiable ego is destroying the former president

While strategists have surmised that Harris will pull off an effective prosecution of Trump on the debate stage in September, speaking off the cuff isn’t her strong point, Sullivan notes. Harris is prone to “word salad” when asked tough questions, and her answers may be spun into negative news stories.

All of this is worth the risk, Sullivan writes.

“Even if you very much hope that Harris prevails in November over her corrupt, felonious rival, that’s not a good enough reason to cheer on her press avoidance,” Sullivan says. “If Harris is truly ‘for the people’, as she has long claimed, she needs to speak to their representatives – flawed as they may be.”

Trump posts address 'strange' slurred chat with Musk and say Harris 'ruined' California

Donald Trump took to his social media platform Truth Social late Tuesday to deride Kamala Harris for allegedly having “ruined” San Francisco and the entire state of California — where she served as district attorney and attorney general, respectively — and addressing concerns over his slurred speech during an interview with Elon Musk.

After the Harris-Walz campaign slammed Trump's "unhinged" interview remarks, the former president posted around 11 p.m. in his signature all-caps style.

“Kamala: You ruined San Francisco, one of the greatest cities in the World, you ruined California, one of the greatest places on Earth - And you will turn America into a giant combination of both. We are not going to let that happen. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” Trump wrote.

ALSO READ: Trump's insatiable ego is destroying the former president

About an hour later, Trump tried to explain his slurred speech with Musk, which some compared to sounding similar to Sylvester the cat.

"My conversation with Elon last night was heard by a RECORD audience, and was really something special, as Elon himself is very special - and I thank him for such a strong Endorsement! Unfortunately, because of the complexity of modern day equipment, and cellphone technology, my voice was, in certain areas, somewhat different and strange. Therefore, we have put out an actual, and perfect, recording of the conversation. ENJOY!!!"

'Disoriented' Trump 'susceptible to being manipulated' by conspiracy theorists: Haberman

New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman says Donald Trump may be feeling the heat as he runs out of moves in his bid to outplay Kamala Harris’ burgeoning campaign.

“Trump is a man of few moves, and so we have seen him make the same ones over and over,” Haberman told CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Monday night.

As Harris narrows the polling gap between her and Trump, Haberman says the Republican presidential nominee has reverted to similar tactics he used with his “birther” attacks on Barack Obama in 2008. Earlier this month, Trump caught significant backlash after interrogating Harris’ racial identity in a calamitous interview at a Black journalists conference earlier this month.

“They are trying pretty hard to bait Democrats into a fight about race and it's been something so far that the Harris campaign has not taken the bait on,” Haberman said.

ALSO READ: Harris has figured out Trump’s greatest liability

As his usual playbook flatlines, Trump is “clearly feeling cornered right now” Haberman said, which makes him vulnerable to fringe thinkers and conspiracy theorists that threaten to further distract from his campaign’s message.

“He is so disoriented and it has left him pretty susceptible to being manipulated,” Haberman said. “He has a lot of people around him who either support conspiracy theories or don’t like what they see as the establishment or are critical of certain kinds of Republicans and, when he is feeling cornered, he tends to listen to those people.”

Cooper brought up Trump’s fixation on crowd sizes and his oft-touted conspiracy that the media is tampering or somehow disguising attendance at his rallies.

“These are moves he makes when he’s under strain or anxiety or uncertainty and he tends to be at his most erratic,” Haberman continued. “The number of people who we have spoken to who just say he seems very on edge is not small.”

Watch the clip below or at this link.

TV personality Donny Deutsch: Trump 'smells' like a 'loser' 'and I don’t mean his cologne'

Donny Deutsch thinks Donald Trump stinks – or at least that his campaign has run afoul – as the Republican candidate's well-worn tactics turn stale in his third run for the presidency, the television personality shared during an MSNBC interview Monday.

“What’s stunning me right now is what a loser Donald Trump looks and smells like, and I don’t mean his cologne,” Deutsch said at the onset of a brutal takedown.

Deutsch mused that the Trump and Kamala Harris campaigns can be broken down into two categories, rattling off a list of adjectives.

“Old-new. Yesterday-tomorrow. Mean-nice. Cruel-empathetic. Happy-angry,” Deutsch said. “In the most simplistic childlike words you kind of sum up what’s going on here."

ALSO READ: Trump’s smear job climaxed prematurely — and now he’s stuck

For Deutsch, Trump's downfall comes down to "vibes" and the feeling his campaign has fostered among voters.

"I don't know how you fight that," Deutsch said.

In the weeks since Joe Biden dropped out of the race, Kamala Harris has enjoyed a surge in polling and popularity. The response is that Trump "drills down into the angry, mean, reactionary, old, loser quality,” Deutsch said, making the difference between the two candidates even more stark.

“There's this incredible, visceral contrast that’s going on that you can’t help but feel,” Deutsch said.

Watch the clip below or at this link.

Trump's circle blames hoax fixations on fringe theorists with his cell number: reporter

Donald Trump’s campaign is having a rough week so far – between the Republican presidential nominee’s rambling and slurring interview Monday with Elon Musk, to being dragged over a racially charged campaign post about illegal immigration – but what really worries his advisers is who the president is getting his ideas from.

CNN’s Kristen Holmes explained that Trump’s flirtation with conspiracy theories has shifted to “promoting” them, spurring concern amongst his inner circle. Those close to the former president have urged him to stay on message as he campaigns against Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris and shy away from personal attacks.

Instead, Trump has veered in a strange direction. In recent days, Trump has gone from peddling the patently false allegation that Harris’ rally crowds were generated by artificial intelligence to minimizing the effects of climate change as just creating more oceanfront property.

ALSO READ: Trump's insatiable ego is destroying the former president

“When you talk about him going off message and these fringe theories he really runs a risk – and this is what his allies are telling me they are concerned about – of voters remembering why they shied away from him in 2020 when he was pushing all of those lies about the 2020 election,” Holmes said in a discussion with CNN host Erin Burnett.

Those close to the former president worry Trump’s promotion of conspiracies is directly tied to who has direct access to him.

“His advisers really blame the accessibility that people have to him, that these kind of fringe conspiracy theorists have to him,” Holmes said. “They have his cell phone number."

“Many times these advisers don't even know who Donald Trump is speaking to on a regular basis,” she said.

Watch the clip below or at this link.

Officer who pulled over Tim Walz for DUI says Dem VP nominee changed his story: report

Democratic vice presidential hopeful Tim Walz was arrested for drunken driving in 1995 and the officer who pulled him over shared what Walz, now Minnesota governor and Democratic vice presidential nominee, did that night, according to The Daily Beast.

Nebraska trooper Stephen Rasgorshek said he pulled over Walz, who was 31 at the time and a high school teacher and football coach, according to the report. Walz failed a field sobriety and breathalyzer test that night. Court documents showed he immediately informed the school and offered to resign, but was not forced to leave his position. He also swore off alcohol for good, the Beast reported.

At this time, Walz owned up to the mistake, his defense attorney stated in court documents.

“He takes the position that he's a role model for the students there. He let them down. He let himself down,” the defense attorney said, according to the report.

ALSO READ: Trump’s smear job climaxed prematurely — and now he’s stuck

However, ten years later Walz appeared to have changed his story. When running for Congress in 2006, Walz’s campaign manager responded to a media inquiry regarding the DUI denying Walz had been drinking that night.

Instead, the staffer said Walz had hearing damage from his time serving in the National Guard and “couldn’t understand what the officer was saying to him.”

Rasgorshek expressed skepticism over the explanation, telling the Beast he has a loud voice and that hearing loss could not explain how Walz failed other field sobriety tests, including a gaze test administered at the scene.

“We were told that having a hearing problem had nothing to do with what the eyes are doing,” Rasgorshek told the Beast.

“Anyone can get a DUI. It’s what you do with it after you get the DUI,” Rasgorshek said. “If he had stuck with his story of, ‘Look, it changed my life and I stopped drinking,’ I would commend him, 1,000 percent.”

Murdoch newspapers sounding alarms warning Trump 'looking like a loser again': report

Rupert Murdoch doesn't need to say he thinks Donald Trump is running a losing campaign against Kamala Harris – his newspaper's front pages and editorials are broadcasting it loud and clear, according to The Daily Beast.

Recent headlines appear to channel the media mogul's dismissive attitude toward Trump, who has held a grudge against Murdoch since Murdoch made the call in 2020 allowing Fox News to report that Trump lost Arizona.

“Trump Is Looking Like a Loser Again,” was the headline of a Wall Street Journal column Monday from editor-at-large Gerard Baker.

“Does Donald Trump Still Have It?” another Journal op-ed asked Sunday.

ALSO READ: Harris has figured out Trump’s greatest liability

“Trump Meets Half the Moment,” read another Journal opinion headline after Trump’s rambling keynote at the Republican National Convention last month.

In concert, the headlines seem to paint a picture that Murdoch is less than pleased with Trump’s attempts to take down Harris. Murdoch “vehemently opposed” Trump’s choice of J.D. Vance as a running mate, and even sent top staffers to meet with Trump, who failed to convince him to change course, according to The Daily Beast.

“If Fox News has, for now at least, stayed fully signed up to the Trump train, the two leading Murdoch newspaper titles in the U.S. are sounding their own passenger alarms,” writes The Daily Beast.

A spokesperson from Journal told the Beast there is “complete editorial independence,” in the newsroom.

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