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Vice President Kamala Harris did not attend the Al Smith charity dinner in New York in person, appearing via a pre-recorded video sketch, instead. Her jokes didn’t appear to land with the audience.
The white-tie dinner raises millions of dollars for Catholic charities and traditionally candidates from both parties have attended.
Trump’s jokes were crude but seemed to be well received by those in attendance.
Trump mocked transgender people, aiming a jibe at vice-presidential nominee Tim Walz.
He also took aim at migrants and New York, saying he had to wrap up his speech so New York can “turn the room into an illegal migrant shelter”.
Regarding Harris’ absence, he posted on his Truth Social network:
Just found out that Lyin’ Kamala is doing a video message tonight instead of being at the Al Smith Dinner. She shouldn’t be allowed to do a video message.
Kamala should be there like almost every other Presidential Candidate in their History, except Walter Mondale, who lost 49-1. They didn’t give me the option of a video message, nor would I have done it. This is very disrespectful to everyone involved. She should be here, or lose the Catholic Vote!”
Germany have awarded US President Joe Biden the highest class of the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany their highest honour for his work improving the German-American friendship and the transatlantic alliance.
He was presented the award by Germany’s President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
Steinmeier said the friendship with the U.S. is “and will always be existentially important” for Germany, but there have always been “times of proximity and greater distance.”
Even recently, just a handful of years ago, the distance had grown so wide that we almost lost each other,” Steinmeier said, alluding to tense relations during Trump’s earlier presidency.
He said Biden “restored Europe’s hope in the trans-Atlantic alliance literally overnight.”
“In the months to come, I hope that Europeans remember: America is indispensable for us,” he added. “And I hope that Americans remember: Your allies are indispensable for you. We are more than just ‘other countries’ in the world — we are partners, we are friends.”
Trump accuses Zelenskyy of helping to start war in extraordinary attack
Good morning and welcome to our coverage of the run-up to the US election as Donald Trump has claimed Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy helped to start his country’s war with Russia.
The Republican presidential candidate’s extraordinary criticism – the war started when Russia invaded Ukrainian sovereign territory – comes as Joe Biden arrives in Europe for closed-door discussions with allies with Ukraine high on the agenda.
As Reuters reports, Trump’s comments indicate he is likely to radically shift US policy toward Russia if he wins the 5 November election.
The Republican former president has frequently criticized Zelenskyy on the campaign trail, repeatedly calling him “the greatest salesman on Earth” for having solicited and received billions of dollars of US military aid since the war broke out in 2022.
Trump has also slammed the Ukrainian leader for failing to seek peace with Moscow, and he has suggested Ukraine may have to cede some of its land to Russia to make a peace deal, a concession Kyiv considers unacceptable.
Trump’s comments on the PBD Podcast on Thursday with Patrick Bet-David went a step further than his previous criticism. He said Zelenskyy was to blame not just for failing to end the war, but for helping start it. “That doesn’t mean I don’t want to help him because I feel very badly for those people. But he should never have let that war start. The war’s a loser,” Trump said.
Meanwhile on Friday, Biden will seek to cement cooperation with key European partners on issues from the Ukraine war to conflict in the Middle East during a swift swansong trip to Berlin.
“We’re wheels down in Berlin,” Biden wrote in a post on X overnight. “Ready to greet old friends and strengthen our close alliance as we stand together for freedom and against tyranny around the world.”
We’re wheels down in Berlin.
Ready to greet old friends and strengthen our close alliance as we stand together for freedom and against tyranny around the world. pic.twitter.com/zaTFtTOFMT
More on this shortly. In other developments:
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Donald Trump laid into Kamala Harris and other Democrats on Thursday in a pointed and at times bitter speech as he headlined the annual Al Smith charity dinner in New York. The Republican nominee repeatedly criticised his Democratic campaign rival over her decision to skip the event. She sent a video instead.
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Billionaire Elon Musk launched five nights of campaign events in Pennsylvania in support of Trump’s campaign last night. “This election, I think, is going to decide the fate of America and, along with the fate of America, the fate of Western civilization,” he said at a town hall event in Folsom, on the outskirts of Philadelphia. He also reportedly pushed the debunked narrative that voting machines had been used in a plot to rig the 2020 election.
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Harris and Trump will both be scouring for votes in Michigan on Friday as they try to lock down support in this key political battleground. Harris is scheduled to begin her day in Grand Rapids before holding events in Lansing and Oakland County, which is northwest of Detroit. Trump has his own event in Oakland County in the afternoon before holding a rally in Detroit in the evening.
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