US election live: Harris and Trump to face off in high-stakes presidential debate
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Two former Trump White House officials will join Kamala Harris’s campaign in Philadelphia as surrogates for Tuesday’s presidential debate, the Harris campaign announced.
Anthony Scaramucci, who served as Donald Trump’s White House communications director, and Olivia Troye, who was homeland security adviser to then vice-president Mike Pence and a top aide on the Trump White House’s coronavirus task force, will speak out against Donald Trump and for Harris ahead of the debate, the campaign said.
Announcing the campaign’s plans to bring Scaramucci and Troye to the debate, the Harris-Walz campaign’s communications director Michael Tyler said:
Listen, don’t take it from us: Take it from the ones who know Donald Trump the best and who are telling the American people exactly how unfit Trump is to serve as president. They saw firsthand the abject failure of Donald Trump’s presidency.
The White Stripes’ Jack White and Meg White have filed a lawsuit against Donald Trump for what they allege is the “flagrant misappropriation” of a recording of their hit song Seven Nation Army in a campaign video.
The video that spurred the legal action was posted by Trump staffer Margo McAtee Martin on X on 29 August, but has since been deleted. It shows the Republican presidential nominee boarding a plane with the opening riff of Seven Nation Army playing in the background.
Don’t even think about using my music you fascists. Law suit coming from my lawyers about this (to add to your 5 thousand others).
The White Stripes performing in Los Angeles in 2004. Photograph: KMazur/WireImage
The singer has made good on the threat, filing a copyright infringement suit, alongside Meg White, as the White Stripes, seeking “significant monetary damages”, and listing Trump, his campaign and Martin as defendants.
The suit alleges that the campaign did not seek or obtain permission from the band to use the song, and did not respond to pre-litigation efforts to resolve the issue.
Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota governor Tim Walz, will rally supporters in critical battleground states following tonight’s presidential debate.
The Harris campaign will kick off a “New Way Forward” tour involving a four-day campaign trip through major swing states, a new television spot, rallies, canvassing events and programs designed to target important voting groups, it said.
Harris is expected to attend 9/11 memorial ceremonies on Wednesday, and will embark on her tour on Thursday. Harris will visit North Carolina on Thursday and Pennsylvania on Friday. Walz will be in Nevada on Tuesday, Michigan on Thursday and Wisconsin on Friday.
As Kamala Harris and Donald Trump meet tonight for their only scheduled debate, here’s what to know:
What time is the debate?
The debate will start at 9pm Eastern Time (1am GMT) and is expected to last 90 minutes with two commercial breaks.
Where is the debate?
Tonight’s debate will take place at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, a key election battleground state. As with the previous debate between Trump and Joe Biden, there will be no audience present.
“World News Tonight” anchor David Muir and ABC News Live “Prime” anchor Linsey Davis will moderate the debate.
How can I watch the debate?
ABC News will carry the debate live on its broadcast network as well as its streaming platform ABC News Live, Disney+ and Hulu. Several networks have also agreed to carry the event live.
When is the next debate?
As of now, there is only one debate scheduled before the election. Tim Walz and JD Vance are due to face off at a vice-presidential debate on 1 October in New York City.
Good morning US politics readers. It was the debate that was never meant to happen. Tonight, DonaldTrump and Kamala Harris will meet for the first time ever when they take the stage at Philadelphia’s national constitution center for the presidential debate.
With just eight weeks until Election Day and recent polls showing the candidates neck-and-neck, the stakes couldn’t be higher for both Harris and Trump. Today’s debate, which will start at 9pm ET and is expected to last 90 minutes, may well be the only chance the American public have to see their Democratic and Republican presidential candidates face off against each other on what voters say are their key issues, including the economy, immigration and reproductive rights.
We will be covering the debate tonight on our live blog. In the meantime, here’s what else we’re watching:
The Harris-Walz campaign unveiled a new ad for debate day, entitled “Crowd Size”, that features Barack Obama ridiculing Trump’s insecurities about his crowd size.
Paul Dans, the former director of Project 2025, sharply criticized the Trump campaign, revealing discontent on the right about what some see as a pivot to the center.
Voters in Delaware, New Hampshire and Rhode Island will cast their ballots in a slate of primary races today.
Andrew Cuomo, the former New York governor, appears before the House select subcommittee on the coronavirus pandemic this afternoon.
Antony Blinken, the secretary of state, is in the UK for a US-UK strategic dialogue and will meet with prime minister Keir Starmer.
