US elections live: Harris to unveil plans to expand child tax credit to fight poverty and help first-time homebuyers
Good morning, US politics blog readers. Kamala Harris is set to make an important economic policy speech today in the battleground state of North Carolina, as she seeks to press the advantage polls show her having against Donald Trump. According to her campaign, the vice-president will propose policies intended to help families and lower costs, including the restoration and expansion of a tax credit that cut child poverty dramatically three years ago, as well as federal assistance with the down payments of first-time homebuyers. We will hear plenty more about the proposals today – both from people who love them and hate them – but one thing we can say right off the top is that Harris is clearly trying to counterattack the toll inflation has taken on the American public, which was one of Joe Biden’s biggest problems during his presidency. The vice-president is scheduled to give her remarks at 2.45pm ET.
There is, of course, news today about Trump, as well, which is that the former president may soon begin holding rallies outside again. He’s kept his appearances indoors since an assassin opened fire at his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania last month, killing an attendee, wounding Trump and injuring others. Yesterday, media reports emerged that the Secret Service had approved a plan to put bulletproof glass up when the ex-president speaks outdoors, and deploy other security measures such as drones.
Here’s what else is going on today:
JD Vance, Trump’s running mate, will hold his third campaign event in as many days in Milwaukee, the largest city in swing state Wisconsin. His speech, billed as discussing crime, takes place at 12pm.
The Democratic national convention begins on Monday and concludes on Thursday, with what is expected to be a major speech by Harris. Her campaign this morning announced they’d be deploying top Democrats and volunteers to battleground states nationwide to make the case for her candidacy.
Biden will at 11.15am proclaim a national monument marking a race riot that occured in Springfield, Illinois in 1908, which saw a white mob attack an African-American community.