(WASHINGTON) — Former President Donald Trump this week voiced an alarming claim about the alleged threat that immigrants pose to Black workers.
“Coming from the border are millions and millions of people who happen to be taking Black jobs,” Trump said at a gathering of the National Association of Black Journalists in Chicago. “They’re taking the employment from Black people.”
Trump has delivered the same dire warning about an immigrant threat to Black employment on multiple occasions throughout the 2024 campaign, including at a debate with President Joe Biden in June.
Economists who spoke to ABC News dismissed the claim as false. In fact, they said, a tight job market in recent years delivered record-low Black unemployment and spurred rapid wage gains.
“The claim is absolutely not true,” Valerie Wilson, the director of a program on race, ethnicity and the economy at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute Action, told ABC News.
In a statement to ABC News, the Trump campaign claimed that undocumented immigrants pose a threat to Black employment.
“Illegal immigration disproportionally affects Black workers, including other minority workers, and we need to do everything to protect them from their jobs from being taken away,” Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung said.
Cheung noted that the the current Black unemployment rate of 6.3% is higher than its lowest level under Trump of 5.3%. Inflation-adjusted weekly earnings for Black workers currently stand lower than they did at their high point under Trump, Cheung added.
“That is why President Trump has promised the largest deportation operation in American history since President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Kamala Harris will give amnesty and citizenship to all 15 million illegal aliens and make permanent the assault on Black American jobs,” Cheung added.
The all-time lowest figure for Black unemployment recorded in a single month registered at 4.8% in April 2023 during Biden’s term. Last year, the average Black unemployment rate stood at 5.5%, setting a record for the lowest figure over a calendar year, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows.
To be sure, the unemployment rate stood much higher than the 3.3% unemployment rate among white workers in 2023. Historically, the Black unemployment rate has clocked in roughly twice as high as that of white people, due in large part to continued racial discrimination among employers, economists previously told ABC News.
Another key metric has shown robust job gains among Black workers. Last year, the share of job holders between the ages of 25 to 54 — known as the “prime age” for workers — reached an all-time high of nearly 78% among Black people, the Economic Policy Institute found. That statistic helps correct for issues such as aging or higher education that can skew unemployment statistics.
“The bottom line is immigrants aren’t pushing out Black workers,” Christian Weller, a professor of public policy at the University of Massachusetts at Boston who studies racial disparities in employment, told ABC News.
“It isn’t particularly surprising,” Weller added. That’s because immigrants act not only as workers but also as consumers, helping fuel demand for goods and services, which in turn propels economic activity and drives up hiring, he said.
The economy has grown at a solid pace in recent years, defying fears among some observers of a potential slowdown. Gross domestic product expanded much faster than expected over three months ending in June, U.S. Commerce Department data last week showed.
In June, a budget outlook released by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said immigration would account for a sizable share of U.S. economic growth over the coming decade. In all, the U.S. GDP will rise nearly $9 trillion higher than it would otherwise due to an anticipated influx of immigrants, the CBO found.
“At the heart of this question is not just that these are people who are filling jobs that need to be filled, but they are also paying taxes, raising their families, and spending in the neighborhoods and communist in which they live,” Michelle Holder, a labor economist at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, told ABC News.
When speaking about the issue this week, Trump falsely characterized immigrants as a threat to “Black jobs.” That phrase “Black jobs,” which Trump used previously, drew condemnation from some economists.
Holder, who is also Black, said the term invokes a period of U.S. history that predates anti-discrimination laws, when some job listings explicitly described jobs as available only to Black applicants.
“I get a visceral reaction because there was a time in this country when there was work considered only suitable for Black people,” Holder said.
When asked about the phrase on Wednesday at the gathering of the National Association of Black Journalists, Trump said: “A Black job is anybody that has a job. That’s what it is.”
Wilson, of Economic Policy Institute Action, also criticized the phrase, in part because it fails to acknowledge the issue of “occupational segregation,” in which employers tend to place Black workers in low-wage positions rather than high-wage ones. The U.S., she added, has made progress in addressing that trend in recent years, though it remains an impediment for wage gains among Black workers.
“It’s just a very poor choice of words in terms of trying to say anything about the labor market, and it’s a poor choice of words in particular because it’s offensive,” said Wilson, who is Black.
“It totally ignores the facts about the current economy and the improvement that we’ve seen over the last four years,” Wilson added.
(PARIS) — The greatest gymnast of all time, Simone Biles, took an apparent jab at former President Donald Trump early Friday, tweeting, “I love my black job,” in response to a tweet about her winning the gold medal in the women’s individual all-around hours earlier.
Biles’ tweet came in response to one from Ricky Davila, a singer and fan of the gymnast, who tweeted, “Simone Biles being the GOAT, winning Gold medals and dominating gymnastics is her black job.”
Both comments came after Trump used the term “Black jobs” during an appearance at the National Association of Black Journalists Conference on Wednesday.
“I will tell you that coming, coming from the border are millions and millions of people that happen to be taking Black jobs. You had the best–” Trump said, as ABC New’s Rachel Scott pointedly asked him, “What is a ‘Black job?'”
“A Black job is anybody that has a job. That’s what it is,” Trump said. “Anybody that has a job.”
The response generated audible laughs from the audience.
Biles bounced back after dropping out of the Tokyo Games to focus on her mental health to win gold in the individual all-around Thursday. She won the same title in Rio in 2016, and is the first gymnast to win the individual gold eight years apart. She already has two gold medals in Paris — including the team all-around win earlier in the week — and is favored to win more gold in the individual apparatus events.
Already acknowledged as the greatest of all time before Paris — not just due to her Olympic performances, but also her 23 world championship gold medals — Biles now holds six Olympics gold medals and nine medals total — the most of any American gymnast.
Biles’ comments on social media were likely colored by previous criticism from conservatives. In fact, Trump’s running mate, JD Vance, criticized support for Biles dropping out of competition in Tokyo to focus on her mental health and deal with a condition known as “the twisties,” when a gymnast loses their spacial awareness during flips, putting them at serious risk for injury.
“What I find so weird about this … is that we’ve tried to turn a very tragic moment, Simone Biles quitting the Olympic team, into this act of heroism,” Vance told Fox News in 2021. “I think it reflects pretty poorly on our sort of therapeutic society that we try to praise people, not for moments of strength, not for moments of heroism, but for their weakest moments.”
Biles has been targeted since Tokyo on social media for prioritizing her mental health. Former Trump lawyer Jenna Ellis, who pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting false statements and writings in relation to election interference in Georgia, called Biles a loser on social media after the gymnast was given the Presidential Medal of Freedom in July 2022.
(NEW YORK) — As the Israel-Hamas war continues, efforts to secure the release of hostages taken by the terrorist organization are ongoing, and Israeli forces have launched an assault in Khan Younis in southern Gaza.
Here’s how the news is developing:
40,000 cases of hepatitis in Gaza in outbreak: UNRWA
An outbreak of 40,000 cases of hepatitis A have been recorded in the Gaza Strip amid the collapse of the waste management system as Israel continues its offensive there, according to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.
The outbreak is a surge in cases — which include children — compared to only 85 recorded cases of hepatitis before the war began.
Hepatitis A is a disease of the liver that usually causes a mild, short-term illness, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The hepatitis virus is contagious and spreads through close person-to-person contact and eating contaminated food or drink.
Vaccination is the best way to prevent infection, according to the CDC.
Biden had ‘very direct’ meeting with Netanyahu, killing of Hamas leader has ‘not helped’ cease-fire
President Joe Biden said his conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was “very direct.”
“I’m very concerned about it. I had a very direct meeting with the prime minister today and – very direct,” Biden said. “We have the basis for a cease-fire, he should move on it and he should move on it now.”
Biden was asked how the Israel Defense Forces operation that killed top Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh might ruin negotiations for a deal.
“It’s not helped. That’s all I’m going to say right now,” Biden said.
Israel summons Turkey’s envoy over half-mast salute for slain Hamas leader
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz summoned Turkey’s deputy ambassador for a reprimand on Friday, after the Turkish embassy in Tel Aviv lowered its flag to half mast in response to the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh.
“If the representatives of the embassy want to mourn, let them go to Turkey and mourn together with their master Erdogan, who embraces the terrorist organization Hamas and supports its acts of murder and atrocities,” Katz said in a statement.
-ABC News’ Dana Savir
Biden speaks to Netanyahu on de-escalating tensions
President Joe Biden spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday, White House officials said. Vice President Kamala Harris also joined the call.
During the call, Biden “stressed the importance of ongoing efforts to de-escalate broader tensions in the region,” according to a press release. He also “reaffirmed his commitment to Israel’s security against all threats from Iran, including its proxy terrorist groups Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis.”
“The President discussed efforts to support Israel’s defense against threats, including against ballistic missiles and drones, to include new defensive U.S. military deployments,” the release stated.
The call between Biden and Netanyahu comes after an IDF operation that killed a top Hamas leader and also after Israel conducted retaliatory strikes targeting Hezbollah.
-ABC News’ Michelle Stoddart
Al Jazeera ‘strongly refutes’ Israeli accusations against assassinated correspondent
Al Jazeera released a statement saying it “strongly refutes” allegations made by Israel against a correspondent the IDF admitted to targeting and killing. The news outlet calling for an independent review and warned it reserves the right to pursue legal action against Israel.
The IDF has accused journalist Ismail Al Ghoul of taking part in Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack.
“Al Jazeera Media Network strongly refutes the baseless allegations made by the Israeli occupation forces in an attempt to justify its deliberate killing of our colleague, journalist Ismail Al Ghoul, and his companion, cameraman Rami Al Rifi. Furthermore, the Israeli occupation forces had previously abducted Ismail on March 18, 2024, during their raid on Al-Shifa Hospital, detaining him for a period of time before his release, which debunks and refutes their false claim of his affiliation with any organisation,” Al Jazeera said in a statement.
Al Jazeera also called for an international investigation into “crimes committed” by the IDF “against its journalists and staff since the beginning of the war on Gaza.”
“The Network condemns the accusations against its correspondent, Ismail Al Ghoul, without providing any proof, documentation or video, and highlights Israel’s long history of fabrications and false evidence used to cover up its heinous crimes, while also denying journalists from around the world access to the Gaza Strip to report on the deteriorating humanitarian conditions and the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza,” Al Jazeera added.
Hamas leader assassinated by explosive device stashed in room
Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated using an explosive device stashed in his room, according to three Middle Eastern sources who spoke with ABC News on the condition of anonymity. The details of the assassination were first reported in The New York Times.
One source told ABC the explosive device was smuggled into the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps guest house in Tehran about two months ago. It is unclear when the device was moved into the room itself.
The bomb was detonated remotely sometime before 2 a.m. local time after receiving confirmation of Haniyeh’s presence in the room.
Israel briefed U.S. officials and other Western officials on the details of the assassination afterward, according to one source. Israel had been plotting to assassinate Haniyeh for some time since Oct. 7 but was reluctant to do while he was in Qatar where he lived, according to the source.
IDF confirms they targeted Al Jazeera journalist killed in Gaza
Israel has confirmed it targeted an Al Jazeera journalist Ismail al-Ghoul who was killed in a direct strike near Gaza City. Al-Ghoul and cameraman Rami Al-Refee were killed on Wednesday.
“The IDF and ISA are operating in order to eliminate terrorists who participated in the October 7th Massacre and will continue to do so,” the IDF said in a statement.
The Israel Defense Forces accused al-Ghoul of participating in the Oct. 7 attack due to his recording and publication of attacks against the IDF.
The Society to Protect Journalists has condemned the attack and said journalists are civilians who should never be attacked.
“Ismail was known for his professionalism and dedication, highlighting the suffering and atrocities in Gaza, particularly at Al-Shifa Hospital and in the northern region. He was detained and tortured by Israel while covering the Al Shifa Hospital siege, yet he continued reporting after his release,” Al Jazeera said in a statement Tuesday.
“Without Ismail, the harrowing images of these massacres would remain unseen. He was a resolute journalist who overcame hunger, illness, and the death of his brother. He tirelessly reported on Gaza’s events through Al Jazeera, fulfilling his mission for his people and homeland. May they rest in peace,” Al Jazeera said.
Hamas calls for prayers, day of rage to protest Haniyeh’s death
Hamas is calling for a day of marches of rage around the world on Friday in condemnation of the Israeli assassination of political leader Ismail Haniyeh and the ongoing killing of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas also called for absentee funeral prayers for Haniyeh.
Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to take part in the day of rage.
Thousands gather for Shukr funeral as Hezbollah promises retaliation
Thousands of people gathered for Hezbollah commander Fouad Shukr’s funeral, including the top leader of Hamas in Lebanon. Hezbollah’s secretary general, Hassan Nasrallah, appearing via video, told the crowd that a response to Shukr’s killing is coming. He said there is no discussion about the retaliation — adding that it will be big.
The main streets of Dahiya are lined with photos of Shukr, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Beirut Tuesday evening.
In the hours leading up to Thursday’s ceremony, the growing crowd often chanted “Death to Israel,” “America is the great Satan” and “Death to America!”
“It’s not the death of the citizens. It’s not the death of the innocents. It’s the death of the hypocrisy. Of the arrogance. And of the oppression,” an unidentified man in the audience shouted at reporters.
After Nasrallah’s speech, Shukr’s yellow flag-draped casket was carried through the streets of Dahiya and to a burial site. Many people lined either side to pay their respects.
Israel has crossed a red line, must expect rage and revenge, Nasrallah says
Speaking at the funeral of Hezbollah commander Fouad Shukr, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said Israel has crossed a line, warning there will be rage and revenge.
Thousands of people lined the streets of Beirut to mourn Shukr.
Nasrallah said Hezbollah entered the battle believing its morality, legitimacy and importance, adding they are now in an open battle on all fronts that has entered a new phase.
Nasrallah denied responsibility for the Majdal Shams attack, which Israel and the U.S. have said came from Hezbollah. He also commented on the Israeli assassination of Hamas’ political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran, Iran, hours after Shukr was targeted in a strike on Beirut warning Iran will likely respond.
Crowds mourn slain Hamas leader in Tehran funeral procession
Throngs of people flooded the streets of Tehran on Thursday for the funeral procession of Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas political leader who was assassinated early Wednesday.
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, led funeral prayers over the bodies of Ismail Haniyeh and his bodyguard, who was also killed.
Haniyeh was killed in Tehran, the Iranian capital. His remains are expected to be transferred to Qatar, where he had lived in exile since 2019, for burial on Thursday.
No country or organization has yet taken credit for the assassination, but Khamenei appeared on Tuesday to place the blame on Israel. He said it was Iran’s “duty to take revenge.”
Israel says it killed Hamas military leader last month
Israeli officials said Thursday they had killed Mohammed Deif, commander of Hamas’ military wing.
Deif was killed in “precise, targeted strike” in Khan Yunis on July 13, according to a joint statement by the Israel Defense Forces and the Israel Securities Authority.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced the death in a post on social media, calling Deif the “Osama bin Laden of Gaza.”
Gallant said his killing was “a significant milestone in the process of dismantling Hamas as a military and governing authority in Gaza, and in the achievement of the goals of this war.”
Israeli Air Force fighter jets conducted the airstrike on a compound in the southern Gazan city, the joint statement said. The strike also killed Rafa’a Salameh, the commander of Hamas’ Khan Yunis Brigade, the military said.
“Over the years, Deif directed, planned, and carried out numerous terrorist attacks against the State of Israel,” the joint statement said.
The statement continued, “Deif operated side-by-side with Yahya Sinwar, and during the war, he commanded Hamas’ terrorist activity in the Gaza Strip by issuing commands and instructions to senior members of Hamas’ Military Wing.”
Gaza’s Ministry of Health said last month that at least 90 people, half of whom were children and women, were killed and 300 others were injured in the attack.
Hamas officials have not confirmed Deif’s death.
Delta suspends flights to Tel Aviv
Delta Air lines has suspended all flights from John F. Kennedy International Airport to Tel Aviv through Friday, Aug. 2, due to ongoing conflict in the region.
“Delta is continuously monitoring the evolving security environment and assessing our operations based on security guidance and intelligence reports and will communicate any updates as needed,” Delta said in a statement.
CPJ ‘dismayed’ by deaths of Al Jazeera journalists in ‘direct strike’ on vehicle near Gaza city
Al Jazeera Arabic journalists Ismail Al-Ghoul and cameraman Rami Al-Refee have been killed in whilst reporting in Gaza, the network has announced.
The journalists were reporting on the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh. Al-Ghoul’s last post on social media was of him at the ruins of the Hamas leader’s home in Gaza.
A vehicle carrying the two journalists was targeted by what the CPJ says appears to be a “direct strike” in Al Shafi camp, west of Gaza city.
“Ismail was known for his professionalism and dedication, highlighting the suffering and atrocities in Gaza, particularly at Al-Shifa Hospital and in the northern region. He was detained and tortured by Israel while covering the Al Shifa Hospital siege, yet he continued reporting after his release,” Al Jazeera said in a statement.
Without Ismail, the harrowing images of these massacres would remain unseen. He was a resolute journalist who overcame hunger, illness, and the death of his brother. He tirelessly reported on Gaza’s events through Al Jazeera, fulfilling his mission for his people and homeland. May they rest in peace,” Al Jazeera said.
United cancels Tel Aviv flights
As tensions continue to rise after Israel assassinated top Hamas and Hezbollah officials, United Airlines has canceled its daily flights to Tel Aviv.
“Beginning with this evening’s flight from Newark Liberty to Tel Aviv, we are suspending for security reasons our daily Tel Aviv service as we evaluate our next steps. We continue to closely monitor the situation and will make decisions on resuming service with a focus on the safety of our customers and crews,” United said in a statement to ABC News.
-ABC News’ Sam Sweeney
US raises Lebanon travel advisory to highest warning level
In the wake of recent escalations in the Middle East, the U.S. State Department has raised its advisory for Lebanon to level four: “Do Not Travel,” up from a level three: “reconsider travel.”
“Do Not Travel to Lebanon due to rising tensions between Hezbollah and Israel. If you are in Lebanon, be prepared to shelter in place should the situation deteriorate. The U.S. Embassy strongly encourages U.S. citizens who are already in Southern Lebanon, near the borders with Syria, and/or in refugee settlements to depart,” the updated advisory reads.
“U.S. citizens in Lebanon should be aware that consular officers from the U.S. Embassy are not always able to travel to assist them. The Department of State considers the threat to U.S. government personnel in Beirut serious enough to require them to live and work under strict security. The internal security policies of the U.S. Embassy may be adjusted at any time and without advance notice,” it said.
Even before Tuesday’s strike in Beirut, State Department officials have been advising Americans in Lebanon to put together a “crisis plan of action” and “leave before a crisis begins.” Assistant Secretary for Consular Affairs Reena Bitter said in a video message earlier this week that those remaining in Lebanon should be prepared to shelter in place “for a long period of time.”
While some commercial flights from Lebanon have been disrupted, an official said earlier Wednesday that the State Department assesses that the transportation situation for U.S. citizens is still tenable enough that the department is not considering launching any evacuation efforts at this time, but that those plans are constantly being augmented in case they become necessary.
Level four is the State Department’s most severe classification. Other countries at that rank include North Korea, Afghanistan, Iran, Russia, Ukraine, Syria and South Sudan.
US officials warn Israeli assassinations are not good for cease-fire negotiations
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other officials have held back from publicly speculating whether the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh will derail cease-fire negotiations, but several U.S. officials familiar with the talks say it certainly isn’t good for the prospects of a deal.
The two assassinations of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders in the last 24 hours could have a chilling effect on the mediators, and what appears to be a recommitment to wartime mentality from both Israel and Hamas.
Blinken and others have recently said that an agreement is close, but always with the important caveat that the final gaps are the hardest to bridge.
Israel has also hardened some of its positions in recent weeks and the U.S. has never had full confidence in Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar’s desire to achieve a cease-fire or its insight into his thinking, officials say.
At the State Department briefing Wednesday, its deputy spokesperson, Vedant Patel, declined to speculate whether the assassinations would impact the talks and asserted that the department did not anticipate even a temporary pause in negotiations at this point.
-ABC News’ Shannon K. Kingston
Hezbollah confirms Fouad Shukr was killed in Israeli strike on Beirut
Hezbollah has confirmed that military commander Fouad Shukr, also known as Hajj Mohsen, was killed in an Israeli strike on a building in Beirut, calling it a “heinous attack and the major crime.”
Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah will speak about the attack at a funeral procession on Thursday, according to Hezbollah.
Netanyahu issues warning after Israel kills top Hamas, Hezbollah officials
In his first public statements since Israel killed top Hamas and Hezbollah leaders, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned it would retaliate strongly “against any aggression.”
“Challenging days are ahead of us. Since the attack in the Beirut, threats have been heard from all sides. We are ready for any scenario and will stand united and determined against any threat. Israel will charge a price, a very heavy price, for any aggression against us from any arena,” Netanyahu said Wednesday.
Hamas says talks with Israel ‘meaningless’ and a ‘deal was close’
Senior Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya said Tuesday that the talks with Israel are “meaningless” and that they were “close” to a deal but that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu doesn’t want one.
“The negotiation is meaningless despite the bloodshed. We had a paper [agreement] and the deal was close. They do not want to stop being usurper. Netanyahu does not want a deal. Hence, we had dedicated all we could. Our path is not the path of surrendering,” al-Hayya said during a press conference Wednesday.
Egypt also warned that the Israeli assassinations undermine truce talks and warned against dangerous security consequences.
Egypt condemned the killing of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and Hezbollah military leader Fouad Shukr in Beirut as a “dangerous escalation” by Israel that could fuel conflict in the region, according to a statement issued Wednesday.
The Egyptian foreign ministry said the assassinations “undermine the strenuous efforts made by Egypt and its partners to stop the war in the Gaza Strip” and “indicate the absence of Israeli political will to calm the situation.”
-ABC News’ Hami Hamedi and Ayat Al-Tawy
Hamas claims Haniyeh was assassinated by rocket that entered his room
Hamas claimed that its political leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed by a rocket that entered the room where he was staying, Khalil al-Hayya, a high ranking Hamas official said in a press conference Wednesday. He warned that Israel will pay the price for Haniyeh’s death
Al-Hayya also slammed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for hampering cease-fire talks.
-ABC News’ Hami Hamedi
Blinken calls Jordanian counterpart, discusses hostage deal and preventing escalation
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called his Jordanian counterpart Wednesday to discuss “the urgency of efforts to reach a ceasefire to the conflict in Gaza” and “the importance of preventing further escalation of the conflict,” according to a statement from the State Department.
The statement doesn’t specifically mention the Israeli strike in Lebanon or the killing of Hamas’ political leader, but Jordan is viewed as a key strategic partner for maintaining stability in the Middle East by U.S. officials.
-ABC News’ Shannon K. Kingston
‘Time for a deal,’ families of hostages say
A group representing the families of hostages held in the war-torn Gaza Strip, who were abducted from southern Israel during the Oct. 7 attacks, released a statement on Wednesday urging “the Israeli government and global leaders to decisively advance negotiations.”
“This is the time for a deal,” the statement said.
The statement comes amid rising tensions in the region after Hamas’ political leader was killed by a predawn airstrike in the Iranian capital Tehran — and only hours after Israel targeted a top commander for Iran’s ally Hezbollah in the Lebanese capital Beirut.
Iran has ‘duty to take revenge,’ supreme leader says
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said his country had a “duty to take revenge” after Hamas’ political leader was killed in Tehran.
“However, following this bitter, tragic event which has taken place within the borders of the Islamic Republic, we believe it is our duty to take revenge,” Khamenei said Wednesday.
No country or organization has yet taken credit for the assassination, but Khamenei appeared in his statement to blame Israel, saying the “criminal, terrorist Zionist regime martyred our dear guest in our territory.”
Global reactions rolling in following Haniyeh killing
As news of the killing of Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas, begins to spread on Wednesday morning, global leaders have started to react, condemning his death and calling it a “heinous assassination.”
In a statement, Jordan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs “condemned in the strongest terms Israel’s assassination of the head of the political bureau of the Islamic Resistance Movement in Palestine (Hamas), Ismail Haniyeh, may God have mercy on him, in the Iranian capital, Tehran, in violation of international law and international humanitarian law, and an escalatory crime that will push towards more tension and chaos in the region.”
Turkey’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs also condemned Haniyeh’s death, calling it a “heinous assassination” and reiterated the need to stop Israel from escalating regional tensions.
Meanwhile, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov told state-owned RIA news agency that the killing of Haniyeh “is an absolutely unacceptable political murder, and it will lead to further escalation of tensions.”
The Israeli Government Press Office posted a photo of Ismail Haniyeh with the word “eliminated” over the Hamas political leader’s head. The post, which had been live for more than an hour, was then removed Wednesday morning.
“Eliminated: Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas highest- ranking leader, was killed in a precise strike in Tehran, Iran,” the office said in a post on its official Facebook page.
There has been no claim of responsibility for the assassination.
Killing will strengthen Iranian-Palestinian bond, minister says
The death of Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas political leader, in Iran “will strengthen the deep and unbreakable bond between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the beloved Palestine and the resistance,” an Iranian state spokesperson said.
“The pure blood of Martyr Haniyeh will never be wasted,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said, according to Iranian state media.
Iranian authorities were investigating the assassination, he said.
Kanaani praised Haniyeh for spending his life in the “honorable struggle against the usurping Zionist regime” and for seeking the “the liberation of the oppressed Palestinian nation.”
Hamas, allies react to Haniyeh killing, calling it a ‘cowardly act’
Reaction from Hamas and its allies was swift, with Musa Abu Marzouq, a member of the Hamas political office, saying in a statement, “The assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the Hamas Political Bureau, is a cowardly act and will certainly not go unanswered.”
Islamic Jihad also issued a statement, saying the death of Haniyeh will not deter them.
Mahmoud Abbas, president of the state of Palestine, said he strongly condemned the assassination of Haniyeh, calling the attack “a cowardly act.”
Political leader of Hamas has been killed in Tehran, Iran says
Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas, has been killed in Tehran along with his bodyguard, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has said in a statement.
There has been no claim of responsibility for the attack at this stage.
Haniyeh was killed in his home in Tehran after participating in the inauguration of the new Iranian president, according to Hamas.
IDF says it targeted senior Hezbollah commander in Beirut
The Israel Defense Forces said it targeted a senior Hezbollah commander in Beirut, Lebanon. The IDF said the commander is responsible for Saturday’s strike that killed children playing soccer in Majdal Shams in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on social media that Hezbollah “crossed the red line.”
The Lebanese Red Cross said the strike hit a residential building, killing at least two and injuring 20.
The target of Israel’s strike was Fouad Shukr, also known as Al-Hajj Mohsen, according to three security sources familiar with the operation.
The United States was given advanced notice ahead of Israel’s strike, according to a U.S. official familiar with matter. The message was communicated via security channels and limited operational detail was shared, the official said. It’s not clear whether the strike successfully eliminated its target.
Vice President Kamala Harris said Tuesday that “Israel has the right to defend itself against a terrorist organization, which is exactly what Hezbollah is.”
“But all of that being said, we still must work on a diplomatic solution to end these attacks and we will continue to do that work,” she added.
State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters he didn’t have “any updates on any specific activity,” but added, “We have been in continuous discussions with Israeli and Lebanese counterparts since the incident over the weekend, and the United States is going to continue to support efforts to reach a diplomatic solution along the blue line.”
“Our support for Israel’s security is ironclad, and it’s unwavering, especially as it defends itself against Iran-backed threats, including threats from Hezbollah,” Patel said.
-ABC News’ Dana Savir and Shannon Kingston
85 sick and injured evacuated from Gaza in largest medical evacuation in 9 months
Eighty-five sick and severely injured people, including 35 children, have been evacuated from Gaza to get care in Abu Dhabi, said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization.
This was Gaza’s largest medical evacuation since October 2023, according to the WHO.
The evacuees’ illnesses include cancer, neurological conditions, cardiac disease and liver disease, Tedros said.
Sixty-three family members and caregivers accompanied the patients, the WHO said.
“We hope this paves the way for the establishment of evacuation corridors via all possible routes. Thousands of sick people are suffering needlessly,” Tedros said. “Above all, and as always, we call for a cease-fire.”
-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
IDF says it targeted senior Hezbollah commander in Beirut
The Israel Defense Forces said it targeted a senior Hezbollah commander in Beirut, Lebanon. The IDF said the commander is responsible for Saturday’s strike that killed children playing soccer in Majdal Shams in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on social media that Hezbollah “crossed the red line.”
The target of Israel’s strike was Fouad Shukr, also known as Al-Hajj Mohsen, according to three security sources familiar with the operation.
The United States was given advanced notice ahead of Israel’s strike, according to a U.S. official familiar with matter. The message was communicated via security channels and limited operational detail was shared, the official said.
State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters he didn’t have “any updates on any specific activity,” but added, “We have been in continuous discussions with Israeli and Lebanese counterparts since the incident over the weekend, and the United States is going to continue to support efforts to reach a diplomatic solution along the blue line.”
“Our support for Israel’s security is ironclad, and it’s unwavering, especially as it defends itself against Iran-backed threats, including threats from Hezbollah,” Patel said.
-ABC News’ Dana Savir and Shannon Kingston
IDF withdraws from Khan Younis after weeklong raid killing 226
The Israel Defense Forces announced that it has “completed operational activity in the area of Khan Younis” in the southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday morning, more than a week after it began bombarding the eastern part of the city — a designated humanitarian zone.
At least 226 people have been killed by Israeli forces in and around Khan Younis since the IDF raid began early on July 22, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run Ministry of Health.
-ABC News’ Diaa Ostaz, Jordana Miller and Samy Zyara
One dead in Israel, one dead in Lebanon amid rising tensions
At least one person is dead in northern Israel following a rocket salvo from Lebanon this afternoon, according to Israel’s national emergency service. One person was also killed in southern Lebanon following a drone strike targeting a house in the town of Beit Lif early Tuesday, according to Lebanon’s National News Agency.
The Israel Defense Forces said its fighter jets conducted strikes in southern Lebanon earlier Tuesday.
Approximately 10 projectiles crossed from Lebanon into Israeli territory, with the majority of the projectiles being intercepted, according to the IDF. A direct hit was identified in the area of HaGoshrim in northern Israel.
12:34 PM EDT US meetings with Netanyahu were ‘very constructive,’ Kirby says
U.S. officials’ meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu in Washington, D.C., last week were “very constructive and certainly nothing that discouraged us in terms of trying to close the remaining gaps” while trying to secure the hostage deal, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters Monday.
“We still believe those gaps can be narrowed … and we can move forward. But obviously, as I said earlier, it’s going to take compromise, it’s going to take leadership,” he said.
“There’s no indication that we see, at this point in time, the weekend strike by Hezbollah into the Golan [Heights] area is going to negatively affect those discussions,” Kirby added.
Kirby also pushed back on the suggestion that Vice President Kamala Harris had a different message for Netanyahu from President Joe Biden, saying there was “no daylight” between their messages, and that reporting suggesting otherwise was “unfortunate and inaccurate.”
“There was no daylight between anything, the president, the vice president told the prime minister. Same points, same emphasis — the commitment and reaffirmation to help Israel continue to defend itself against these threats. Same reaffirmation by both the president and the vice president, that we want to see the cease-fire deal get enacted because of what it can do to improve the humanitarian situation. And of course, getting those hostages home with their families,” Kirby said.
Pressed on why Harris had her own meeting if their message was the same, Kirby defended Harris.
“The vice president couldn’t be in town for the meeting in the Oval [Office], and as she has been a full partner in all our foreign policy, but certainly in particular, the policy that this administration has pursued with respect to the Middle East, she felt it was important to also sit down with Prime Minister Netanyahu,” Kirby said.
-ABC News’ Molly Nagle
12:21 PM EDT White House condemns ‘horrific’ attack on Golan Heights
The United States “absolutely condemn this weekend’s horrific attack” that killed children playing soccer in Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters Monday.
At least 12 people were killed, according to the Israel Defense Forces. Hezbollah has denied involvement in the rocket attack but Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday that “every indication” points to Hezbollah as responsible for the strike.
Kirby also assigned blame to Hezbollah in Lebanon, saying “it was their rocket launched from an area that they control.”
“The United States will continue to support efforts to reach a diplomatic solution along that blue line that will, No. 1, end these terrible attacks once and for all, and No. 2, allow Israeli and Lebanese citizens on both sides of the border to safely return to their homes,” Kirby said.
Kirby stressed that U.S. support for Israeli security remains “ironclad” against all Iran-backed threats, adding, “We believe that there is still time and space for a diplomatic solution.”
Asked if the administration was urging Israel to show restraint in any response, Kirby said that Hezbollah made the first strike on Israel back in October and that “Israel has every right to respond,” but he said he was confident that a broader conflict could be avoided.
“Nobody wants a broader war and I’m confident that we’ll be able to avoid such an outcome. I’ll let the Israelis really speak to whatever their response is going to be,” Kirby said.
-ABC News’ Molly Nagle
4:43 PM EDT Netanyahu and Gallant to decide how to retaliate for Golan Heights attack
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant were granted the authority Sunday to decide the manner and timing of a response to the alleged attack by Hezbollah on the town of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights, according to the prime minister’s office.
During a meeting in Tel Aviv, members of Israel’s political-security cabinet gave Netanyahu and Gallant the authority to devise a plan to retaliate for the strike that killed 12 people, including children playing soccer, according to the statement from the prime minister’s office.
“The members of the cabinet authorized the Prime Minister and the Minister of Defense to decide on the manner of response against the terrorist organization Hezbollah, and when,” according to the statement.
Hezbollah has denied involvement in the rocket attack. The Israel Defense Forces and the White House both blamed Hezbollah for the attack.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
1:41 PM EDT White House blames Hezbollah for deadly rocket attack on Golan Heights
The White House on Sunday blamed Hezbollah for the rocket strike Saturday on Golan Heights that it said killed children playing soccer.
At least 12 people were killed in the weekend attack in Majdal Shams, a town in the Golan Heights, according to the Israel Defense Forces.
“We have been in continuous discussions with Israeli and Lebanese counterparts since the horrific attack yesterday in northern Israel that killed a number of children playing soccer,” White House National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement. “This attack was conducted by Lebanese Hezbollah. It was their rocket, and launched from an area they control. It should be universally condemned.”
Hezbollah has denied involvement in the rocket attack in Majdal Shams. But the IDF said a Hezbollah rocket was used in the attack, and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said earlier Sunday that “every indication” points to Hezbollah as responsible for the strike.
-ABC News’ Fritz Farrow
July 28, 2024, 12:35 PM EDT Middle East Airlines delays flights following Israeli strike on Lebanon
Lebanon’s flagship air carrier, Middle East Airlines, delayed departures of several inbound flights to Beirut on Sunday, the airline announced.
The decision by Middle East Airlines came after the Israel Defense Forces announced on Sunday that the military struck targets “deep inside” Lebonnon overnight. The IDF attack in Lebanon unfolded a day after a rocket strike killed 12 people in Majdal Shams, a town in Golan Heights.
Hezbollah denied involvement in the rocket attack in Majdal Shams, but IDF officials claim it was a Hezbollah rocket that hit a sports field, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that “every indication” points to Hezbollah as being responsible for the strike.
Middle East Airlines said it delayed the departures of six inbound flights to Beruit that would normally land at night. The flights are now scheduled to land during the day on Monday, the airline said.
Meanwhile, Royal Jordanian Airlines also told ABC News it is considering rescheduling a flight from Amman to Beirut to early Monday morning.
(WASHINGTON) — Vice President Kamala Harris has enough Democratic Party delegate votes in a virtual roll call to earn the party’s nomination when the roll call ends Monday, Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison announced Friday.
“I am so proud to confirm that Vice President Harris has earned more than a majority of votes from all convention delegates and will be the nominee of the Democratic Party following the close of voting on Monday,” Harrison said during a campaign update video call on Friday.
“You returned your nomination petitions at lightning speed. You made your voices heard. And what you said was clear: We are not going back. We have to send Kamala Harris to the White House,” Harrison said to the delegates in a call plagued by audio issues. “You demonstrated your dedication and your commitment to this process.”
Convention delegates have been virtually voting by email or phone since 9 a.m. ET on Thursday in a virtual roll call set up by the Democratic National Committee. Delegates still have until Monday at 6 p.m. ET to vote in the nomination process, and Harris — who joined the call — highlighted that she would officially accept her nomination then, after the voting period is closed.
“I am honored to be the presumptive Democratic nominee for president of the United States,” said Harris, who the DNC deemed the presumptive nominee on Tuesday after she emerged from a process, laid out by the party’s Rules Committee, as the only qualified candidate.
“As your future president, I know we are up to this fight, and when we fight, everyone will say, we win,” she later added.
The nomination is a historic one — if she wins the general election in November against former President Donald Trump, she would be the first woman to serve as president. Harris is already the first woman, Black person and person of South Asian descent to be vice president.
Friday’s announcement marks a major milestone of Harris’ rapid ascension to the top of the ticket, which comes just 12 days after President Joe Biden ended his campaign for reelection on July 21 — a remarkable show of unity for a party that just weeks ago stood deeply divided over what to do about the president’s candidacy.
With Biden endorsing Harris to succeed him shortly after he announced that he would step aside, support from Democratic donors and elected officials quickly coalesced around the vice president. In the end, Harris was the only competitive candidate that launched a campaign to succeed Biden and the only candidate that received enough delegate signatures to progress to the virtual roll call.
Harris is the first candidate to become the nominee for either major party without winning a single party primary since Hubert Humphrey in 1968. (That year’s convention precipitated reforms that led to the modern primary process.)
The DNC initially decided in May to hold a virtual roll call because of uncertainty over deadlines to get on the ballot in Ohio. The state legislature eventually rectified the issue, but the DNC has argued that Republican lawmakers in Ohio are acting in bad faith and that the Democratic candidate needs to be nominated earlier than the convention to avoid legal issues. Ohio leaders have denied this allegation.
ABC News’ Gabriella Abdul-Hakim, Fritz Farrow and Will McDuffie contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — A weaker-than-expected jobs report on Friday fueled concern about a potential economic recession and calls for an interest rate cut.
Employers hired 114,000 workers last month, falling well short of economist expectations of 185,000 jobs, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data showed. The unemployment rate climbed to 4.3%, the highest level since October 2021.
The hiring in July marked a steep slowdown from the 206,000 jobs added over the previous month, and the new data came in well below the monthly average over the past year.
The cooldown of the job market foretells a possible economic downturn and bolsters the case for an interest rate cut at the Federal Reserve’s next meeting in September, analysts told ABC News. The central bank may have erred in holding interest rates steady at its meeting this week, some analysts added.
“The labor market is in a perilous spot,” Nick Bunker, economic research director for North America at Indeed Hiring Lab, told ABC News in a statement. “It’s not clear what changes and rescues it from its current trajectory.”
The report on Friday indicates that the job market is cooling faster than previously known, rekindling fears of a recession, some analysts said.
The unemployment rate has soared this year from 3.7% to 4.3%. That trend has triggered a recession indicator known as the “Sahm Rule,” which says that a rise of 0.5 percentage points in the unemployment rate within a 12-month period typically precedes a recession.
The major stock indexes fell in early trading on Friday in response to the jobs data.
“The July employment report landed with a loud thud,” Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst at Bankrate, told ABC News.
In a post on X regarding the jobs data, prominent economist and New York Times opinion writer Paul Krugman described the economy as “pre-recessionary,” though he indicated that the economy will likely avert a downturn due to some technical reasons for the elevated unemployment rate.
Citing a need to rekindle job growth, however, Krugman called on the Fed to “cut, cut, cut.”
The fresh jobs data extends a monthslong stretch of economic performance marked by the key conditions for a rate cut: falling inflation and slowing job gains.
Price increases have slowed significantly from a peak of more than 9%, though inflation remains a percentage point higher than the Fed’s target rate of 2%. An outright drop in prices in June compared to the month prior marked a major sign of progress in slowing inflation.
In recent months, Fed Chair Jerome Powell has shifted focus to the central bank’s responsibility for maintaining a robust job market, in addition to its goal of controlling inflation.
“For a long time, since inflation arrived, it’s been right to mainly focus on inflation. But now that inflation has come down and the labor market has indeed cooled off, we’re going to be looking at both mandates,” Powell said last month at a meeting of The Economic Club of Washington, D.C.
On Wednesday, Powell said the Fed may cut interest rates at its next meeting in September, though he said the central bank would like to see further evidence that inflation is heading downward.
“We’ve made no decisions about future meetings and that includes the September meeting,” Powell said at a press conference in Washington D.C. “We’re getting closer to the point at which we’ll reduce our policy rate, but we’re not quite at that point yet.”
In recent months, observers voiced optimism about the possibility of a “soft landing,” in which inflation returns to normal levels while the economy averts a recession. However, the jobs report appeared to sour some of that enthusiasm.
“The soft landing in the U.S. labor market is in danger,” said Bunker.
(WASHINGTON) — Vice President Kamala Harris is moving full steam ahead in her bid for the White House.
Former President Donald Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance, have several campaign events set up this week as they aim their attacks on Harris.
Harris has secured commitments from enough delegates to become the presumptive nominee if they all honor their commitment when voting, according to ABC News reporting.
Here’s how the news is developing:
Pete Buttigieg also cancels item on schedule
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has cancelled an item on his upcoming schedule amid reports he may be in the running to be Kamala Harris’ vice president.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro — also among the VP hopefuls — canceled fundraisers he had planned for the weekend.
Buttigieg, who has been traversing the Midwest this week in his official capacity, is scheduled to on Friday tour Ivy Tech Community College in Kokomo, Indiana. After remarks, the secretary will have a media availability.
“Secretary Buttigieg is here in Kokomo in his official capacity as Transportation Secretary. Federal law prohibits him from speaking about campaigns and elections,” his team wrote in email guidance.
He was slated to hold a roundtable discussion afterwards, which his team now says will no longer happen.
“I’m sorry to share that we will no longer be hosting the roadway safety roundtable due to some unforeseen scheduling constraints,” the guidance reads.
-ABC New’s Isabella Murrary
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker met with Harris’ VP vetting team: Sources
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker met with Harris’ vice presidential vetting team, according to sources familiar with the meeting.
-ABC News’ Isabella Murray
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz met with Harris’ VP vetting team: Sources
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz met with Harris’ vice presidential vetting team, according to sources familiar with the meeting.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro — who is reported to have met with Harris’ vetting team as he remains on the shortlist of her vice presidential options — has canceled the fundraisers he had planned in the Hamptons this weekend, ABC News has confirmed.
It’s unclear now what his weekend schedule entails.
“The Governor’s trip was planned several weeks ago and included several fundraisers for his own campaign committee. His schedule has changed and he is no longer traveling to the Hamptons this weekend,” Shapiro Spokesman Manuel Bonder told ABC News.
-ABC News’ Isabella Murray and Oren Oppenheim
Harris’ vetting team met with VP hopefuls Shapiro, Kelly
Harris’ vetting team met with Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly — two vice presidential hopefuls, according to sources familiar. The vetting team has met with other candidates as well, the sources added.
As meetings continue, the pool of vice presidential candidates has narrowed from a dozen, sources said.
Harris only has days to make a decision on her running mate. This process that normally takes months has been truncated and her team is doing it in weeks.
Harris is set to begin a tour of battleground states with her running mate on Tuesday.
-ABC News’ Selina Wang, Will McDuffie and Katherine Faulders
At the border, Vance says Harris kept the ‘promise’ to open the southern border
Vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance visited the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona Thursday morning. During his visit, Vance addressed the press, blaming Vice President Kamala Harris for what he claimed was a failure of the southern border.
“They started their administration, Kamala Harris came into office making promises, and she kept those promises, to open the American southern border,” Vance said. “They stopped deportations on Day 1, they stopped construction of the border wall on Day 1, we see the border wall sitting here ready to be completed behind us, and that can’t happen because of Kamala Harris’ administration.”
Vance has said that in a Trump-Vance administration, he would want to be influential in border policy. The border and immigration are a major issue for voters this election.
Vance and Trump have sought to attack Harris over her handling of the border — something President Joe Biden assigned her to oversee as vice president.
Vance often connects the border to the issue of drug trafficking and the fentanyl crisis, and he did it during his remarks Thursday.
“And the unfortunate truth is, because of the poison that Kamala Harris has let come into this country, there are a lot of those prayers that won’t be answered,” Vance said. “There are a lot of parents that won’t wake up because when you take fentanyl, you don’t wake up, it takes your life.”
But that is not true. The majority of fentanyl smuggled into the U.S. is through ports of entry, not through migrants.
Vance said the U.S. must implement “common sense policies” at the border.
“You’ve got to reimplement remain in Mexico. You’ve got to stop catch and release. You’ve got to force the asylum seekers to stay in Mexico while their claims are being adjudicated. And you’ve got to finish this border wall and reimplement deportations,” he said.
-ABC News’ Hannah Demissie
Vance said he feels Trump has confidence in him
Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance said he feels former President Donald Trump has confidence in him, according to an interview he did with NOTUS conducted on Wednesday and published Thursday.
“I think that any Republican who comes out of the gate as the new VP nominee is gonna get attacked. I have no doubt that the president is confident in the way that I’ve been doing things,” Vance said in the interview.
Vance said he and Trump have a “good relationship” and that it will keep on going through all the way to November, hopefully past that too.”
In the interview, Vance also said “there was a fallout in the aftermath of the November 2020 election.”
Vance said, “I think it’s weird to engage in hypotheticals given the law’s changed here” when asked how he would have handled a situation where Trump wanted him to act against the Constitution, as then-Vice President Mike Pence said he was asked to during the process of certifying the 2020 election.
This goes against what Vance said in an interview with “This Week” anchor George Stephanopolous in February. During that interview, Vance was willing to discuss what he would have done in 2020 — before some laws changed.
“If I had been vice president, I would have told the states, like Pennsylvania, Georgia and so many others, that we needed to have multiple slates of electors and I think the U.S. Congress should have fought over it from there,” Vance said then. “That is the legitimate way to deal with an election that a lot of folks, including me, think had a lot of problems in 2020. I think that’s what we should have done.”
-ABC News’ Hannah Demissie and Oren Oppenheim
Trump doubles down on false racial attack against Harris
In a social media post Thursday morning, former President Donald Trump shared a family portrait of Vice President Kamala Harris.
“Your warmth, friendship, and love of your Indian Heritage are very much appreciated,” Trump wrote as the caption.
His social media post doubles down on his false claim that Harris only emphasized her Asian-American heritage, something he mentioned during his interview at the National Association of Black Journalists convention on Wednesday.
During the interview, he falsely questioned Harris’ race. Harris is the daughter of a Jamaican father and an Indian mother.
“I didn’t know she was Black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn Black and now, she wants to be known as Black. So, I don’t know, is she Indian or is she Black?” Trump said during the NABJ interview.
He went on to say that “she was Indian all the way, and then all of a sudden she made a turn, and she went — she became a Black person.”
-ABC News’ Lalee Ibssa, Soorin Kim and Kelsey Walsh
Vance visiting southern border in Arizona
Vice presidential candidate JD Vance is visiting the southern border Thursday morning in Cochise County, Arizona.
Vance and Trump have sought to attack Harris over her handling of the border — something President Joe Biden assigned her to oversee as vice president. The border and immigration are a major issue for voters this election.
Vance discussed the border and attacked Democrats during a rally in Arizona Wednesday night.
“They suspended deportations. They stopped building the wall. They reinstated catch and release. That’s how every state became a border state: They just release them into our country. They fly them first class wherever they want to go and put them up in fancy hotels,” Vance claimed. “You’re paying for that, too. Then they proposed amnesty for millions of illegal aliens.”
-ABC News’ Hannah Demissie
DNC’s virtual roll call underway
The Democratic National Committee’s virtual voting process is underway — a process that will formally designate Vice President Kamala Harris as the official presidential nominee of the Democratic Party.
Harris was already deemed the presumptive nominee by the DNC earlier this week after she emerged from a process, laid out by the party’s Rules Committee, as the only qualified candidate.
The virtual roll call began at 9 a.m. ET Thursday and will go until 6 p.m. ET on Monday, Aug. 5.
Vance defends Trump’s comments at NABJ, calls Harris a ‘chameleon’ and ‘fake’
Former President Donald Trump’s running mate, JD Vance, defended his comments at the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) annual convention in Chicago Wednesday.
Ahead of his rally in Phoenix, Arizona, Vance told reporters he believes the media is “overreacting” to Trump’s remarks at NABJ, where he questioned his opponent Vice President Kamala Harris’ racial identity.
“I didn’t know she was Black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn Black and now, she wants to be known as Black. So, I don’t know, is she Indian or is she Black?” Trump said at the convention.
Vance told reporters Wednesday he found Trump’s comments “hysterical” adding that he believes the former president “pointed out the fundamental chameleon-like nature of Kamala Harris.”
“She is not who she pretends to be,” Vance said of Harris. “She’s flip-flopped on every issue. She’s fake, she’s phony,” he added.
Harris reacts to Trump’s NABJ remarks: ‘Same old show — the divisiveness and the disrespect’
Vice President Kamala Harris spoke out on the campaign trail on Wednesday night, reacting to former President Donald Trump’s headline-making appearance at the National Association of Black Journalists earlier in the day.
While not calling out any specific comments, Harris said that Trump’s appearance at the conference “was the same old show — the divisiveness and the disrespect.”
“And let me just say, the American people deserve better,” Harris added as she addressed a Houston crowd at the Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Inc.’s Boulé. “The American people deserve a leader who tells the truth; a leader who does not respond with hostility and anger when confronted with the facts; we deserve a leader who understands that our differences, do not divide us. They are an essential source of our strength.”
Sen. Kelly calls Trump ‘desperate scared old man’ over NABJ remarks
Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, a vice presidential short-lister, criticized former President Donald Trump’s comments at the National Association of Black Journalists Convention about Vice President Kamala Harris Wednesday evening.
“I think those are the comments of a desperate scared old man, who over the last week especially has been having his butt kicked by an experienced prosecutor,” he said.
“And his comments are not unexpected from him. We’ve seen this over since when, 2015 or so? So he’s done this before he is not going to change it’s pretty obvious to me why he is doing this,” the senator added.
When asked by ABC News if he felt that Trump’s comments were rooted in racism, Kelly responded, “I think it’s who he is.”
GOP Senate candidate Larry Hogan slams Trump’s NABJ Convention remarks
Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, who is running for Senate, came down on former President Trump’s comments about Vice President Kamala Harris’ race.
“It’s unacceptable and abhorrent to attack Vice President Harris or anyone’s racial identity. The American people deserve better,” he said in a statement released Wednesday afternoon.
-ABC News’ Rick Klein
‘Trump showing exactly who he Is at NABJ,’ Harris campaign says
Michael Tyler, a spokesman for Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign, released a statement Wednesday responding to former President Donald Trump’s interview at the National Association of Black Journalists Convention in Chicago.
“The hostility Donald Trump showed on stage today is the same hostility he has shown throughout his life, throughout his term in office, and throughout his campaign for president as he seeks to regain power and inflict his harmful Project 2025 agenda on the American people,” he said.
“Trump lobbed personal attacks and insults at Black journalists the same way he did throughout his presidency – while he failed Black families and left the entire country digging out of the ditch he left us in. Donald Trump has already proven he cannot unite America, so he attempts to divide us,” Tyler added.
“Today’s tirade is simply a taste of the chaos and division that has been a hallmark of Trump’s MAGA rallies this entire campaign. It’s also exactly what the American people will see from across the debate stage as Vice President Harris offers a vision of opportunity and freedom for all Americans. All Donald Trump needs to do is stop playing games and actually show up to the debate on September 10,” he concluded.
-ABC News’ Mary Bruce
White House press secretary calls Trump’s comments on Harris’ race ‘repulsive’
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre pushed back against former President Donald Trump on Wednesday after he questioned Vice President Kamala Harris’ race during a panel at the National Association of Black Journalists Convention in Chicago.
Trump refused to answer a question by ABC News’ Rachel Scott if Harris, who is Black and Indian, was a “DEI hire,” an argument floated by some Republicans last week.
“She was always of Indian heritage, and she was only promoting Indian heritage,” Trump said. “I didn’t know she was Black until a number of years ago, when she happened to turn Black, and now she wants to be known as Black. So I don’t know, is she Indian or is she Black?”
He later said, “I really don’t know, could be, could be, there are some.”
Jean-Pierre criticized those comments during the daily White House briefing that was going on at the same time.
“As a person of color, as a Black woman who is in this position, that is standing before you at this podium, behind this lectern, what he just said, what you just read out to me is repulsive. It’s insulting,” she said. “And no one has any right to tell someone who they are, how they identify. That is no one’s right. It is someone’s own decisions.”
Jean-Pierre added that Harris — who attended Howard University, an HBCU, and was a member of the Black sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha — is the vice president and said that people have to “put some respect on her name.”
“It doesn’t matter if it’s a former leader, a former president. It is insulting. And we have to put — she is the vice president of the United States, Kamala Harris. We have to put some respect on her name,” Jean-Pierre said.
-ABC News’ Michelle Stoddart
UAW endorses Harris
The United Auto Workers International Executive Board voted Wednesday to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential bid.
“Our job in this election is to defeat Donald Trump and elect Kamala Harris to build on her proven track record of delivering for the working class,” UAW President Shawn Fain said in a statement.
“We stand at a crossroads in this country. We can put a billionaire back in office who stands against everything our union stands for, or we can elect Kamala Harris who will stand shoulder-to-shoulder with us in our war on corporate greed. This campaign is bringing together people from all walks of life, building a movement that can defeat Donald Trump at the ballot box. For our one million active and retired members, the choice is clear: We will elect Kamala Harris to be our next President this November,” he added.
-ABC News’ Brittany Shepherd
Trump, Harris campaign trade barbs over NABJ appearance
Trump posted another statement on Truth Social expressing fury that Harris may talk to the National Association of Black Journalists Conference via Zoom.
“I am getting ready to land in Chicago in order to be there. Now I am told that she is doing the Event on ZOOM. WHAT’S GOING ON HERE?” he posted.
In response to former President Trump’s appearance at NABJ, the Harris campaign released a statement calling out all of the “lies” they claim Trump will mention about his record with the Black community.
“Not only does Donald Trump have a history of demeaning NABJ members and honorees who remain pillars of the Black press, he also has a history of attacking the media and working against the vital role the press play in our democracy.”
The campaign listed “skyrocketing Black unemployment,” his response to the pandemic, and “skyrocketing crime.”
-ABC News’ Gabriella Abdul-Hakim, Fritz Farrow, Isabella Murray and Will McDuffie
Harris fundraising off of her vice presidential selection process
The Harris campaign is fundraising off of the heightened interest in her selection process for her running mate.
The campaign shared a photo in an email Wednesday of President Joe Biden asking her to be his vice president, recounting how memorable of a moment it was for her before relaying she understands just how much of an “important” choice the decision is.
“Though I have not made my decision yet, it is important to me that grassroots supporters — like you — have direct updates about the state of the race,” Harris wrote. “The selection of my running mate is not something that I am taking lightly. It is an important choice,” the message read.
-ABC News’ Gabriella Abdul-Hakim, Fritz Farrow, Isabella Murray and Will McDuffie
DNC Chair Harrison, other convention leaders to participate in NABJ event
The Democratic National Convention Committee released their own National Association of Black Journalists plans Wednesday, which come as their now-presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris remains off the conference’s schedule.
On Thursday, top convention leaders including DNC Chair Jamie Harrison will participate in an on the record Q&A session with members of the NABJ Political Task Force, according to Democratic National Convention Officials.
The conversation will be moderated by Choose Chicago Chair Glenn Eden. Other participants include Democratic National Convention Chair Minyon Moore, Chicago 2024 Host Committee Executive Director Christy George and Chicago 2024 Host Committee Senior Advisor Keiana Barret, according to the officials.
“Convention leadership will discuss how President Biden, Vice President [Harris], and Democrats have delivered for Black Americans by lowering health care costs, investing $7 billion in HBCUs, canceling more student debt than any president in history, and building an administration that looks like America,” the officials said.
-ABC News’ Isabella Murray
Trump interview at Black journalists association convention sparks controversy
Former President Donald Trump’s scheduled interview Wednesday at the National Association of Black Journalists convention in Chicago has sparked criticism from some of its members.
Trump will be in conversation with ABC News Senior Congressional Correspondent Rachel Scott, Fox News anchor Harris Faulkner and Semafor political reporter Kadia Goba at 1:30 p.m.
“While NABJ does not endorse political candidates as a journalism organization, we understand the serious work of our members, and welcome the opportunity for them to ask the tough questions that will provide the truthful answers Black Americans want and need to know,” Ken Lemon, the association’s president, said in a statement.
Some members have expressed criticism over the interview.
April Ryan, the Washington bureau chief of TheGrio who was awarded the NABJ’s “Journalist of the Year” back in 2017, wrote online that his invitation was “a slap in the face.”
Karen Attiah, the co-chair of the convention, resigned earlier this week after the NABJ announced Trump’s appearance. Attiah wrote in a post on X, “To the journalists interviewing Trump, I wish them the best of luck,” explaining that his appearance was only partly behind her decision and that it was “influenced by a variety of factors.”
Others, however, have defended the decision.
MSNBC host Symone Sanders-Townsend, who was formerly Vice President Kamala Harris’s spokesperson, wrote on X: “Some of the best journalists in the country are members of NABJ. So, why wouldn’t they interview Trump? He is the Republican nominee.”
-ABC News’ Alexandra Hutzler
Trump tries to downplay turnout at Harris rally
Former President Donald Trump attempted to pour cold water on the enthusiasm at Vice President Kamala Harris’ Tuesday night rally in Atlanta.
Trump claimed in a post on Truth Social Wednesday morning that the turnout was only high because artists performed ahead of her speech.
“Crazy Kamala Harris, voted the WORST Vice President in American history, needed a concert to bring people into the Atlanta arena, and they started leaving 5 minutes into her speech. I don’t need concerts or entertainers, I just have to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!” he said in his post.
-ABC News’ Lalee Ibssa, Soo Rin Kim and Kelsey Walsh
Mark Kelly defends Harris’ immigration record
Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, who is seen as a strong Democratic vice presidential pick, defended the vice president’s record on immigration and went on the attack against Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance, in an interview on “Morning Joe” on Wednesday.
“Donald Trump and Senate Republicans, what did they do several months ago? We had a bipartisan bill that we negotiated faithfully with the administration, both sides of the aisle, and Donald Trump said that Senate Republicans can’t vote for it,” Kelly said. “He wanted to talk about this issue instead of actually fix it and JD Vance and other Republicans, they ran away from it.”
He said Vance, who plans to visit the U.S.-Mexico border Wednesday, should instead be back in Washington passing legislation on the border.
“I mean, JD Vance is down here,” Kelly said. “I think he’s in Arizona today probably getting a photo op at the southern border. Kamala Harris is about solving problems. Donald Trump wants to take us, drag us back a decade.”
Kelly said, in contrast, Harris wants to address border and immigration.
Vance says time to ‘load the muskets’ in Project 2025 leader’s book: Report
Republican Vice Presidential candidate JD Vance said it was “time to circle the wagons and load the muskets,” in a forward to a book penned by Project 2025’s leader, according to a report.
The New Republic obtained the forward to Dawn’s Early Light, the book written by the Heritage Foundation leader Kevin Roberts, where Vance claims “explores many of the themes I’ve focused on in my own work.”
“Never before has a figure with Roberts’s depth and stature within the American Right tried to articulate a genuinely new future for conservatism. The Heritage Foundation isn’t some random outpost on Capitol Hill; it is and has been the most influential engine of ideas for Republicans from Ronald Reagan to Donald Trump,” Vance wrote in the forward, according to the report published Tuesday.
Vance claims “Roberts sees a conservatism that is focused on the family,” and “cultural norms and attitudes matter.”
The senator ended his forward with an analogy about a garden that “needs to be recultivated.”
“As Kevin Roberts writes, ‘It’s fine to take a laissez-faire approach when you are in the safety of the sunshine. But when the twilight descends and you hear the wolves, you’ve got to circle the wagons and load the muskets,'” Vance wrote, according to the report. “We are now all realizing that it’s time to circle the wagons and load the muskets. In the fights that lay ahead, these ideas are an essential weapon.”
Harris to lay out path to strengthen middle class during Atlanta rally: Official
Vice President Kamala Harris is set to take the stage in Atlanta Tuesday night for her largest campaign rally to date.
Among the guests will be Megan Thee Stallion and Quavo.
During her speech, the vice president will lay out how she will prioritize the strengthening of middle-class families as president, according to a Harris official.
She will say a key to this is recognizing that prices remain too high for many essentials that families rely on, and she will lay out her plans to lower costs.
She will also discuss the state of the race, reiterating that she is the underdog in this race but has real momentum and grassroots enthusiasm at her side, and she is expected to call out former President Donald Trump for refusing to honor his commitment to debate, the official said.
Following her remarks, Harris will join a national campaign organizing call to thank volunteers for their support and talk about more ways to get involved with the campaign, the official said.
Biggest Harris donors push for Shapiro, Kelly, Beshear as VP picks: Source
The overwhelming majority of the largest Democratic donors are pushing for Vice President Kamala Harris to pick Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly or Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, a top adviser to major Democratic donors told ABC News.
The source says many of them are making their views known to Harris’ team and have been pushing to have a say in the process after surging large amounts of money into her campaign.
The donors say Shapiro would make a good choice because he has massive charisma and is a political talent at “Obama level,” he’s got a great brand in Pennsylvania and has chastised both Democrats and Republicans for being too extreme, according to the source.
Kelly’s popularity among the donors comes from the fact that he’s a veteran with real toughness, can talk about political violence from his personal perspective and has major name recognition and credibility in Arizona, the source said.
Beshear is popular among the donors because he’s a centrist southern Democrat who has successfully won in Kentucky two times, according to the source.
Top Biden adviser Anita Dunn leaving White House to help pro-Harris super PAC
Anita Dunn, a top adviser to President Joe Biden, is leaving the White House next week to advise the largest super PAC supporting Vice President Kamala Harris, a source close to Dunn told ABC News.
This marks the first major shakeup to Biden’s inner circle since he announced he was dropping out of the presidential race. Dunn played a key role in Biden’s 2020 campaign and was previously a top adviser to President Barack Obama’s 2008 and 2012 campaigns.
“It’s been an honor and privilege to serve in this White House, with this President and this team, during this transformational term,” Dunn said in a statement shared with ABC News. “I am grateful to President Biden and Vice President Harris for their leadership and giving me the opportunity to be part of what they have accomplished for the American people.”
Dunn will be a senior adviser to the super PAC Future Forward and an adviser to its partner organization Future Forward USA. She will work on super PAC efforts that will coordinate with the Harris campaign, according to the source close to Dunn.
Biden said in a statement that he was grateful for Dunn’s work.
“I deeply value her counsel and friendship and I will continue to rely on her partnership and insights as we finish the job over the next six months,” he said.
-ABC News’ Selina Wang
Schumer says he’s not worried about Senate majority if Harris picks senator for VP
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer brushed off concerns Tuesday about keeping the Senate majority if Kamala Harris were to select a Democratic senator as her vice presidential pick.
“I have total confidence that Vice President Harris will choose a great vice-presidential candidate,” Schumer said during his weekly press conference.
Schumer dodged a question about the possibility of a key swing state opening if Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly is chosen as Harris’ running mate.
-ABC News’ Lauren Peller
Harris says she still hasn’t picked VP
Harris told reporters she still hasn’t decided who her running mate will be as she boarded a plane Tuesday for a trip to Atlanta.
“Madam vice president, have you chosen your VP yet? Have you chosen yet?” ABC News’ Fritz Farrow asked.
“Not yet,” Harris said with a smile as she stopped midway up the steps of Air Force Two.
-ABC News’ Justin Gomez
Biden says he’s talking with Harris about VP choices
President Joe Biden told reporters Monday night after returning from a trip to Texas that he’s “talking” with Harris about her choices for vice president.
Biden was also asked about hitting the trail for Harris, and said he “did” with his trip.
-ABC News’ Molly Nagle
Vance, in 2020, said those without kids are ‘more sociopathic’
As Vance continues to face criticism for his 2021 comments about “childless cat ladies,” more of his previous comments about individuals without kids have resurfaced.
In a podcast from November 2020, Vance said those without kids — especially in America’s leadership class — were “more sociopathic” than those with kids and made the country “less mentally stable.”
Vance’s comments occurred on the podcast after he discussed the impact having children had on him.
Vance also added that the “most deranged” and “most psychotic” people on Twitter, now known as X, are people who don’t have kids.
“There’s just these basic cadences of life that I think are really powerful and really, really valuable when you have kids in your life, and the fact that so many people, especially in America’s leadership class, just don’t have that in their lives, you know, I worry that it makes people more sociopathic, and ultimately, our whole country a little bit less less mentally stable,” Vance said in the podcast.
“And of course, you talk about going on Twitter. Final point I’ll make is you go on Twitter, and almost always the people who are most deranged and most psychotic, are people who don’t have kids at home.”
CNN was the first to report on the podcast.
-ABC News’ Hannah Demissie
Trump out with $12M ad buy criticizing Harris on the border
Trump’s campaign is targeting Harris in its biggest television ad buy since at least January, reserving eight-figure dollar worth of airtime in six key battleground states, according to ad tracking firm AdImpact.
The 30-second ad zeroes in on the rhetoric that Harris “failed” in her role handling immigration issues in President Biden’s administration, calling her “weak” and “dangerously liberal.”
“This is America’s border czar, and she’s failed us. Under Harris, over ten million illegally here, a quarter of a million Americans dead from fentanyl, brutal migrant crimes, and ISIS now here,” a narrator in the ad says, followed by an interview clip of Harris appearing to admit she hasn’t visited the border.
Harris was assigned to address the root causes of migration in Central and South America. She made one visit to the southern border operations in June 2021.
The Harris campaign hit back that Trump was responsible for “killing the toughest border deal in decades” and accused him of misrepresenting her record.
“As a former district attorney, attorney general, and now vice president, Kamala Harris has spent her career taking on and prosecuting violent criminals and making our communities safer. She’ll do the same as president,” said Harris campaign spokesperson Ammar Moussa.
-ABC News’ Soorin Kim and Gabriella Abdul-Hakim
Trump attempts to clean up Vance’s ‘childless cat ladies’ comments
Appearing on Fox News The Ingraham Angle on Monday night, Trump attempted to clean up his vice presidential pick’s previous comments about “childless cat ladies,” but didn’t really address the comments.
Instead, he rambled about how Vance is pro-family.
“He made a statement having to do with families. That doesn’t mean that people that aren’t a member of a big and beautiful family with 400 children around and everything else, it doesn’t mean that a person doesn’t have, he’s not against anything, but he loves family. It’s very important to him. He grew up in a very interesting family situation, and he feels family is good, and I don’t think there’s anything wrong in saying that,” Trump said downplaying Vance’s comments.
Gloria Steinem, Chelsea Clinton and more participate in ‘Women for Harris’ call
The Democratic National Committee held a “Women for Harris” call on Monday night.
Over the course of two-and-a-half hours, viewers heard from Chelsea Clinton, California Sen. Laphonza Butler, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Gloria Steinem, Ana Navarro and leaders of organizations like Emily’s List and Mom’s Demand Action.
Clinton lamented her mother’s loss in 2016 but told viewers that defeating the former president is even more important than it was in 2016 because Americans now have a “record” of things to hold him accountable for.
“My mom put a few more cracks in that glass ceiling. And Vice President Harris is going to obliterate that glass ceiling,” Clinton said.
The call included a host of organizations who support Harris, including Black women who held the first iteration of these pop up fundraising calls with the group Win with Black Women. Glynda Carr, founder of Higher Heights PAC, which supports Black women leadership, told attendees what made this call uniquely important was the realization that women from all walks of life are “stronger together.”
Another “Women for Harris” call is planned for Tuesday night.
Harris launches $50 million ad campaign
Vice President Kamala Harris rolled out an aggressive $50 million, three-week advertising blitz for the first ad of her presidential campaign on Tuesday, in which she introduces herself to voters, highlights her career and takes hits at former President Donald Trump.
“The one thing Kamala Harris has always been: fearless,” a narrator says at the start of the minute-long ad, as pictures of Harris over the years — from a toddler to college graduate to vice president — flash on screen.
“As a prosecutor, she put murderers and abusers behind bars,” the narrator continued. “As California’s attorney general, she went after the big banks and won $20 billion for homeowners. And as vice president, she took on the big drug companies to cap the cost of insulin for seniors. Because Kamala Harris has always known who she represents.”
The spot then leads into laying out Harris’ vision and attacking Trump, using footage from her first rally of the campaign last week in a high school gym just outside Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
“We believe in a future where every person has the opportunity not just to get by, but to get ahead. Where every senior can retire with dignity,” Harris said in the footage from the rally. “But Donald Trump wants to take our country backward, to give tax breaks to billionaires and big corporations and end the Affordable Care Act.”
“But we are not going back,” she added.
Harris campaign chair, Jen O’Malley Dillon, said in a statement that because of Harris’ prosecutorial, congressional and vice-presidential experience, the vice president is “uniquely suited to take on Donald Trump, a convicted felon who has spent his entire life ripping off working people, tearing away our rights, and fighting for himself.”
‘White Dudes for Harris’ raises over $4 million in 3 hours
The “White Dudes for Harris” livestream held on Monday night raised over $4 million over three hours in support of Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential bid, organizers said.
The event featured participants from politics and a parade of celebrities — including “The Dude” himself, The Big Lebowski’s Jeff Bridges — all making their own call to action for other white men to step up in their support for Harris.
Over 190,000 people tuned into the Zoom call, organizers of the unofficial event said at the conclusion of the stream.
Among the recognizable faces that cropped up during the livestream were Star Wars icon Mark Hamill, Supernatural alum Misha Collins, The West Wing alum Bradley Whitford, Frozen’s Josh Gad and singer Josh Groban. Several potential running mates for Harris also joined the event, including North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, who withdrew from contention for vice president on the Democratic ticket around the time he spoke at the meeting. He did not mention his withdrawal on the call.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Michigan Sen. Gary Peters, all still in the running for Harris’ vice-presidential pick, were also part of the “White Dudes for Harris” meeting.
JD Vance said Democratic ticket switch to Harris was ‘sucker punch’: Report
Sen. JD Vance, running mate to former President Donald Trump, said over the weekend that Kamala Harris moving to the top of the Democratic ticket was a “sucker punch,” according to the Washington Post.
“All of us were hit with a little bit of a political sucker punch,” Vance said to donors over the weekend in Minnesota, per an audio recording the paper said it had obtained. “The bad news is that Kamala Harris does not have the same baggage as Joe Biden, because whatever we might have to say, Kamala is a lot younger. And Kamala Harris is obviously not struggling in the same ways that Joe Biden did.”
When asked about the report and Vance’s “sucker punch” comment, a spokesperson for the vice presidential contender took aim at Harris.
“Poll after poll shows President Trump leading Kamala Harris as voters become aware of her weak, failed and dangerously liberal agenda. Her far-left ideas are even more radioactive than Joe Biden, particularly in the key swing states that will decide this election like Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin,” Vance spokesperson William Martin said in a statement.
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper will not be Kamala Harris’ VP pick
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper issued a statement on Monday night signaling that he’s removed himself from contention as a vice presidential running mate for presidential candidate Kamala Harris.
“I strongly support Vice President Harris’ campaign for President. I know she’s going to win and I was honored to be considered for this role. This just wasn’t the right time for North Carolina and for me to potentially be on a national ticket,” he said in a post on X.
“As l’ve said from the beginning, she has an outstanding list of people from which to choose, and we’ll all work to make sure she wins,” he added.
Trump says he’ll ‘probably end up debating’ Harris
Former President Donald Trump seems to be one step closer to formally agreeing to debate his opponent for the presidency, Vice President Kamala Harris.
During an interview on The Ingraham Angle Monday night, Trump told the Fox News host that he will “probably end up debating” Harris. In his remarks, though, he also appeared to downplay the necessity of debates.
“I want to do a debate, but I also can say this. Everybody knows who I am. And now people know who she is,” he said.
“If you’re going to have a debate, you gotta do it, I think, before the votes are cast. I think it’s very important that you do that. So, the answer is yes, but I can also make a case for not doing it,” Trump said.
A short while later, a spokesperson for Harris’ campaign issued a statement on Trump’s comments on Fox, insisting that the vice president will be at the next debate no matter what.
“Why won’t Donald Trump give a straight answer on debating Vice President Harris? It’s clear from tonight’s question-dodging: he’s scared he’ll have to defend his running mate’s weird attacks on women, or his own calls to end elections in America in a debate against the vice president. Vice President Harris will be on the debate stage September 10th. Donald Trump can show up, or not,” the statement said.
Megan Thee Stallion to perform at VP Kamala Harris’ campaign rally in Atlanta: Source
Rapper Megan thee Stallion will give a special performance at Vice President Kamala Harris’ rally in Atlanta, Georgia, on Tuesday, a source familiar confirmed to ABC News.
In addition to Megan thee Stallion, Georgia Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock and former Rep. Stacey Abrams will be in attendance, supporting Harris’ 2024 presidential bid.
The news was first reported by Billboard.
Marianne Williamson suspends her Democratic presidential bid, again
Democratic long-shot nominee Marianne Williamson has suspended her campaign for president, announcing on X Monday that it is “time to let go” of her bid for the White House.
Williamson said she failed to register for the Democratic National Convention’s candidate directory by Saturday evening’s deadline.
Harris will be at ABC News debate with or without Trump, her campaign says
Vice President Kamala Harris will be at ABC News’ Sept. 10 debate with or without former President Donald Trump, her campaign communications director said Monday.
“As Vice President Harris said last week, the American people deserve to hear from the two candidates running for the highest office in the land and she will do that at September’s ABC debate,” her campaign communications director, Michael Tyler, said in a statement first reported by the Hill. “If Donald Trump and his team are saying anything other than ‘we’ll see you there’ — and it appears that they are — it’s a convenient, but expected backtrack from Team Trump. Vice President Harris will be there on September 10th — we’ll see if Trump shows.”
While Harris has previously affirmed her intention to be at the debate, this statement takes it a step further by saying she’ll show up regardless of Trump’s presence.
Trump accepted the debate when Biden was still the presumptive Democratic nominee, though his campaign has since said they’re waiting until there is an official Democratic nominee before agreeing to debates.
Election content on social media ‘could be propaganda’ for foreign adversaries: ODNI
Content about the election on social media “could be propaganda” for foreign adversaries, officials with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence warned on Monday.
“The American public should know that content that they read online, especially on social media, could be foreign propaganda, even if it appears to be coming from fellow Americans or originating in the United States,” an ODNI official said on a conference call with reporters on Monday. “In short, foreign influence actors are getting better at hiding their hand and using Americans to do it.”
Russia is still pervasive in this space and remains the biggest threat to the election, according to the officials.
The officials also warned that the influence operators will use the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump “as part of their narratives portraying the event to fit their broad goals.”
-ABC News’ Luke Barr
DNC says it raked in $6.5M in grassroots donations in 24 hours after Biden endorsed Harris
The Democratic National Committee is claiming it has raised $6.5 million in grassroots donations in the 24 hours after President Biden’s endorsement of Vice President Harris on July 21.
The DNC said $1 million was donated in the 5 p.m. hour alone for what they’re claiming is a record for its best online fundraising day of all time.
The DNC is making a significant push in battleground states, investing an additional $15 million into those crucial states this month to fund new field offices, build data infrastructure, mobilize volunteers and strengthen coordinated campaigns.
“Democratic voters, volunteers, and grassroots donors are fired up,” chairman Jaime Harrison said in a memo. “We are confident that in our battleground states, Democrats will win up and down the ballot in November.”
-ABC News’ Gabriella Abdul-Hakim
5:28 PM EDT Gov. Andy Beshear rallies for Harris in Atlanta, calls out JD Vance
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear spoke on Sunday at the opening of Kamala Harris’ campaign office in Forsyth County, Georgia.
The possible VP pick for Harris has been an effective surrogate for the vice president’s White House bid over the weekend, coming to the metro Atlanta event fresh off of a stump in Iowa on Saturday night.
The red-state governor introduced himself to the Southern audience on Sunday while boosting Harris’ candidacy and taking a number of swipes at Trump’s Vice Presidential pick, JD Vance.
“Are you ready to beat Donald Trump? Are you ready to beat JD Vance? Are you ready to elect Kamala Harris president of the United States of America?” Beshear asked the crowd, adding, “Let’s win this race,”
“Let me tell you just a bit about myself,” Beshear said. “I’m a proud pro-union governor. I’m a proud pro-choice governor. I am a proud pro-public education governor. I am a proud pro-diversity governor and I’m a proud Harris for president governor,” he added.
Calling out Vance, Beshear said, “Just let me be clear. JD Vance ain’t from Kentucky. He ain’t from Appalachia. And he ain’t gonna be the vice president of the United States.”
-ABC News’ Isabella Murray
2:18 PM EDT Former Vice President Al Gore endorses Kamala Harris
Former Vice President Al Gore endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris on Sunday.
“As a prosecutor, [Kamala Harris] took on Big Oil companies — and won. As [VP], she cast the tie-breaking vote to pass the most significant investment in climate solutions in history, the Inflation Reduction Act. That’s the kind of climate champion we need in the White House,” he wrote on X.
“With so much at stake in this year’s election — from strengthening democracy in the US and abroad, to expanding opportunity for the American people, to accelerating climate action — I’m proud to endorse Kamala Harris for President,” he added.
-ABC News’ Oren Oppenheim
July 28, 2024, 10:42 AM EDT Vance says Trump ‘doesn’t care’ about his past criticism
During a quick stop at a diner in Minnesota on Sunday morning, Sen. JD Vance on Sunday spoke about his past criticisms of former President Donald Trump.
When asked by ABC News if he and Trump have talked about his past criticism of the former president, Vance said yes, adding that Trump “doesn’t care about what I said eight years ago.”
“I mean, look, President Trump and I have talked a lot about this,” Vance said. “In fact, I sometimes joke that I wish that he had the memory of Joe Biden, because he’s got a memory like a steel trap, and he certainly remembers criticisms that people have made.”
“But this is where the media, I think, really misses Trump — Donald Trump accepts that people can change their mind, and you ask, ‘Why did I change my mind on Donald Trump?’ Because his agenda made people’s lives better,” Vance said.
“This whole thing is not about red team versus blue team or winning an election for its own sake. It’s about getting a chance to govern so that you can bring down the cost of groceries, close that border and stop the fentanyl coming across our country for four years,” Vance continued, saying he was “wrong” about Trump.
“He did a better job of that than anybody that I’ve ever seen as president in my lifetime. So I changed my mind, because he did a good job. And that’s what you do when people do a good job and you’re wrong. I’ve talked to President Trump a lot about it, but look, he, I mean, he just, he doesn’t… He doesn’t care about what I said eight years ago. He cares about whether we together [and] can govern the country successful.”
When asked again if the two have talked about the subject, specifically in the last week since his comments have resurfaced, Vance admitted that they haven’t spoken about it and their conversations have focused on the race ahead.
-ABC News’ Kelsey Walsh, Soorin Kim and Hannah Demissie
Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump walks onstage at a rally, on July 31, 2024, in Harrisburg, Pa. — Spencer Platt/Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — When former President Donald Trump rallies across the country, voters in some of those states will read coverage of his events in their biggest papers — and new Democratic attack ads.
The Democratic National Committee on Friday is launching a new strategy to needle Trump over not committing to debating Vice President Kamala Harris.
The effort will start Friday in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution ahead of Trump’s rally with his running mate, Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, in Atlanta on Saturday.
The DNC will also take out ads in The Arizona Republic in Arizona, The Detroit News in Michigan, the Las Vegas Sun in Nevada, The News & Observer in North Carolina, The Philadelphia Inquirer in Pennsylvania, and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in Wisconsin ahead of any rallies Trump holds in those states, according to plans shared first with ABC News.
The ads will be featured on the online homepages of each paper and in their respective print copies.
The DNC has several versions of the ad, all accusing Trump of being frightened to debate Harris. One message reads, “The convicted felon is AFRAID to debate,” while another ties him to the disavowed Project 2025 under the Heritage Foundation, saying the plan would “BAN ABORTION NATIONWIDE. No wonder he’s AFRAID to debate.”
“Donald Trump boasted he’d debate ‘anytime, anywhere,’ but after 34 felony convictions and one campaign meltdown after another, he’s running scared and attempting to dodge his commitment to a September debate,” said DNC Communications Director Rosemary Boeglin in a statement to ABC News.
“Trump’s extreme plans for America are catching up to him, and Democrats won’t let him off the hook for his dangerous Project 2025 agenda. No matter where Trump is on September 10, voters know where he stands. Meanwhile, Vice President Harris will be on the debate stage to offer America the path forward — giving voters the choice to reject Trump’s MAGA extremism once and for all,” her statement concluded.
The DNC’s push is the latest salvo in the will-he, won’t-he storyline of a debate between Harris and Trump.
Trump and President Joe Biden had originally scheduled a Sept. 10 debate on ABC News, but since then, Biden has dropped out of the race, and Harris is poised to take his place atop the Democrats’ ticket officially.
Harris has maintained that she’ll be on stage that day, and Trump has said he’d like to debate but has kept the door open to backing out.
“I want to do a debate. But I also can say this: Everybody knows who I am. And now people know who she is,” Trump said earlier this week on Fox News.
“The answer is yes, but I can also make a case for not doing it,” he ultimately said when asked if he’d debate.
Other comments from Trump included criticizing ABC News and opening the door to debating on other networks. Fox News later proposed that it host a Sept. 17 debate in Pennsylvania.
Harris’ campaign has seized on the hesitancy, accusing Trump of being scared.
“Why won’t Donald Trump give a straight answer on debating Vice President Harris? It’s clear from tonight’s question-dodging: he’s scared he’ll have to defend his running mate’s weird attacks on women, or his own calls to end elections in America in a debate against the vice president,” campaign spokesperson Ammar Moussa said Monday, referencing Vance’s recently resurfaced comments about childless women.
“Vice President Harris will be on the debate stage September 10th. Donald Trump can show up, or not,” she added.
Jason Miller, a senior advisor to the former president, told Axios Thursday that the Trump campaign is “non-committal” to the Sept. 10 debate, but he believes there should be multiple debates between Trump and Harris.
“Not only will there be another debate, but there should be multiple debates,” Miller said. “We do think there should be some diversification in the outlets for who hosts a debate, but I think the public would be sold short if we only did one debate against Kamala Harris in the general election.”
The Trump campaign did not respond to a request for further comment from ABC News.
A firefighter works as the Nixon Fire burns with evacuation orders in the area on July 29, 2024 near Aguanga, Calif. — Mario Tama/Getty Images
(REDDING, Calif.) — It’s only August, but already the U.S. wildfire season has burned more than 4.4 million acres, up a staggering 278% from last year, the National Interagency Fire Center reported Thursday.
Fueled by record high temperatures, including prolonged heat waves that have left many parts of the West with bone-dry vegetation, firefighters were battling 93 large active wildfires on Thursday in 13 states, including 28 fires that have prompted evacuations, according to the fire center.
With precipitation in the West below normal for July, some of the largest fires in U.S. history have ignited, especially in California and Oregon where a combined 44 fires were burning on Thursday, according to the fire center.
“Warming temperatures, drier conditions, and shifts in precipitation are contributing to an increase in the frequency of large wildfires and acres of land burned in the U.S. each year,” according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
A prime example is the Park Fire in Northern California, which was deliberately set on July 24 and rapidly spread through dry vegetation to become the largest active fire in the nation and the fifth-largest wildland blaze in California history.
“Year-to-date annual acres burned for the U.S. is above the 10-year average at 123% of normal,” according to a statement from the center.
The fire center added, “In comparison to the outlook issued a month ago, larger areas of the West are expected to experience above normal significant fire potential in August and September.”
And just because most of the wildfire activity is happening in the West, thatdoesn’t mean the rest of the country is immune from the effects.
“Western wildfires account for about half of the smoke that the rest of the contiguous U.S. experiences each year,” according to Climate Central, an independent group of scientists that researches climate change.
The average number of heat waves major U.S. cities experience each year has doubled since the 1980s, according to the federal government’s Fifth National Climate Assessment. In the United States, summer minimum nighttime temperatures are warming nearly twice as fast as summer maximum daytime temperatures, according to Climate Central.
No state has experienced a worse wildfire season than California. The number of acres consumed by flames in the Golden State as of Thursday is 768,137, an increase of 2,905% from 2023, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire). The 4,696 wildfires that have erupted in the state this year have destroyed more than 700 structures, including homes and commercial property, according to Cal Fire.
Here are some of the largest fires burning in the West:
The Park Fire in California
Firefighters battling the Park Fire in Northern California, the largest active fire in the nation, made significant progress in the past three days, increasing containment lines on the blaze to 22% as of Thursday night, according to Cal Fire.
The Park Fire, which officials said was deliberately started on July 24 and spread through Butte, Plumas, Shasta and Tehama counties in Northern California, has grown to 394,953 acres. The blaze leapfrogged this week over the 2020 Creek Fire, which tore through Central California’s Sierra National Forest, to become the fifth largest wildfire in state history, officials said.
The Park Fire has destroyed at least 540 structures and damaged another 50, according to Cal Fire. No fatalities or injuries have been reported.
More than 3,800 people have been evacuated due to the Park Fire, Cal Fire said.
Ronnie Dean Stout II, 42, of Chico, has been accused of starting the blaze and was arrested on a charge of felony arson with an enhancement of special circumstances. On Thursday, Stout made his second court appearance this week. His arraignment was continued to a later date to allow his public defender to review the case reports and determine a plea, according to ABC affiliate station KRCR in Redding, California.
Stout, who remains in jail without bail, was allegedly spotted just before 3 p.m. PT on July 24 pushing a burning car down a gully called “Alligator Hole” in Bidwell Park, near Chico, sparking the Park Fire, prosecutors said.
The Nixon Fire in Southern California
California firefighters were also confronting the Nixon Fire that Monday off Richard Nixon Boulevard in Riverside County, northeast of the town of Aguanga, according to Cal Fire.
As of Thursday afternoon, the Nixon Fire had grown to 5,222 acres and was 18% contained, according to Cal Fire.
At least four structures in the fire zone were destroyed, according to Cal Fire.
The Alexander Mountain Fire in Colorado
Colorado firefighters were also trying to get the upper hand on the Alexander Mountain Fire, which was first reported Monday morning, according to the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office. The fire burning in a remote mountainous area near Roosevelt National Park grew to 8,134 acres by Thursday night, according to the U.S. Forest Service.
The fire was 5% contained, according to the Forest Service.
Stone Canyon Fire in Colorado
The Stone Canyon Fire west of Rabbit Mountain and the town of Lyons and about eight miles from the Alexander Mountain Fire had burned 1,553 acres as of Thursday night, according to the Boulder Office of Disaster Management.
The blaze was 30% contained, officials said.
The remains of a person were recovered from a home in the area of the Stone Canyon Fire on Wednesday, according to Boulder County Sheriff Curtis Johnson. But Johnson released few details on the circumstances of the death.
Mark says he can now play Solitaire, send text messages and watch movies, all without the use of his hands. — Synchron
(NEW YORK) — An American man with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) has become the first patient in the world to use an Apple Vision Pro via an implantable brain-computer interface (BCI).
This means the patient, a 64-year-old man named Mark from western Pennsylvania, is able to use the device using his thoughts rather than using hand or voice commands. Mark is not giving his last name to preserve his privacy.
Mark doesn’t have the use of hands but has been able to play Solitaire, bring up screens to watch movies and TV shows and even send text messages.
He said the implant has given him back some of his independence that he had started to lose as his ALS progressed.
“I lived alone for quite a long time, so I was used to doing all everything for myself and, when you lose that ability, I’m not gonna lie, it’s been a challenge to not be able to do things for myself,” Mark told ABC News. “I can see down the road … of endless possibilities.”
‘A punch in the gut’
In 2020, Mark started realizing that he couldn’t pinch together the thumb and forefinger of his left hand. He originally believed he was beginning to develop a condition like carpal tunnel until he dropped a cup of coffee and decided it was time to visit a doctor.
An orthopedic doctor he was seeing for separate lower back issues suspected he might be experiencing a pinched nerve in his neck and a surgery was planned to fuse four vertebrae together, but the doctor recommended Mark see a neurologist first.
Mark had an appointment in January 2021 and through a series of tests, confirmed he had ALS.
“Unfortunately, that was kind of a punch in the gut,” he said. “Unfortunately, with this disease, it’s 100% fatal but mine fortunately is a little bit slower progression.”
Mark said the paralysis has since climbed up his left arm, across his shoulders and down his right arm, and he’s since also begun to experience some weakness in his neck.
How BCIs work
A BCI is a sensor that is implanted and translates brain signals into an action outside of the body.
There are different types of BCIs. Neuralink — developed by Neuralink Corp., founded by Elon Musk — is a small chip inserted directly into the brain tissue and requires brain surgery.
The BCI developed by the company Synchron involves a device implanted into one of the veins within the brain and is a minimally invasive procedure.
BCIs are designed to be used by people who struggle with neurological disabilities, such as a brain or spinal cord injury, or a degenerative disease like ALS.
“BCI research really started back in the ’90s, so this isn’t a new idea,” Dr. Leah Croll, a neurologist at Maimonides Hospital, in Brooklyn, New York, told ABC News. “But in the last five years or so, technology has just evolved at such a rapid pace, in large part thanks to AI, and so now we’re seeing this explosion of BCI research and applications like we never have before.”
Recently, Synchron announced that it was able to connect its BCI to the Apple Vision Pro, the virtual reality headset. The sensor translates the brain signals, which, in turn, allows the patient to control the headset hands-free.
“It allows them to have some independence and some agency in choosing an immersive experience for themselves,” Croll said.
A representative for Apple did not immediately return ABC News’ request for comment.
Allowing more independence
Mark worked at his job in the wholesale flower industry until December 2022 when it became apparent that he was beginning to experience weakness in his right arm and could no longer drive.
He got accepted into a drug study that he started at Emory University in Georgia, and continued in western Pennsylvania, when his doctors first informed him about BCIs.
“At the last appointment for that drug study … it was at that appointment that I found out about this study, working with the BCI, and I was all in,” Mark said. “I wanted to be able to help and do what I could. So, I assessed the risk, and it was very minimal, with this particular BCI.”
Mark said the procedure for the implant took place in August 2023 and he became connected to the BCI in October 2023.
He and the contacts from Synchron have been working on tasks with the BCI about twice a week and began working the Apple Vision Pro two months ago.
“I’m playing solitaire so little bit of entertainment there,” Mark said. “I can access Apple TV and HBO Max if I want to watch a movie … there’s an app that we are working with that kind of highlights, different artistic styles and painters and whatnot. So that’s been really interesting for me.”
He went on, “Not being able to use my arms anymore, it’s one thing to lay or sit and watch TV all day, but to be able to do other things as well like playing Solitaire for a little bit or working with other apps, it’s really been a game-changer.”
Croll said there are so many day-to-day activities able-bodied people take for granted.
“Just the simple act of going to the movies for an able-bodied person, they can decide on a whim that they want to go to a movie, and they can just do it,” she said. “For somebody who has a serious neurologic disease, they cannot decide that on a whim. That requires a whole team of people to help get them there, it requires an awful lot of logistical planning. And, of course, the assumption that they can go to the movie theater is predicated on the movie theater, even being able to accommodate their needs at all.”
Croll said BCIs integrated with virtual reality could revolutionize the way that neurologic patients are treated. But there are ethical issues to consider, including privacy concerns and learning more if the technology has any impacts on a patient’s normal brain function.
Mark said he hopes his story encourages other patients who have lost function in their limbs or have become non-verbal.
“It is a punch in the gut when you get a diagnosis like this because there is no cure for this disease,” he said. “I always say I have two ways when I get up in the morning: I can either choose to wallow in self-pity, or I can get up and do what I can to be a resource and a help for others. I choose the latter.”
Yahya Sinwar, leader of the Palestinian Hamas Islamist movement takes part in a rally organized to mark the movement’s 35th founding anniversary, in Gaza City, Palestine, Dec. 14, 2022. — Mohammed Talatene/picture alliance via Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — With the senior leadership of Hamas shattered by a recent series of assassinations allegedly carried out by Israel, Yahya Sinwar, one of the key architects of the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel, now appears to be the de facto boss of the terrorist organization, experts said.
The 61-year-old leader of Hamas in Gaza is also among the top targets sought by Israel, which placed a $400,000 bounty on his head following the Oct. 7 surprise attack on Israel that left more than 1,200 people dead and 240 taken hostage.
“The real guy that the Israelis want to get and will likely eventually get is Sinwar and he’s in a tunnel likely somewhere in Gaza, still running the show within Gaza,” said ABC News contributor Stephen Ganyard, a retired Marine colonel and a former deputy assistant secretary for the U.S. State Department.
Israeli officials announced Thursday that they killed Mohammed Deif, commander of Hamas’ military wing, in a “precise, targeted strike” on July 13 in the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis. Deif and Sinwar were allegedly the masterminds of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
“In a world where you can be anything, Mohammed Deif chose to be a mastermind of terrorism,” Israel Defense Forces said in a post on X Thursday, confirming that he had been “eliminated.”
News of Deif’s demise came a day after Iranian officials confirmed that Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in a bombing at a guest house in Tehran, where he was staying while attending the inauguration of Iran’s president-elect, Masoud Pezeshkian. While Israel has not claimed responsibility for Haniyeh’s death, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has called for “revenge” against Israel.
IDF officials also announced that they had killed top Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr in a precision missile strike Tuesday in Beirut, claiming he had been orchestrating drone and rocket attacks on northern Israel, including one on Saturday in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights that killed 12 children and teenagers playing soccer.
The assassinations of the Hamas senior leaders have apparently left Sinwar calling the shots for Hamas, Ganyard said, at a time when negotiations involving the White House have been underway for a cease-fire in Gaza and the release of the remaining Israeli hostages.
“So Sinwar is the guy,” said Ganyard. “Whether one of the political operatives gets taken out, they can still do the negotiations because eventually, Sinwar is going to have to agree to whatever negotiations go on.”
Ganyard said he expects the assassination of Haniyeh will put the Israel-Hamas cease-fire negotiations on hold as Iran decides how to retaliate for the death of Haniyeh on its soil.
“Who’s going to eventually call the shots is Sinwar. He’s the guy that’s going to have to agree to any kind of peace negotiation with the Israelis,” Ganyard said.
Who is Yahya Sinwar?
Yahya Sinwar has not been publicly heard from since Oct. 7, when Hamas and affiliated groups launched the surprise attack in Israel.
Sinwar helped establish Hamas in the late 1980s. In 1989, an Israeli court sentenced him to four life sentences for his role in killing suspected Palestinian informers and plotting to murder two Israeli soldiers. He spent 22 years in prison and was one of more than 1,000 Palestinian detainees who were released in 2011 in exchange for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who had been held hostage by Hamas for five years.
At the time of his imprisonment, Sinwar was head of Hamas’ infamous internal security arm, Al-Majd. Israeli and Palestinian sources told ABC News that his job was to investigate members of Hamas who were potentially working with the Israelis.
In an interview with ABC News in December, Michael Koubi, a former officer in Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security organization, said he interrogated Sinwar, while he was a prisoner, for more than 150 hours.
Koubi described Sinwar as “tough,” devoid of emotions but “not a psychopath.”
Koubi told ABC News that Sinwar – dubbed “the butcher of Khan Younis,” for the town in Gaza that he is from – boasted during his interrogations about killing suspected Palestinian informants with “a razor blade” and “a machete.”
In 2017, six years after his release from an Israeli prison, Sinwar was elected the overall chief of Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Sinwar’s ideology and long-term hatred toward Israel were what motivated him to attack the country on Oct. 7, according to Koubi.
Following the attack on Israel, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Dec. 6 that it was “only a matter of time” before Sinwar is located. Israeli military leaders have described him as “a dead man walking.”
Koubi told ABC News that he expects Sinwar will eventually go down fighting.
“He wants to die a hero of the slum, as a hero of Hamas, as a hero of the Gaza people,” Koubi said.
