US election briefing: Trump's 'storm of lies' about hurricane relief; Walz calls for end to electoral college | US elections 2024

As Florida braced for its second major hurricane in two weeks, the US President said: Joe Biden, criticized Donald Trump for spreading an “onslaught of lies” about how the federal government is handling the damage from Hurricane Helene. Biden spoke as Hurricane Milton – which the president previously said “looks like the storm of the century” – was poised to hit Florida.

“Frankly, these lies are un-American,” Biden said from the White House. “Former President Trump led this onslaught of lies.”

Biden said Donald Trump and his allies misrepresented the response and resources of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema). The president singled out the Republican representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, who claimed that the federal government could control the weather.

Biden echoed his rebuke from a Republican congressman who represents areas devastated by Hurricane Helene, who sharply refuted the misinformation and conspiracy theories that Trump and his supporters had spread about the storm and the government's response. Chuck EdwardsThe member of North Carolina's 11th District, countered criticism from Trump and others of the Biden administration's handling of the disaster by expressing praise for “a level of support unmatched by most other disasters across the country.” .

Trump maintained his campaign schedule even as the storm threatened to overshadow the presidential election and he feared it would cause catastrophic damage in Tampa and other parts of Florida's Gulf Coast. He directed his prayers to those who stood in Milton's way as he continued to insult his rival and other women – he said he had no interest in stopping, even if it would turn off female voters.

“I don’t want to be nice,” Trump said in Scranton at his first of two rallies of the day in the crucial battleground state of Pennsylvania. “You know, someone said, 'You should be nicer.' Women won't like it.' I said, 'I don't care.'”

Trump also announced that he would not debate Harris again before the election, just hours after Fox News invited the two presidential candidates to a possible second debate on October 24 or 27. “There will be no rematch,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform. “So there is nothing to discuss.”

The Vice President and Democratic nominee, Kamala Harris, flew to the swing state Nevada with its six electoral votes, but first took part in a briefing about the storm and the federal response, which Biden also received at the White House.

In an interview on CNN, Harris condemned Trump's comments about help, saying: “It's dangerous – it's frankly incomprehensible that someone who would call himself a leader would mislead desperate people to the point where those desperate people don't get the help they need.” have a right.”

Harris' vice president, Tim WaltzMeanwhile, called for an end to the electoral college, saying it must be “abolished” and replaced by a popular vote. He made the remarks to an audience of party fundraisers. While most American voters support abolishing the Electoral College, Harris has yet to take a position on the issue.

Walz had previously made similar comments at another event in Seattle, where he described himself as “a national people's voter” and qualified it by saying, “That's not the world we live in.”

Elsewhere:

• The FBI arrested an Afghan man who authorities say was inspired by the Islamic State terrorist organization and was planning an Election Day attack against large crowds in the United States. said the Justice Department. Nasir Ahmad Tawhedi, 27, of Oklahoma City, told investigators after his arrest Monday that he planned his attack for Election Day in November and that he and a co-conspirator were expected to die as martyrs, according to charging documents.

• Harris' campaign and organizations that support her have raised $1 billion since her presidential campaign began in July. The haul, confirmed to Reuters by a source familiar with the vice president's fundraising, went to her campaign, the Democratic National Committee and the Pacs, which supported her candidacy. Trump raised about $853 million in 2024, according to a New York Times tally of public campaign statements. With less than three weeks until Election Day, the Harris campaign and Democrats had $404 million in cash, while the Trump campaign had $295 million.

• The Florida Department of Health sent cease and desist letters to local news stations about an ad urging people to vote for a ballot measure — an issue that people in a particular state voted on on Election Day — that would expand abortion rights in the state.

• A judge ruled that three voting rights groups in Georgia demanding a reopening of voter registrations failed to show that internet and power outages caused by Hurricane Helene unfairly deprived people of the opportunity to register. She has scheduled another hearing for Thursday to consider evidence and legal arguments. Georgia's presidential race in 2020 was decided by just 12,000 votes. State officials and the state Republican Party argue that requiring counties to register additional voters would be a heavy burden.

• The first in-person voting began Wednesday in Arizona. This is the first of this year's battleground states where all residents can vote at a traditional polling place before Election Day. Biden defeated Trump in the state in 2020 by just 10,457 votes. Early voting, particularly by mail, has long been popular in Arizona, where nearly 80% of voters cast their ballots before Election Day in 2020, according to the secretary of state.