Trump faces friends and foes at Al Smith dinner; Harris campaigns in Wisconsin: Live

The 42nd president joined Walz in Durham yesterday and roasted Trump for his musical breakdown in Oaks, Pennsylvania, on Monday night when he parped out “Ave Maria”, “YMCA”, “Nothing Compares 2 U” and “Time to Say Goodbye” while two unwell audience members received medical attention.

“I will not clap offbeat” is somehow particularly devastating.

Harris’s running mate was on fiery form in Durham, North Carolina, yesterday, taking Trump to task before quickly correcting himself when his Midwestern manners kicked back in.

The Republican told a podcast yesterday he holds Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his own successor Joe Biden responsible for the Russia-Ukraine war, making no reference to a certain Vladimir Putin.

Two-and-a-half years after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Trump pinned the blame squarely on Zelensky and Biden for the conflict during his interview with Patrick Bet-David.

“I think Zelensky is one of the greatest salesmen I’ve ever seen,” Trump said, grumbling about how much aid the US has given Ukraine.

Here’s what an expert on fascism had to say about that…

…and here’s a full report from Kelly Rissman.

Both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are heading north to Michigan today, hoping to shore up support in a key state.

Harris will be swinging through Grand Rapids, Lansing and Oakland County while Trump will be delivering a rally in Detroit, a city he trashed as “a mess” last week, which, as we’ve just seen, his rival ruthlessly mocked him for in her video message to the Al Smith crowd last night.

“Our whole country will end up being like Detroit if she’s your president,” Trump said during his speech to the Detroit Economic Club, a pronouncement not likely to sit well with residents of a city fighting back hard against post-industrial decline.

Harris, by contrast, has talked about the Motor City in reverent tones, recalling making friends with local students while attending Howard University.

“I just feel a kindred spirit whenever I come to Detroit,” she has said.

The Democrat is currently concentrating her efforts on the supposed “blue wall” states Hillary Clinton overlooked in 2016 in the hope of avoiding repeating her predecessor’s historic mistakes.

Harris was last in Detroit on Tuesday when she visited an art gallery with actors Don Cheadle, Delroy Lindo and Cornelius Smith Jr before recording a radio town hall with Charlamagne tha God.

She will be back there tomorrow for a rally.

But her campaign insists she’s not giving up on Sun Belt battlegrounds like North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona and Nevada either and will return there soon.

The Democrat spent her evening on the campaign trail in Wisconsin and was in rare form, issuing a few zingers at her rival’s expense.

She also reacted quickly to send a couple of Trump supporters packing.

The Republican presidential nominee and his wife Melania made a rare public appearance together at the Al Smith charity dinner in New York City on Thursday evening.

Trump had expressed his annoyance in advance that election rival Kamala Harris had decided not to attend the event and been allowed to submit a short comedic video instead, in which she mocked him for calling Detroit “a mess”, which was aired at the Catholic gala and was well received in the room.

Before he spoke, Trump was roasted by host Jim Gaffigan (who has been playing Tim Walz on Saturday Night Live lately) and found himself in the same room as New York Attorney General Letitia James, who successfully prosecuted him for business fraud earlier this year.

When his own keynote speech got underway, Trump made jabs about Harris, promoted his spouse’s new memoir, repeated his ancient birtherism smear against Barack Obama, roasted Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and made light of city mayor Eric Adams’s recent indictment, all of which was received with a smattering of boos as well as applause at the close.

Katie Hawkinson reports on an eventful evening.

The US has criminally charged a former Indian intelligence officer accused of directing a foiled assassination plot against a Sikh separatist leader in New York City last year, escalating efforts to hold the Indian government accountable for an alleged act of violence on US soil.

Lauren Boebert’s Democratic rival in her congressional reelection bid has reportedly raised five times more cash in the third fundraising quarter.

Calvarese plans to declare bringing in more than $2.68 million from July through September, compared to roughly $532,000 raised by Boebert, according to figures shared by her campaign with The Independent.