By Antoinette Radford, Aditi Sangal, Elise Hammond and Tori B. Powell, CNN Updated 5:28 PM EDT, Wed August 7, 2024 [...] Harris quiets chants of "lock him up" by saying "the courts are going to handle that part" From CNN's Aaron Pellish
[Insert: That's good. Don't be sucked into their silly games.]
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Vance says he would debate Harris if she wants to next week From CNN's Kate Sullivan in Eau Claire, Wisconsin
[Idiot.]
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Biden says he doesn’t have confidence in a peaceful transition of power if Trump loses From CNN's Donald Judd
[Fair comment]
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Senate candidate and Iraq War combat vet defends Walz against "stolen valor" attacks
From CNN's Veronica Stracqualursi
Democratic Senate candidate Ruben Gallego holds a press conference after voting at South Phoenix Missionary Baptist Church during the Arizona state primary election in Phoenix, Arizona, on July 30. Rebecca Noble/Reuters
Democratic Senate candidate Ruben Gallego, an Iraq War combat veteran, on Wednesday defended Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz against JD Vance’s accusations that Walz had engaged in “stolen valor” and ducked service in Iraq.
“Stolen valor is very, very serious charge. The vice presidential nominee, someone who I served with, someone who is a veteran, and was the highest ranking … Army-enlisted man to ever serve in Congress, has never claimed anything of that nature,” Gallego told reporters.
Gallego, a Marine Corps veteran who was deployed to Iraq in 2005, said, “You know, war is tough. I had some men that decided not to go to war. They had the option. They decided not to take it, and you know, for a lot of them, I don’t blame them.”
“Gov. Walz served his country honorably. And without a doubt, you know he would be an asset as vice president, especially with veterans,” he said.
Walz had left the Army National Guard after 24 years and ran for Congress in 2005, retiring two months before his unit received alert orders to deploy to Iraq.
Gallego, who had pushed for Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly to be Kamala Harris’ vice presidential pick, acknowledged that he was “disappointed” Kelly wasn’t selected, but said Walz would be able to represent the working class of the military community and is “still a great pick.”
56 min ago Pro-Palestine movement says a meeting with Harris is not in the works as she visits Michigan
From CNN's Ali Main
Organizers for the uncommitted movement said Wednesday that a meeting with Vice President Kamala Harris while she is in Michigan is not currently in the works.
Asked by CNN if there had been any specific engagement with Harris’ team related to her trip to Detroit, Abbas Alawieh, a delegate for the movement at the Democratic National Convention, said he couldn’t speak to details of engagement.
“What I can say is that they have received a request for a meeting with her to discuss an arms embargo specifically, and we’re hopeful that we’ll be able to raise that with her directly,” Alawieh said.
Pressed on if there is a meeting in the works for Thursday, Alawieh responded, “no, there’s no meeting in the works for tomorrow.”
Harris will arrive in Michigan later on Wednesday to hold a rally in Detroit with her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. She’s scheduled to hold another campaign event in the state on Thursday.
Alawieh and other members of the uncommitted movement have said that since Harris became the party’s presumptive nominee, they have been encouraged by “initial signals” by Harris’ team and others in the party to an “openness” to engage on their demands.
The group has requested a meeting with Harris, as well as speaking time at the Democratic National Convention and language in the party platform supportive of a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and an arms embargo on Israel.
Making the group’s request clear, Alawieh said “if Vice President Harris embraces an arms embargo, we will drop everything we’re doing, endorse Vice President Harris and make sure that we proactively encourage the voters who have believed in this movement to vote for Vice President Harris.”
1 hr 24 min ago Republicans tag Walz as “Tampon Tim” over his menstrual products law
From CNN's Tami Luhby and Sydney Topf
Supporters of former President Donald Trump are calling attention to a new Minnesota law requiring public schools to stock menstrual products in both their girls and boys bathrooms in an effort to paint Gov. Tim Walz as a far-left liberal for accommodating transgender students.
Walz, whom Vice President Kamala Harris tapped Tuesday as her running mate, signed the bill into law last year. It took effect January 1 and mandates that school districts and charter schools provide free menstrual products in all restrooms regularly used by students in grades 4 to 12. The measure has led some in the Trump camp to label Walz “Tampon Tim.”
In a state House committee hearing last year, the bill’s sponsor, state Democratic Rep. Sandra Feist, urged her fellow lawmakers to reject an amendment from a Republican colleague that would have inserted the word “female” in the bill.
“Not all students who menstruate are female,” she said, noting that non-female students who menstruate face greater stigma and barriers to asking for period products. “We need to make sure all students have access to these products.”
Karoline Leavitt, the Trump campaign’s national press secretary, called Walz a “radical” on Fox News Tuesday, adding that his support for such policies is dangerous for women’s health.
“As a woman, I think there is no greater threat to our health than leaders who support gender-transition surgeries for young minors, who support putting tampons in men’s bathrooms in public schools,” Leavitt said. “Those are radical policies that Tim Walz supports. He actually signed a bill to do that.”
The online brouhaha led Hillary Clinton, who unsuccessfully challenged Trump in the 2016 presidential campaign, to clap back, posting on X: “How nice of the Trump camp to help publicize Gov. Tim Walz’s compassionate and common-sense policy of providing free menstrual products to students in Minnesota public schools! Let’s do this everywhere.” Clinton included an image of Walz’s face on a tampon box that was posted on X by Chaya Raichik, who created the far-right site “Libs of TikTok.”
Walz has taken several steps to protect transgender Minnesotans. Last year, he signed an executive order that directed Minnesota agencies to do whatever they could to protect and support Minnesotans seeking gender-affirming health care services. He also signed “trans refuge” legislation that safeguarded access to such care and another law that banned conversion therapy, a discredited practice that aims to change someone’s understanding of their gender identity or sexual orientation.
–CNN’s Jen Christensen contributed to this story.
1 hr 34 min ago White House pushes back against Vance's charge of "stolen valor" against Walz
From CNN's Donald Judd
The White House pushed back against comments from Sen. JD Vance, the Republican vice presidential candidate, that Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic vice presidential candidate, engaged in “stolen valor” by touting his military service.
Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Wednesday that Walz’s “record speaks for itself.”
“Any specific attacks or comments I would have to refer you to the campaign,” Jean-Pierre said. “You all have seen his bio, right? This is someone who enlisted at 17 years old to serve his country, he was part of the Army National Guard for 24 years, this is someone who was a high school teacher, right? A high school coach as well, who grew up in a small town in the Midwest, and so I think his bio speaks for itself, who he is speaks for himself, his record speaks for itself, and I’m just not going to say anything beyond that.”
Earlier Wednesday, Vance stepped up his attacks on Walz’s portrayal of his military career, accusing him without evidence of ducking service to Iraq when he left the Army National Guard and ran for Congress in 2005.
The attacks on Walz’s military record are part of the race from both parties to define the relatively unknown governor after he was tapped Tuesday as Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate. Walz’s 24-year military service is one of several facets of his background that appeal to voters that the Harris campaign is trying to reach with his selection.
Some more context: CNN’s Jeremy Herb and Haley Britzky reported that Walz retired from the Army National Guard in May 2005, according to the Minnesota National Guard. Typically, service members need to submit papers several months before they can retire. A National Guard article on his unit’s deployment states that they received alert orders to deploy to Iraq in July 2005, two months after Walz retired.
1 hr 38 min ago Walz says Trump "sows chaos and division amongst the people" From CNN's Tori B. Powell
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