Trump Medal of Honor remarks slammed by Harris campaign as ‘dishonoring’ American heroes: Live updates

Donald Trump’s inner circle is working to clean up the “mess” the former president created after he reportedly instructed an aide to send a string of angry text messages to a megadonor in the heat of an angry moment.

The former president has apparently engaged in some “erratic behavior” recently, according to New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman, in part due to the stress of the atypical presidential race.

Ariana Baio has the story.

Ian Sams, White House spokesperson for oversight and investigations, is leaving the West Wing and heading to the Harris campaign in a top spokesperson role.

The Washington Post initially reported the news citing people familiar with the situation.

He was previously Kamala Harris’s 2020 national press secretary.

A new poll suggests that Kamala Harris has the only positive approval rating of any candidate, and leads in almost all battleground states.

So how will Harris actually fare against Donald Trump this November?

Alicja Hagopian looks at the data.

The Harris-Walz campaign released the following statement in regard to Donald Trump’s comments that “again dishonored our men and women in service who have sacrificed for our country”.

Spokesperson Sarafina Chitika said: “Donald Trump knows nothing about service to anyone or anything but himself. For him to insult Medal of Honor recipients, just as he has previously attacked Gold Star families, mocked prisoners of war, and referred to those who lost their lives in service to our country as ‘suckers’ and ‘losers’, should remind all Americans that we owe it to our service members, our country, and our future to make sure Donald Trump is never our nation’s commander in chief again.”

Chitika further notes that it is “quite the split screen” looking at the two campaigns:

Somehow this appalling comparison is both incredible and unsurprising.

Speaking at a campaign event intended to discuss antisemitism, Donald Trump lauded a wealthy donor to whom he awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom as having received a “better” award compared to the Medal of Honor given to military personnel.

The former president said those recipients are often “either in very bad shape because they’ve been hit so many times by bullets or they’re dead” but Miriam Adelson, the widow of Sheldon Adelson, is a “healthy, beautiful woman”.

Donald Trump summoned reporters to one of his properties for the second time in as many weeks to deliver a campaign message – but they would be hard-pressed to find something new or interesting to write about.

He spoke for roughly 40 minutes before taking questions at his Bedminster, New Jersey golf resort. His lengthy diatribe touched on Kamala Harris, Joe Biden, and a wide range of other issues — trucks, domestic energy policy, China and the wars in Gaza and Ukraine — all while flanked by two tables covered in groceries including Cheerios, a pack of quickly-warming raw bacon, and tins of coffee.

It was a spectacle that was clearly focused by his campaign to provide a platform for the GOP contender to attack Harris over economic issues, particularly inflation and the cost of consumer goods.

However, the lack of focus led to Thursday night’s event dragging on.