The Latest on the U.S. presidential campaign (all times EDT):
12:10 a.m.
Mike Pence defended a military mom’s right to criticize Donald Trump’s comments about the Muslim parents of a slain U.S. Army veteran during one campaign stop in Nevada then lashed out at the media’s coverage of the controversy at the next.
Pence quieted a crowd that was booing a woman who asked Pence at a town hall meeting in Carson City Monday how he could tolerate Trump’s disrespect for American servicemen. In Reno a few hours later, Pence said that both he and Trump have stated that “Capt. Humayun Khan is an American hero.”
Pence said he understands and appreciates the attention given to Kahn’s family. But he doesn’t understand “why the media maligned and continues to ignore the moving mother of fallen Air Force veteran and diplomat Sean Smith.”
Pence said much of the same media criticizing Trump earlier condemned Patricia Smith’s speech at the GOP convention about the U.S. information officer killed in the 2012 attack in Benghazi.
“Let’s demand the media listen to and honor all of the families of the fallen in this country,” he said.
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9:00 p.m.
House Speaker Paul Ryan is refusing to respond to Donald Trump’s kind words for Ryan’s Republican primary opponent.
So says Ryan’s spokesman Zack Roday, who emails: “Rather than engage in a back-and-forth, the speaker is going to remain focused entirely on ensuring we deliver strong Republican majorities this fall.”
Trump earlier had tweeted praise by name to Ryan’s opponent, businessman Paul Nehlan, who has been supportive of Trump.
Ryan earlier in the day had referred to Trump, without mentioning his name, as a “different kind of nominee.” Speaking to a donor gathering hosted by the Koch brothers network, Ryan warned against running a “a vague, platitude election” or “a personality contest” and then expecting “transformational, once-in-a-generation reform.” Trump has offered few details on his policy proposals.
Additionally, Ryan has not backed up Trump in his spat with the Muslim parents of a decorated Army veteran killed in Iraq in 2004.
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8:25 p.m.
Donald Trump says Democratic rival Hillary Clinton is, “the devil.”
Trump, speaking in Pennsylvania on Monday, derided Bernie Sanders’ capitulation in the Democratic primary race and decision to support Clinton.
Trump said of Sanders: “He made a deal with the devil. She’s the devil.”
Trump in recent days has taken to categorizing the agreement as a “deal with the devil” but this was the first time that he went so far as to specifically equate Clinton with Lucifer.
Trump’s supporters packed a Mechanicsburg high school gymnasium and thousands more were left outside or forced to watch in a spillover room.
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7:54 p.m.
Republican presidential nominee is Donald Trump is tweeting kind words on the GOP race for House Speaker Paul Ryan’s Wisconsin seat.
But not for Ryan.
Trump on Monday tweeted Monday his thanks to Ryan’s primary opponent, Paul Nehlan for his “kind words, very much appreciated.”
It was not clear what prompted the tweet. But Nehlan, a businessman, has been supportive of Trump.
Other potential clues include the fact that Ryan earlier in the day had referred to Trump, without mentioning his name, as a “different kind of nominee.” Speaking to a donor gathering hosted by the Koch brothers network, Ryan warned against running a “a vague, platitude election” or “a personality contest” and then expecting “transformational, once-in-a-generation reform.” Trump has offered few details on his policy proposals.
Additionally, Ryan has not backed up Trump in his spat with the Muslim parents of a decorated Army veteran killed in Iraq in 2004.
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7:53 p.m.
Hillary Clinton’s running mate Tim Kaine attacked GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump for clashing with the parents of a slain Army officer.
Speaking at a rally in his adopted hometown of Richmond, Virginia, Kaine said Trump is a “trash talker” unfit to be president who had made “stupid” comments about Khizr and Ghazala Khan, Muslims from Virginia whose son was killed in Iraq 2004.
“I mean, is there no limit to which this guy will descend?” Kaine said.
Kaine also mocked Trump for incorrectly identifying Kaine’s home state as New Jersey at a news conference last week.
“That’s your best?” Kaine said. “Give Donald a break, he’s new at this.”
Kaine also attacked Trump’s business record, saying the billionaire businessman had unfairly stiffed small business owners, retirees and students.
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7:18 p.m.
Mike Pence quieted a campaign rally crowd that booed a woman who had asked how he can tolerate what she said was Donald Trump’s disrespect of American servicemen.
The woman said her son serves in the U.S. Air Force. She asked Pence Monday during a town hall at Carson City Casino in Nevada about Trump’s treatment of Khizr and Ghazala Khan, Muslims whose son, a decorated Army veteran, was killed in Iraq in 2004.
Pence, who is Trump’s vice presidential running mate, asked the crowd to quiet down, then said about the questioner: “That’s what freedom looks like. That’s what freedom sounds like.”
He continued: “Capt. Kahn is an American hero. We honor him and his family…we cherish his family.”
Pence added that he’s never spent time around someone who is “more devoted” to military and to veterans.
Earlier in the evening in Columbus, Ohio, Trump did not mention his spat with the Khans that began on Thursday at the Democratic National Convention when they said the billionaire had sacrificed nothing and no one.
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6:28 p.m.
Warren Buffett is suggesting that fellow billionaire Donald Trump is afraid to release his tax returns.
At an event with Hillary Clinton in Omaha, Nebraska, Buffett criticized Trump for breaking with decades of presidential campaign tradition by keeping secret documents that can reveal much about a candidate’s charitable giving, assets and spending priorities. Trump says he’ll release the returns after the IRS is finished auditing him.
But Buffett suggested the real reason is fear, saying, “You’re only afraid if you have something to be afraid of.”
He added that he would be “delighted” to meet Trump between now and the election.
Buffett says, “I’ll bring my tax return, he’ll bring his tax return… and just let people ask us questions.”
Clinton has released eight years of recent tax filings.
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6:15 p.m.
Donald Trump is suggesting that if his daughter Ivanka were the victim of workplace sexual harassment she should find another job.
Trump, in an interview published Monday in USA Today, continued to defend his friend Roger Ailes, who was ousted from his position atop Fox News after charges of serial sexual harassment.
The Republican presidential nominee said it was “sad” that women were “complaining” about Ailes. Trump was then asked about his own daughter.
He replied: “I would like to think she would find another career or find another company if that was the case.”
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4:57 p.m.
House Speaker Paul Ryan is warning the Republican Party that Donald Trump may struggle to bring about transformational change.
Ryan, who has endorsed Trump, described a “fight for the soul of the Republican Party” on Monday while appearing at a donor retreat in Colorado hosted by the Koch brothers’ network.
Without using his name, Ryan referred to Trump as “a different kind of nominee.” He warned against running “a vague, platitude election” or “a personality contest” and then expecting “transformational, once-in-a-generation reform.”
Trump has long cast himself as an outsider who can bring dramatic change to Washington.
Ryan drew a standing ovation after addressing hundreds of Koch network donors. The expansive policy and political organization has refused to endorse Trump, citing major policy differences.
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4:18 p.m.
Donald Trump did not address his ongoing clash with the parents of a slain Army veteran in his first campaign appearance since the controversy erupted.
Trump spoke for nearly an hour Monday in Columbus, Ohio but did not mention his criticism of Khizr and Ghazala Khan, Muslims whose son was killed in Iraq in 2004.
The Khans spoke out against Trump and questioned his familiarity with the Constitution last week at the Democratic National Convention. Trump struck back by questioning whether Ghazala Khan had been allowed to speak. She said she is still too grief-stricken by her son’s death.
Trump criticized the family in an interview Sunday and again in a pair of tweets Monday morning.
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4:09 p.m.
Donald Trump says he raised $35.8 million from small donors last month.
Speaking at a town hall in Columbus, Ohio, Trump says his average donation was $69 and that he has more than 500,000 contributors.
Trump has been emphasizing his efforts to raise money in small increments online, comparing himself to onetime Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders, who funded his presidential bid that way. Trump says the money both of them have collected is evidence of “a movement.”
Trump also raises larger contributions through a fundraising partnership with allied Republican parties. He did not say at the rally how successful that effort was in July.
Trump and opponent Hillary Clinton both must report their July fundraising information to federal regulators by Aug. 20.
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3:50 p.m.
Donald Trump is suggesting that he’s “afraid the election is going to be rigged.”
Trump, speaking Monday in Ohio, said that he felt that the Democrats had fixed their primary system so Hillary Clinton could defeat Bernie Sanders and claimed that the Republican nomination would have also been stolen from him had he not won “by such tremendous margins.”
But Trump then suggested that November’s general election may not be on the up-and-up.
“I’m afraid the election is going to be rigged,” the Republican nominee told a town hall crowd in Columbus.
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3:42 p.m.
Donald Trump is boasting about his “tremendous support” from the nation’s veterans just hours after one of the nation’s most prominent veterans groups condemned him for clashing with the parents of a slain Army veteran.
The Veterans of Foreign Wars, which has 1.7 million members, released a statement Monday that called Trump out of bounds for tangling with Khizr and Ghazala Khan, Muslims whose son was killed in Iraq 2004.
The Khans spoke out against Trump and questioned his familiarity with the Constitution last week at the Democratic National Convention. Trump struck back by questioning whether Ghazala Khan had been allowed to speak. She said she is still too grief-stricken by her son’s death.
Trump boasted about his support from veterans at a Monday town hall in Columbus, Ohio, his first campaign appearance since the flap began.
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3:35 p.m.
President Barack Obama is headlining his first fundraiser for Hillary Clinton.
But the only people who’ll hear what he says are the 30 or so people who handed over a minimum of $33,400 for a seat at the round-table at the Atlanta home of Andy Prozes and his wife, Laura Heery Prozes. They were early financial backers of Clinton’s 2008 presidential bid; Andy Prozes is the former CEO of LexisNexis.
Clinton’s campaign says the event will benefit the Hillary Victory Fund, a joint fundraising committee between her campaign, the Democratic National Committee and state parties across the country. The fund is being used to help register voters, recruit volunteers and help turn out Democrats to vote for candidates up and down the ballot in November.
Co-hosts of Monday’s event contributed at least $66,800; co-chairs paid a minimum of $100,000.
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3:25 p.m.
More Senate Republicans up for re-election are weighing in to praise Army Capt. Humayun Khan and his family, and criticize Donald Trump’s comments.
Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida says Trump’s criticism is “unfortunate.” He says Khan and his parents are heroes, “and they have a First Amendment right to speak out on their politics, as all Americans do. Their son died for the Constitution and I honor that.”
Trump has faced widespread condemnation for criticizing the parents of Khan, who was killed in Iraq.
Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa says: “Mr. Trump’s comments are not in line with my own beliefs about how the members of the military and their families should be treated.”
Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina says: “Captain Khan is an American hero in every sense of the term and the Khans deserve our sincerest gratitude.”
And Sen. Mark Kirk of Illinois, who in June withdrew his endorsement of Trump, says: “To Mr. Trump, I would simply say hands off Gold Star families.” Gold Star families are those that have lost a close relative in military service.
[SOURCE:-HERALD DISPATCH]
