Election 2024 live updates as Trump-Harris polls show ties in battleground states

Former Rep. Liz Cheney responded to Trump’s comments about guns being “trained on her face,” saying his remark demonstrates the actions of a dictator.

“This is how dictators destroy free nations. They threaten those who speak against them with death. We cannot entrust our country and our freedom to a petty, vindictive, cruel, unstable man who wants to be a tyrant,” she said in a post to social media with hashtags stating “women will not be silenced” and “vote Kamala.”

Trump attacked Cheney during a campaign event with conservative commentator Tucker Carlson in Phoenix, Arizona. He also called her “a very dumb individual.”

During a rally in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the Republican presidential nominee continued to insult Harris, his Democratic opponent, and her intellect.

“There are some people who thrive under pressure, and there are some people who crack under pressure,” Trump said. “She’s a cracker.”

The former president also claimed Harris is “exhausted” and said she is a “total stiff,” though he offered no reasons for these slights against her.

“Kamala has the economic understanding of a child,” Trump said. “Did you ever hear her speak?”

The former president’s continued insults come as he and his supporters have criticized President Biden for appearing to call Trump’s supporters “garbage” during a call with Latino activists Tuesday. Mr. Biden was responding to remarks made by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe at Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, in which he called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage.”

The White House said Mr. Biden was referring to Hinchcliffe’s offensive joke, not those who support the former president, and Mr. Biden also said in a post on X, “Earlier today I referred to the hateful rhetoric about Puerto Rico spewed by Trump’s supporter at his Madison Square Garden rally as garbage—which is the only word I can think of to describe it. His demonization of Latinos is unconscionable. That’s all I meant to say.”

Trump went after one of his biggest critics, former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, using violent imagery in an interview with Tucker Carlson. 

“And I don’t blame [former Vice President Dick Cheney] for sticking with his daughter, but his daughter is a very dumb individual, very dumb,” Trump said. “She’s a radical war hawk. Let’s put her with a rifle standing there with nine barrels shooting at her. Okay? Let’s see how she feels about it, you know when the guns are trained on her face. You know they’re all war hawks when they’re sitting in Washington in a nice building saying, oh, gee, well let’s send — let’s send 10,000 troops right into the mouth of the enemy. But she’s a stupid person.”

Cheney and her father, the former vice president, have endorsed Harris, and Cheney has campaigned in battleground states with Harris, portraying Trump as a threat to democracy and national security in an effort to win over Republicans and moderates. 

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, will be conveying his closing message to Americans in an interview set to air on Monday night, the eve of the election, on CBS’ “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.”

Walz recorded the interview Thursday morning in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, underscoring the Harris campaign’s focus on the hotly contested battleground state, with its 19 electoral votes. In 2020, Joe Biden won Pennsylvania, while Donald Trump won the state in 2016. 

The Harris campaign has tried to broaden the programs and platforms on which Harris and Walz are interviewed to reach a wider, younger audience. Harris, too, has been interviewed by Colbert, and she has also appeared on ABC’s “The View,” “The Howard Stern Show,” and the podcasts “Call Her Daddy” and “Breakfast Club.” Walz has made late-show appearances on ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live” and “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.”