The Latest: Trump to campaign in Michigan, Wisconsin; Harris will have sit-down interview with CNN

Aug 29, 2024 9:14 AM - 672 words

By The Associated Press

Former President Donald Trump is scheduled to campaign Thursday in Michigan and Wisconsin as he ramps up battleground state travel heading into the traditional Labor Day turn toward the fall election.

Meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, will sit down Thursday for their first major television interview of their presidential campaign as the duo travels in southeast Georgia on a bus tour.

The interview with CNN’s Dana Bash will give Harris a chance to quell criticism that she has eschewed uncontrolled environments.

Follow the AP’s Election 2024 coverage at: https://apnews.com/hub/election-2024.

Here’s the Latest:

Trump campaign adviser Lewandowski says Harris has been dodging the news media

Trump campaign adviser Corey Lewandowski says Vice President Kamala Harris has been dodging the news media ahead of her interview Thursday night on CNN.

Lewandowski, who was recently brought back to the Trump campaign, said the former president has conducted more than three dozen interviews in recent weeks while Harris refused to grant an interview to a major news outlet.

He also complained that Trump will have to “beat two Democratic nominees” after Harris’ “coronation” by Democrats, following President Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the race. Harris “can’t hide” from the Biden administration’s record on jobs and inflation, Lewandowski told reporters on a call Thursday morning.

Polling shows ramped-up enthusiasm among Democrats since Harris became the presidential nominee

Democrats’ enthusiasm about their vote in November has surged over the past few months, according to polling from Gallup. About 8 in 10 Democrats now say they are more enthusiastic than usual about voting, compared with 55% in March.

This gives them an enthusiasm edge they did not have earlier this year. Republicans’ enthusiasm has increased by much less over the same period. About two-thirds of Republicans now say they are more enthusiastic than usual about voting.

Trump visiting swing districts in Michigan and Wisconsin as battleground campaigning ramps up

Donald Trump is scheduled to campaign Thursday in Michigan and Wisconsin as the former president ramps up battleground state travel heading into the traditional Labor Day turn toward the fall election.

Trump’s intense focus on recapturing states he won in 2016 but lost narrowly in 2020 continues with stops in the middle of Michigan and western Wisconsin.

Trump’s day starts with an afternoon rally in Potterville, Michigan, near the state capital of Lansing. Trump won Eaton County, where part of Lansing is located, in both 2016 and 2020, but by a smaller margin the second time.

Later, he'll visit La Crosse, Wisconsin, for a town hall moderated by former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who endorsed him in Detroit. It will be Trump’s first visit to Wisconsin since the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.

Harris, Walz will sit down for first major TV interview of their presidential campaign

Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, will sit down Thursday for their first major television interview of their presidential campaign as the duo travels in southeast Georgia on a bus tour.

The interview with CNN’s Dana Bash will give Harris a chance to quell criticism that she has eschewed uncontrolled environments, while also giving her a fresh platform to define her campaign and test her political mettle ahead of an upcoming debate with former President Donald Trump set for Sept. 10. But it also carries risk as her team tries to build on momentum from the ticket shakeup following Joe Biden’s exit and last week’s Democratic National Convention.

The CNN interview is set to air at 9 p.m. EDT. It is scheduled to be taped at 1:45 p.m. EDT during Harris' two-day bus tour through southeast Georgia that culminates with an evening rally in Savannah.

Joint interviews during an election year are a fixture in politics; Biden and Harris, Trump and Mike Pence, Barack Obama and Biden — all did them at a similar point in the race.