J.D. Vance responds to Trump saying Kamala Harris 'happened to turn black'

An appeals court in New York rejected former President Donald Trump's attempt to throw out his gag order in the hush money case.

He was convicted in May for crimes related to paying off porn star Stormy Daniels.

Trump is set to be sentenced by Judge Juan Merchan on September 18, so he won't be able to post about the prosecutors and others involved until after then.

J.D. Vance called Donald Trump's comments questioning Kamala Harris' racial heritage 'hysterical' and compared the Vice President to a 'chameleon'.

Trump's running mate was on board his campaign plane speaking to reporters when he defended the Republican candidate for taking on 'hostile audiences'.

It came hours after Trump claimed that Harris 'became a black person'.

'I frankly just think it’s hysterical how much the media is overreacting to it,' Vance said.

'The President doesn’t do scripted BS stuff. He actually goes into hostile audiences, he answers tough questions, he pushes back against them, but he actually answers them and how nice it is to have an American leader who’s not afraid to go into hostile places and actually answer some tough questions,' he added.

'So what he said, I thought it was hysterical. I think he pointed out the fundamental chameleon-like nature of Kamala Harris.

She’s flip-flopped on every issue. She’s fake.

'She’s phony. And I think our whole campaign is going to have a very fun time pointing that out. And it sounds like the president kicked us off in stride.'

The remarks were first reported by NOTUS.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken called the trio of newly freed Americans Paul Whelan, Evan Gershkovich and Alsu Kurmasheva Thursday, according to State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller.

Blinken was able to get in touch with them during a refueling stop in Japan en route back to D.C. from Mongolia, CNN reported.

Blinken told the Americans that had been imprisoned in Russia that he was happy they were home and that President Joe Biden had been determined to get them home.

A new poll shows Kamala Harris leading Donald Trump by seven points.

The Leger poll shows Harris on 48 per cent, with Trump on 41 percent, and Robert F. Kennedy on 5 percent.

It also shows Harris leading Trump by 13 points in the Mid West.

The online survey polled 1,002 Americans between July 26 and 28.

A hitman, a weapons dealer and a money launderer are among eight prisoners released by the US as part of a historic prisoner swap with Moscow.

The convicts were let go in exchange for the release of 16 prisoners from Russia, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former US marine Paul Whelan.

The exchange of 24 inmates is the biggest prisoner swap by Russia with the West since the end of the Cold War.

The trade involves seven countries and got underway on the runway at Esenboga Airport in Ankara, Turkey on Thursday.

Among those on the plane was assassin Vadim Krasikov, the so-called bicycle killer, who was serving a life sentence in Germany for murder.

Norah O'Donnell has announced she is leaving after the presidential election as anchor of the 'CBS Evening News,' a post she has held for five years.

Trump wrote on Truth Social:

President Joe Biden will give remarks from the White House at noon on the release of three American citizens and one American green-card holder who were imprisoned in Russia.

Former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, Alsu Kurmasheva, and Vladimir Kara-Murza were among sixteen people released from detention in Russia in a prisoner swap for eight individuals held in the U.S. and four other European countries.

The White House also put out a statement from the president:

J.D. Vance made his first visit to the border as Donald Trump's running mate where he went on the attack against Vice President Kamala Harris.

The Ohio senator made his appearance this morning in Cochise County, AZ as he makes a swing through western battleground states.

It comes as Republicans have seized on border security as they go after the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.

'It's just unbelieveable what we're letting happen at this southern border, and we're letting it happen because Kamala Harris refuses to do her job,' he said.

Vance claimed 'it's not hard to secure the southern border' and suggested they could 'implement some common sense policies.'

He called for the end of catch and release and finishing the border wall. He did not mention Trump's call for a mass deportation of all undocumented immigrants.

The Trump campaign also launched its first attack ads against Harris focused on the border earlier this week.

The vice president and her campaign have pushed back, arguing Trump with Vance's help tanked the bipartisan border security bill earlier this year.

By Morgan Phillips, Political Reporter

The family of a police officer who was killed by a repeat criminal in Missouri found itself at the center of a contentious GOP primary in the state.

The two Republican candidates for state attorney general - current AG Andrew Bailey and Trump attorney Will Scharf - are running on very similar platforms.

They also both received strong endorsements from former President Donald Trump, in a unique feat.

Despite almost no daylight policy-wise between Scharf and Bailey, the race has become so intense that it is now one of the most expensive down-ballot races in the country at nearly $20 million.

Bailey's record on crime is in the spotlight in a new ad and mailers being funded by a political action committee supporting Scharf.

Arizona's Abe Hamadeh won a House race against Blake Masters in an unusual primary that at first pitted J.D. Vance and Donald Trump against each other - until Trump decided to endorse both candidates.

On Wednesday evening Hamadeh declared victory and Masters conceded as ballots were still being counted.

'What a race. Many headwinds! But, can’t cry over spilt milk. It is done,' Masters wrote on X.

Donald Trump running mate J.D. Vance tore into Joe Biden and Kamala Harris over a plea deal that will allow terror mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed to avoid the death penalty.

The Pentagon said Wednesday that KSM and two accomplices being held at Guantanamo Bay had agreed to the deal in prosecution that has spanned decades.

‘Just today, I heard that the Biden-Harris Department of Justice has cut a deal for al-Qaeda terrorist Khalid Sheikh Mohammed to avoid the death penalty. Did you see this?’ Vance said at a campaign event in Glendale, Arizona. ‘As someone who enlisted to serve in the Marines after 9/11, I was outraged,’ he said.

‘But sadly I wasn’t surprised. Just think about the point we’ve gotten to - Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’s Justice Department prosecutes their political opponent while cutting a sweetheart deal with the Mastermind of 9/11,’ Vance said, connecting the prosecution of the terror leaders to Trump being charged over January 6 and alleged retention of national security documents.

Democratic lawmakers are fiercely defending Vice President Kamala Harris as she takes on former President Donald Trump, despite her record as the 'most liberal' senator.

Republicans are attacking the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, and former California senator, as a 'radical' San Francisco progressive.

They say she's even more progressive than self-proclaimed Democratic socialist Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.

And millions are fueling attack ads reminding American voters how she backed health care for illegal immigrants, banning fracking and eliminating private health insurance.

However, her former Democratic colleagues are insisting she's always been a 'centrist' and moderate.

'Her record is very centrist,' Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., told DailyMail.com this week.

The White House slammed Donald Trump on Wednesday for his comments on Kamala Harris' race, saying his allegation she 'became a black person' was 'repulsive.'

Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre led the response from President Joe Biden's administration. Jean-Pierre, a black woman, said Trump's comment was 'insulting.' She also said, as vice president, Harris deserves 'respect.'

'No one has any right to tell someone who they are, how they identify,' Jean-Pierre said.

Trump, in a confrontational, testy interview at the National Association of Black Journalist conference, repeatedly questioned Harris' racial origins. His comments resulted in gasps from the audience of black reporters and push back from the journalists on stage questioning him.

Kamala Harris has responded to Donald Trump's Wednesday rant where he claimed she 'happened to turn black' a few years ago.

Taking the stage at the Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Inc.'s 60th International Biennial Boulé in Houston, Harris addressed the interview hours before, where Trump insisted that 'all of a sudden, she made a turn'.

His comments came at a gathering of black journalists in Chicago, as an interviewer asked him whether he agreed with Republican sentiment that his rival is a 'DEI hire.'

Asking the journalist 'to define DEI', he went on to question Harris's heritage.

The Vice President, in turn, said 'the American people deserve better,' in a speech that also urged the African-American sorority to 'fight' because 'there is so much at stake.'

Donald Trump brought on stage the staff member he credits with saving his life and said he decided he didn't need to be more 'nice' to Democrats after he came close to death.

The former president returned to Pennsylvania just 17 days later after the historic assassination attempt where he referred to Vice President Kamala Harris as Margaret Thatcher as he looked to woo voters in the battleground state.

If Trump had not turned his head to look at an immigration chart on the screen at his Butler rally, it's likely the bullet would have gone into his head rather than graze his ear.

The Republican nominee said the woman who made the graphic is the reason he is alive and brought her on stage.

While many speculated Trump was 'changed' after the shooting, he continued the attacks and unveiled even more nicknames for his new 2024 rival Kamala Harris at his latest rally – just his third since being shot.

Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former U.S. marine Paul Whelan have been released from jail in Russia.

The men were let go as part of a major prisoner swap with Moscow, said to involve around 20 to 30 political prisoners.

Gershkovich was detained in March 2023 on espionage charges that the United States says are illegitimate. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison in July.

Whelan has been imprisoned in Russia since 2018 on spying charges. The US has denied he was involved in espionage operations.

was the first outlet to rpeort the news.

The families of victims of 9/11 said they were 'deeply troubled' after the architect of the attacks and two others agreed to plea deals after decades in US detention.

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Walid Bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawasawi have all agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy charges in exchange for a life sentence.

The New York Times reported on Wednesday evening that the pleas, which will see the men dodge a death penalty trial, have been approved by Pentagon officials.

'We are deeply troubled by these plea deals. While we acknowledge the decision to avoid the death penalty, our primary concern remains access to these individuals for information,' said 9/11 Justice President Brett Eagleson.

'These plea deals should not perpetuate a system of closed-door agreements, where crucial information is hidden without giving the families of the victims the chance to learn the full truth.'