Trump mocks ‘low IQ War Hawk’ Liz Cheney after Harris endorsement: Live updates

Donald Trump gave a foul-mouthed rant about immigrants to a small group of wealthy donors during a private fundraiser over the summer, according to reports.

Ariana Baio has the details.

Larry Hogan may have beaten just about everyone else to the picket lines this week. But that shouldn’t shock you.

With Election Day just a month down the road and all kinds of “October surprises” popping out of the woodwork, the former governor of Maryland is charting his own path through the race’s final days. Not that he has much of a choice.

The US economy added 254,000 jobs in September, blowing past expectations after the Federal Reserve’s announcement that it would slash interest rates, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The number exceeded expectations from economists. Earlier in the week, ADP projected that the economy added 143,000 jobs in September.

The numbers are a boost to President Joe Biden, who is not seeking re-election. Biden touted the positive numbers in a statement on Friday.

Let’s check in with Alicja Hagopian who has the latest poll numbers.

US job gains increased by the most in six months in September and the unemployment rate fell to 4.1%, pointing to a resilient economy that likely does not need the Federal Reserve to deliver large interest rate cuts for the rest of this year.

In addition to the better-than-expected increase in nonfarm payrolls reported by the Labor Department on Friday, wages rose at a solid pace last month. The closely watched employment report also showed the economy added 72,000 more jobs in July and August than previously estimated.

The report followed on the heels of annual benchmark revisions to national accounts data last week that showed the economy is in much better shape than previously estimated, with upgrades to growth, income, savings and corporate profits.

This improved economic backdrop was acknowledged by Fed Chair Jerome Powell this week when he pushed back against investors’ expectations for another half-percentage-point rate cut in November, saying “this is not a (policy-setting) committee that feels like it is in a hurry to cut rates quickly.”

Nonfarm payrolls increased by 254,000 jobs last month, the most since March, the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics said. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast payrolls would rise by 140,000 positions after advancing by a previously reported 142,000 in August.

The initial payrolls count for August has typically been revised higher over the past decade. Estimates for September’s job gain ranged from 70,000 to 220,000. Job growth is now above the monthly average gain of 203,000 in the past 12 months.

But labor market could experience some brief turbulence after Hurricane Helene devastated large swathes of the US Southeast last week.

Donald Trump continues to insist that he has nothing to do with Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation’s manifesto for a second Trump term, that reads like the backstory to a dystopian novel.

Here’s what the former president wrote on Truth Social this morning:

Lyin’ Kamal Harris, who refuses to do interviews or press conferences because she has no idea how to answer the questions, and is now losing in the polls, continues to make a thing called Project 2025 the central theme of her campaign, advertising and all. Lyin’ Kamala has been informed, legally, that I have, and had, nothing to do with it, NEVER READ IT, NEVER SAW IT, but her ads continue, full blast. When you see them talking about Project 2025, remember, Kamala is lying, just like she lied about working at McDonalds (she didn’t!), or added 818,000 new jobs that didn’t exist (a fraud!), and sooo many other lies. Just like San Francisco and California, itself, she would, if given the chance, COMPLETELY DESTROY OUR COUNTRY!

Donald Trump has broken his silence over his apparent rift with wife Melania Trump around abortion rights, insisting that he told her “I’m not going to tell you what to do.”

Per the White House, on Saturday, October 5, Vice President Kamala Harris will travel to North Carolina to survey the impacts of Hurricane Helene and receive an on-the-ground briefing about the continued recovery efforts that are occurring in communities across the state.

Harris has previously visited Augusta, Georgia, to see the damage there, as well as received a briefing at FEMA headquarters regarding the extent of the impact of the storm across the southeast of the US.