ABC Presidential debate live coverage: What time and how to watch the Trump and Harris face off tonight?

Stepping off Trump’s Boeing with his campaign entourage and members of the Trump family: far-right conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer, a failed congressional candidate with a history of racist, anti-Muslim and white nationalist views and undying loyalty to Donald Trump.

Trump has rewarded her sycophancy by publicly praising her at his rallies and events, sharing her posts on his Truth Social, and reportedly considering her for a role in his potential administration.

He recently shared her posts falsely claiming that Kamala Harris is not Black, as well as her string of false- and conspiracy theory-fueled attacks against the daughter of the judge overseeing his hush money trial. This week on her podcast, she accused Harris and other prominent Black officials of using a “DEI Shaniqua” voice.

Andrew Feinberg, The Independent’s White House Correspondent, writes:

“More than one recent poll has shown a critical mass of voters saying they need to know more about Kamala Harris before they can vote for her.

“Here’s the sad truth: No one cares about vice presidents. Harris has spent the last three-plus years in a position with little formal power and not much actual codified responsibility. And she’s running against someone whose campaign has indicated a desire to tag her with every bad thing that has happened during Joe Biden’s presidency.

“Unfortunately for Trump, people know vice presidents don’t matter that much in terms of policy. And fortunately for Harris, this means she can talk about things other than policy. She can display her wit and her intelligence and her ability to be more coherent than the old man she’s running against.

“Doing that will let her give skeptical voters a sense of whether she is the sort of decisive, quick on the feet leader who can go toe-to-toe with the world’s dictators. It’s all about vibes, and she needs to keep the positive ones she’s had since becoming the nominee going strong in order to win.”

“Just a … mixed-up … pile of words,” Trump told the magazine. “Like she is.”

“She is, she is, well, you have to see it to really understand,” he continued, saying the nickname works better in writing as his explanation fell flat. New York Magazine’s Olivia Nuzzi, who interviewed the former president, even noted she was “confused” as he explained the nickname.

The Independent’s DC Bureau chief Eric Garcia writes:

“Kamala Harris’s ascent to the top of the ticket undoubtedly caused a vibe shift on the Democratic side. Now that Democrats no longer have to defend Biden or convince themselves that he can beat Trump, supporters pretty candidly say she’s caused a pep in their step. Multiple attendees at a rally with Doug Emhoff and Gwen Walz told me as much on Monday.

“Of course, despite this vibe shift, Harris has to deal with one big problem: She’s still Joe Biden’s number two. That means she owns much of the unpopular parts of his agenda. A New York Times/Siena College poll from earlier this week showed how this could pose a problem for her. They survey showed that 61 percent of likely voters said that the next president should represent a major change from Biden.

“But only 25 percent of likely voters believe Harris represents that change. By contrast, 53 percent of likely voters think that Trump represents a major change from Biden.

“Harris will need to successfully create some distance between herself and her boss during tonight’s debate.

“On top of that, Harris needs to make a break from style from both Biden and Trump. Where Trump has been erratic and frenetic and Biden was seen as slow, tired, dottering and almost fading in the background, Harris showing a no-nonsense approach and sharp responses can draw a stark contrast from the past.”

A 2019 questionnaire filled out by then-Senator Kamala Harris illuminates her previous support for more progressive causes, contrasting her more moderate approach as she now seeks to appeal to a broad swath of Americans in the final days of the 2024 presidential election.

Harris’s answers on the form by the American Civil Liberties Union indicate that she once backed funding cuts to Immigration and Customs Enforcement and supported taxes being used to fund gender transition surgeries for federal prisoners and detained immigrants. The now-vice president also backed federally decriminalizing drug possession for personal use, and she pledged to “end” immigration detention.

Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo began testifying publicly Tuesday before a congressional subcommittee critical of his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic as it began to spread through the state’s nursing homes in 2020.

Members of the Republican-led House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic released a report ahead of Cuomo’s testimony that accused the Democrat of staging a “cover up” to hide mistakes that endangered nursing home residents.

“The Cuomo Administration is responsible for recklessly exposing New York’s most vulnerable population to COVID-19,” U.S. Rep. Brad Wenstrup, the Ohio Republican who chairs the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, said in a statement Monday.

A high-ranking Secret Service official with more than 26 years of federal law experience will retire from the agency, months after the assassination attempt on Donald Trump’s life.

Michael Plati, the Assistant Director of the Office of Protective Operations, is a member of the Senior Executive Service.

Read more from Ariana Baio here:

On the debate stage tonight, one of the largest height differences in the history of presidential nominees will be on display between Trump, who claims to be 6 foot 3, and Harris, who says she’s 5 foot 4.

Harris is set to have a shorter podium than Trump, which will allow her to look closer to the same height in a split screen with Trump. But when they’re both in view in the same shot, the difference will be clear, and the Harris campaign is wary of her appearing small.

“This is normal and both campaigns were given visibility about the different podium sizes,” a source told Axios.

A Trump campaign official told the outlet that Harris’s podium “looks like the kids’ table at Thanksgiving.”

Earlier this year, Harris told Katie Couric: “With heels, which I always wear, I’m 5 foot 7 and a half, thank you very much.”