Gov. Ron DeSantis launched a state investigation into former President Donald Trump's second assassination attempt, and Vice President Kamala Harris attends an event with the National Association of Black Journalists.
Here's what's happening on the campaign trail today
Presidential election campaigning revved back up Tuesday, with Donald Trump heading to Michigan and Vice President Kamala Harris answering questions at a forum for Black journalists in Pennsylvania — all while authorities investigate the second apparent assassination attempt against Trump that's roiled the race.
Trump is holding a town hall in Flint, Michigan, and has appearances later in the week in New York, Washington and North Carolina. Harris participated in a Philadelphia gathering of the National Association of Black Journalists. She skipped the group's recent gathering in Chicago, while an openly antagonistic appearance there by Trump sparked an uproar when he questioned the vice president's racial identity.
Harris has her own stops in Washington, as well as Michigan and Wisconsin, planned in coming days, with both sides zeroing in on the industrial Midwest and Pennsylvania and North Carolina — all battleground areas that could swing an election expected to be exceedingly close.
Trump's running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, has events in Michigan and Wisconsin on Tuesday.
Harris' running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, held an event in Georgia earlier today and is heading to North Carolina for a rally later in the evening.
DeSantis announces Florida investigation into apparent assassination attempt on Trump
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Tuesday he is signing an executive order authorizing a state investigation into the apparent attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump on Sunday in West Palm Beach.
During a news conference in West Palm Beach, DeSantis argued that the state — and not the U.S. Justice Department — has the jurisdiction to potentially file an attempted-murder charge against the suspect, Ryan Wesley Routh. The governor also sought to cast doubt on the objectivity of federal investigators when it comes to Trump.
“In my judgment, it's not in the best interest of our state or our nation to have the same federal agencies that are seeking to prosecute Donald Trump leading this investigation, especially when the most serious, straightforward offense constitutes a violation of state law, but not federal law,” DeSantis said.
DeSantis said federal law prevents the Justice Department from prosecuting an attempted-murder case when the target is not a current federal official or president-elect.
The FBI is conducting its own investigation. Federal prosecutors charged Routh, 58, on Monday with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number. The Justice Department could bring additional charges. Routh has not yet been arraigned.
“To say you're going to do a couple gun charges, that is not going to be sufficient" to hold the suspect accountable, DeSantis said.
The governor added that he believes the alleged offense warrants a sentence of life in prison.
Florida’s investigation will be led by the Florida Attorney General’s Office of Statewide Prosecution.
As Trump touts major tariff plan, economists warn of impact
At a recent campaign rally in Wisconsin, former President Donald Trump bragged about being a “tariff president.”
“We’re going to be a tariff nation,” he said. “It’s not going to be a cost to you. It’s going to be a cost to another country.”
Tariffs — taxes on products imported to the United States — are one of the few economic proposals Trump consistently talks about on the trail.
On the trail, Trump argues his tariffs made the U.S. billions, but experts told Spectrum News that in large part, they ended up costing Americans.
“The price of the product, once it passed through the customs shed in the U.S., went up because of the tariffs. And it was almost a one-for-one up,” said Gary Hufbauer, with the Peterson Institute for International Economics.
Economists say Trump refuses to acknowledge that when tariffs are imposed, it is American consumers who end up paying more.
Moderators asked about tariffs at Trump's Sept. 10 debate against Vice President Kamala Harris.
“Do you believe Americans can afford higher prices because of tariffs?” ABC News anchor David Muir asked.
“They’re not going to have higher prices,” Trump answered. “What’s going to have — and who’s going to have higher prices — is China and all of the countries that have been ripping us off for years.”
Economists say tariffs are a kind of trade barrier — raising the cost of foreign products to make them more expensive than domestic goods with the goal of helping U.S. manufacturers and workers.
As president, Trump imposed tariffs on countries from which the U.S. purchased steel and aluminum, then slapped them on almost half of all imports from China.
Now, as he runs for a second term, Trump is floating a 10% tariff on all U.S. imports and even higher levies on products from China.
When asked if there is any scenario where Trump's proposals would lower costs for everyday Americans, Hufbauer said: “No, no.”