March 17 - 2024 campaign updates

GOP Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio on Sunday slammed what he called a “ridiculous attack” on Donald Trump following the former president’s comments Saturday in which he warned of a “bloodbath” for the US auto industry and country should he lose the election.

“It shows how low the media is willing to go to cover for Joe Biden,” he continued, pointing to the importance of “real journalists” and “X.com.” 

Vance, who has been floated as a possible running mate for the former president, said that “Trump has great instincts on people” but that speculation is “way premature,” adding he has not spoken with Trump about his pick for vice president.

“I like being a senator, and I plan to keep on being a senator, but of course, if the president asked me, I would have to think seriously about it," Vance said.

Former President Donald Trump on Sunday renewed his commitment to debating President Joe Biden, saying he would do it "anytime, anyplace," and would "even debate minutia."

Trump on Fox News pushed back on potential criticism he could receive for agreeing to debate the presumptive nominee of the 2024 Democratic Party but not his GOP primary opponents, asking rhetorically, "Why would I go out, say ‘Oh, let's go, let's have some fun, and be shouted at by 12 people that have absolutely no chance of being elected?’"

"I always want to debate the Republican versus the Democrat, no matter what the score is. I wanted to debate last time. I always want to debate the Republican and the Democrat. Those are the two people left and they should debate," he said.

Biden weighed in Saturday night on the prospect of debating the presumptive Republican nominee, but declined to say definitively if he expects to come face-to-face with Trump. 

"I don't know if he's serious," Biden told CNN after the Gridiron Dinner when asked if he expects to debate the former president ahead of the 2024 election. 

CNN’s Kaitlan Collins contributed to this report.

Former President Donald Trump said Russian President Vladimir Putin "probably" played some role in the death of opposition leader Alexey Navalny in a Russian prison, but largely avoided placing blame on the Russian leader.

"I don't know, but perhaps. I mean, possibly, I could say probably. I don't know," Trump said in an interview airing Sunday on Fox News.

He said Navalny was a "young man," so "statistically he'd be alive for a long time, if you go by the insurance numbers, he'd be alive for another 40 years," acknowledging, "something happened that was unusual."

Trump has repeatedly declined to criticize Putin, an authoritarian leader whom he often praises, and came under fire last month for calling his own legal entanglements "a form of Navalny."

The former president also declined to commit to continuing aid to Ukraine, saying "I feel very hurt because that's a war that should have never happened," and claiming, without evidence, that he could have avoided the conflict.

Former President Donald Trump told an entirely fictional story on Saturday about how he had supposedly outwitted his Democratic opponents by releasing “the tape” of the 2019 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that was a key factor in Trump’s first impeachment.

Speaking at a Saturday campaign rally in Ohio, Trump claimed he let Democrats make “wilder and wilder” claims about what he said to Zelensky, “and then we released the tape.” Trump proceeded to claim that when Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, who was then the speaker of the House, “heard” this tape, she was angry that she had been deceived by her allies’ previous “false” descriptions of the call; he claimed that Pelosi said to “her people”: “What the hell did you get me into? You hear this call? He didn’t do any of this stuff!”

Trump claimed that Pelosi was told, “Let’s just pretend he did and keep going forward.” He continued, “After they made up the story and then after that they heard the tape, they died. They didn’t know that phone call was taped. That was one good case of a phone call being taped. And they were taped and they got caught.”

Facts First: Trump’s story is a complete fabrication. No tape of his call with Zelensky was ever released; Pelosi could not possibly have been angry with her allies after hearing a tape of the call because she has never heard a tape of the call. In fact, as of nearly five years after the July 2019 call, there is no known US recording of the conversation. What Trump’s White House actually released in September 2019 was a rough written transcript of the call — which corroborated, rather than contradicted, a government whistleblower’s central allegations about what Trump had said. Pelosi spokesperson Aaron Bennett said Sunday that Trump’s story is “fact-free nonsense.”

Read more here.

Sen. Bill Cassidy, one of the only Republicans who voted in favor of impeaching former President Donald Trump for his attempt to overturn the 2020 election, still won’t say whether he will endorse him in 2024. 

“At this point all I can say is that I plan to vote for a Republican for the presidency of the United States,” the Louisiana Republican said on NBC’s "Meet the Press."

Cassidy previously told CNN that he didn’t think Trump would be able to win a general election and called for him to drop out of the race over the former president's alleged mishandling of classified documents.

Former President Donald Trump said in an interview airing Sunday he would make a decision "pretty soon" on supporting a national abortion ban.

Trump told Fox News last month he remained undecided about backing a national abortion ban but said, “More and more I'm hearing about 15 weeks.” The New York Times also reported Trump has privately expressed support for a 16-week abortion ban.

Later in the interview, Trump acknowledged the political potency of the issue for Republicans, saying he thinks it is "very, very hard to get elected" without "the three exceptions," without naming what he was referring to.

"You have to go with the exceptions, and the number of weeks, I'll be coming out with a recommendation, fairly soon. I think the recommendation will be accepted," he said without elaborating further.

On the issue of abortion, Trump said, "you have to go with your heart. But beyond that, you also have to get elected."

Republican Rep. Mike Turner defended Donald Trump on Sunday after the former president made a series of controversial remarks about election outcomes, immigration and the US Capitol insurrection during a rally in Turner's home district.

Asked about Trump's comments, specifically that there would be a “bloodbath” in the auto industry and the country if he lost the general election in November, Turner said, “The president's statements were about what would happen in the auto industry” adding that it is ���incredibly important that that be accurately portrayed.” 

Trump warned Saturday that if he were to lose the 2024 election, it would be a “bloodbath” for the US auto industry and the country. The remark came as the former president promised a “100% tariff” on cars made outside the US, arguing that domestic auto manufacturing would be protected only if he is elected.

At the same rally, Trump went on to characterize undocumented immigrants who commit crimes as “animals.”

Turner said Sunday there are, “many statements he [former President Trump] makes that many Americans would not agree with and many that they would” and defended the former president’s immigration rhetoric and policy saying, “When you talk about what happening at the border, this is absolutely a crisis that has been created by this administration.”

Former Vice President Mike Pence, who is not endorsing his former boss Donald Trump for president, said Sunday that Trump’s reference to people convicted for their role in the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol as “hostages” is “unacceptable.”

While Pence said that Capitol rioters who were “caught up in the moment” are entitled to due process of law for “non-violent activities,” he maintained, “The assaults on police officers -- ultimately an environment that claimed lives -- is something that I think was tragic that day and I'll never diminish it.”

Rep. Nancy Pelosi on Sunday cited Donald Trump's "bloodbath" comments at an Ohio rally as she sought to establish the stakes for Democrats in the 2024 presidential election.

Trump warned Saturday that if he were to lose the 2024 election, it would be a “bloodbath” for the US auto industry and the country. The remark came as Trump promised a “100% tariff” on cars made outside the US, arguing that domestic auto manufacturing would be protected only if he is elected.

“We’re going to put a 100% tariff on every single car that comes across the line, and you’re not going to be able to sell those guys if I get elected,” Trump said during a rally in Vandalia, Ohio. “Now, if I don’t get elected, it’s going to be a bloodbath for the whole – that’s gonna be the least of it. It’s going to be a bloodbath for the country. That’ll be the least of it.”

The comment came in the midst of an extended riff on the auto industry, unions, the transition to electric vehicles and auto plants in Mexico.