Reuters
Trump calls for death penalty for migrants who kill Americans
By Ted Hesson, Nathan Frandino and Kristina Cooke
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AURORA, Colorado, Oct 11 (Reuters) – Donald Trump portrayed migrants as dangerous criminals during a rally in Aurora, Colorado, on Friday, calling for the death penalty for migrants who kill U.S. citizens as he escalates the anti-immigration rhetoric that has fueled his presidential run.
Flanked by posters of alleged members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, Trump also said that if elected he would launch a national “Operation Aurora” to target the gang members.
Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, has noticeably hardened his anti-immigration rhetoric in the final weeks of the Nov. 5 election campaign, where he aims to defeat Democratic candidate Kamala Harris. Illegal immigration is a top voter concern, and Trump is seen by most voters as the person best able to address it, opinion polls show.
“I’m hereby calling for the death penalty for any migrant that kills an American citizen or a law enforcement officer,” Trump said to loud cheers from a large crowd of supporters.
Trump has already proposed an expansion of the death penalty for other offenders, including people convicted of sex trafficking women and children.
Nearly half of U.S. states ban the death penalty. While there is a federal death penalty, it is rarely used, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, a non-profit group. An expansion of eligible crimes would require an act of the U.S. Congress.
One of the hallmarks of Trump’s third presidential run has been his focus on what he calls “migrant crime”, even though academic studies show immigrants do not commit crimes at a higher rate than native-born Americans.
The Harris campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment related to the death penalty proposal.
Vice President Harris toughened her stance on border security after becoming the Democratic nominee in August, and faults Trump for helping stifle a bipartisan border security bill in Congress earlier this year.
SPOTLIGHT ON AURORA
During a Sept. 10 presidential debate with Harris, Trump claimed that members of Tren de Aragua controlled several dilapidated Aurora apartment complexes – allegations refuted by top city officials.
At the rally on Friday, he reiterated a pledge to focus enforcement on Aurora if reelected.
“I will rescue Aurora and every town that has been invaded and conquered,” Trump said. “We will put these vicious and bloodthirsty criminals in jail or kick them out of our country.”
Item 1 of 5 Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump holds a rally at Gaylord Rockies Resort and Convention Center in Aurora, Colorado, U.S., October 11, 2024. REUTERS/Isaiah J. Downing
[1/5]Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump holds a rally at Gaylord Rockies Resort and Convention Center in Aurora, Colorado, U.S., October 11, 2024. REUTERS/Isaiah J. Downing Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab
Despite Trump’s dramatic statements aimed at rousing his base, no town in America has been taken over by migrants.
Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman, a Republican, said in a statement ahead of the rally that “concerns about Venezuelan gang activity have been grossly exaggerated” and welcomed Trump to tour the city.
Major crimes in Aurora have dropped year-on-year, according to Aurora Police Department statistics.
V Reeves, a community organizer with the Housekeys Action Network, said residents were nervous about the Trump visit.
“They’re worried about Trump supporters showing up and threatening them,” Reeves said.
At two of the apartment buildings at the center of the controversy, Reuters observed broken windows and litter on Thursday. One building had portable police camera stations that residents said were installed this week.
Jesus, a 30-year-old Venezuelan who works in landscaping and lives in one of the buildings, said that all Venezuelans are being blamed for the actions of a few.
“We are not all bad people,” said Jesus, who declined to provide his last name.
The dispute over gang activity in Aurora stems from an effort by the city to force the owner of several apartment complexes where migrants lived to address repairs, trash, pest infestations and other complaints.
A public relations firm hired by the landlord, CBZ Management, said in early August that Tren de Aragua gang members had taken over the properties, according to documents obtained by Reuters through a Colorado Open Records Act request.
CBZ Management did not respond to requests for comment.
The allegations gained national attention in late August when a clip of gun-toting men in one of the apartment buildings went viral.
Cindy Romero, a former resident at the apartment complex, captured the footage with her two security cameras. Speaking at the rally on Friday, she said she was a lifelong Democrat but that she would vote for Trump due to her experience with crime.
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Reporting by Ted Hesson and Nathan Frandino in Aurora, Colorado and Kristina Cooke in San Francisco; Editing by Ross Colvin, Jonathan Oatis and Diane Craft
November 5, 20249:16 AM GMT+6Updated 4 hours ago
Item 1 of 2 Oct 20, 2024; Austin, Texas, USA; Joe Rogan talks to fans in the paddock at the Formula 1 Pirelli United States Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas. Mandatory Credit: Aaron E. Martinez-Imagn Images/File Photo
[1/2]Oct 20, 2024; Austin, Texas, USA; Joe Rogan talks to fans in the paddock at the Formula 1 Pirelli United States Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas. Mandatory Credit: Aaron E. Martinez-Imagn Images/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
WASHINGTON, Nov 4 (Reuters) – Popular podcaster Joe Rogan, who recently interviewed Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump for nearly three hours, said on Monday he has endorsed the former president in the race to the White House.
Trump faces Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in the Nov. 5 U.S. election in what polls show to be a tight race. Harris has got multiple celebrity endorsements.
“For the record, yes, that’s an endorsement of Trump,” Rogan said on X while posting a clip of his interview with billionaire Elon Musk, who has also endorsed Trump. Rogan said in his post that Musk made the “most compelling case for Trump.”
Trump’s recent interview with Rogan lasted about 3 hours and was released on YouTube and Spotify in late October. The two discussed a range of topics and the interview got over 45 million views on YouTube.
The former president criticized Rogan in August on Truth Social, his social media platform, after the podcaster praised then-independent candidate Robert Kennedy Jr. Kennedy has since pulled out of the race and endorsed Trump. Trump later called Rogan a “good guy.”
Trump and Harris have courted voters with appearances on podcasts, in addition to more traditional rallies and media interviews.
Spotify (SPOT.N), opens new tab said in March “The Joe Rogan Experience” had 14.5 million followers, almost triple the platform’s second most popular program. Rogan also has more than 19 million followers on Instagram and 18 million followers on YouTube.
A poll by YouGov last year found that 81% of his listeners are male and 56% are under 35 years old, a demographic that tends to support Trump over Harris.
Harris’ team had been in touch with Rogan’s program about a possible appearance but her campaign said in late October she will not appear on his podcast.
Rogan joins a list of celebrities like Musk and wrestler Hulk Hogan to have endorsed Trump.
Harris has a much bigger list of celebrity endorsements – ranging from basketball superstar Lebron James and actress Meryl Streep to comedian Chris Rock and former talk show host Oprah Winfrey. Superstar singers Beyonce and Taylor Swift have also endorsed her.
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Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Raju Gopalakrishnan
By Kanishka Singh and Sheila Dang
November 5, 20249:52 AM GMT+6Updated 4 hours ago
WASHINGTON, Nov 4 (Reuters) – False or misleading claims by billionaire Elon Musk about the U.S. election have amassed 2 billion views on social media platform X this year, according to a report, opens new tab by non-profit group Center for Countering Digital Hate.
The platform is also playing a central role in enabling the spread of false information about the critical battleground states that will likely determine the outcome of the presidential race, election and misinformation experts said on Monday.
A spokesperson for X said the company’s Community Notes feature, which lets users add additional context to posts, is more effective at helping people identify misleading content than traditional warning flags on posts.
Since taking over the company formerly known as Twitter, Musk has curtailed content moderation and laid off thousands of employees. He has thrown his support behind former President Donald Trump, who is locked in an exceptionally close race against Democratic candidate Kamala Harris.
Musk’s massive reach with nearly 203 million followers helps enable “network effects” in which content on X can jump to other social media and messaging platforms such as Reddit and Telegram, said Kathleen Carley, a professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon University and expert on disinformation. “X is a conduit from one platform to another,” she said.
At least 87 of Musk’s posts this year have promoted claims about the U.S. election that fact-checkers have rated as false or misleading, amassing 2 billion views, according to the Center for Countering Digital Hate’s report.
In Pennsylvania, one of the seven key swing states, some X users have seized on instances of local election administrators flagging incomplete voter registration forms that would not be processed, falsely casting the events as examples of election interference, said Philip Hensley-Robin, Pennsylvania executive director at Common Cause, during a press briefing on Monday.
Common Cause is a nonpartisan organization that promotes accountable government and voting rights.
Some X accounts implied “that there was voter fraud, when in fact, we know very clearly that election officials and election administrators in all of our counties were following the rules and … therefore only eligible voters are voting,” Hensley-Robin said.
Cyabra, a firm that uses AI to detect online disinformation, said on Monday that an X account with 117,000 followers played a key role in helping spread a fake video purporting to show Pennsylvania mail-in ballots for Trump being destroyed.
X’s spokesperson said the platform took action against many accounts that shared the video.
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Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington and Sheila Dang in Austin; Additional reporting by Stephanie Burnett; Editing by Lincoln Feast
By Reuters
November 5, 20244:36 AM GMT+6Updated 9 hours ago
- A person picks up a sticker while voters head to a polling station as Georgians turned out a day after the battleground state opened early voting, in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S., October 16, 2024. REUTERS/Megan Varner/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
WASHINGTON, Nov 4 (Reuters) – The top court in the battleground state of Georgia ruled on Monday that Cobb County cannot extend the deadline for counting about 3,000 absentee ballots that were sent out shortly before Election Day, handing a victory to the Republican National Committee and presidential candidate Donald Trump.
Siding with the RNC, the Georgia Supreme Court overturned a judge’s ruling extending the deadline until Friday in Cobb County, located in suburban Atlanta. The court decided that only absentee ballots that arrive by 7 p.m. ET on Tuesday (0000 GMT Wednesday) can be counted.
Civil rights groups had sued last week seeking to extend the deadline, arguing that the county violated state law by failing to promptly send out about 3,000 absentee ballots. County officials said they were overwhelmed by a surge in requests.
The Republican National Committee had argued that extending the deadline would violate state law.
“Election Day is Election Day – not the week after,” RNC Chair Michael Whatley wrote in a post on social media.
Cobb County is a large and racially diverse area in Atlanta’s northern suburbs. The county voted for Democrat Joe Biden over Trump by 14 percentage points in the 2020 election. Biden defeated Trump in Georgia in 2020.
A spokesperson for Cobb County did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The state high court ordered that ballots received after Election Day be separated from other ballots and set aside. Voters who did not receive an absentee ballot or did not have enough time to mail it can vote in person on Tuesday.
Georgia is one of seven closely contested states expected to decide the outcome of the race between Trump and Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris.
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Reporting by Andrew Goudsward; Editing by Scott Malone and Will Dunham
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