Raw Story

When Kamala Harris emerged as the presumptive 2024 Democratic nominee in July, Donald Trump's "path to winning a 270-vote Electoral College majority" became much more difficult.

Newsweek reported that a University of North Florida (UNF) Public Opinion Research Lab poll published that month showed Trump "ahead of Harris by seven points."

Now, a new September 2024 poll by the Independent Center and The Bullfinch Group "showed Trump had a 1-point lead over Vice President Kamala Harris in Florida (48 percent to 47)," according to Newsweek.

READ MORE: Trump now bleeding support in GOP-dominated state as more women voters gravitate to Biden

"Thomas Gift, an associate professor of political science and director of the Centre on U.S. Politics at University College London, previously said that while Harris 'looks likely' to lose Florida, Trump may still need to work harder to appeal to voters in the state than he would like," the news outlet reports.

"The mere fact that Trump may have to campaign vigorously in Florida could divert resources from true swing states like Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan," told Newsweek.

"Even if Harris loses Florida, which certainly looks likely, this could cost Trump elsewhere if he's forced to devote scarce time, resources, and energy into shoring up his lead in the Sunshine State."

Although Democrats lost Florida voters in 2022, the Tampa Bay Times reports that it's possible for the party to pick up traction in upcoming elections.

READ MORE: Deep-red 'Republican stronghold' thought to be an 'easy win for Trump' is now a swing state

"Democrats remain convinced they are on the voters’ side of the issues," the Tampa Bay Times reports. "They point to voters raising the minimum wage in 2020 and the polling popularity of this year’s constitutional amendments on abortion access and legal marijuana."

The newspaper notes that if Democratic lawmakers "are to derive hope from any part of the state, it might be from the Orlando area, which has produced promising young leaders during the Trump era." US Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-FL) — an Orlando native — became the first Gen Z House member in 2022.

"The people are on our side in terms of policy but not politics," Frost said. "So how do we solve that? We talk about our policy more."

State Rep. Anna Eskamani (D-Orlando) — who flipped her district four years before Frost's victory — told the newspaper "that sometimes Republicans make her think of 'The Crown' on Netflix, a show where characters have their own ambitions but acquiesce without question to their" leader.

READ MORE: 'Don’t listen to Trump': Florida conservatives turn on ex-president over new comments

"Everyone gets in line to do what the crown says," Eskamani emphasized. "If you don’t get in line, you don’t really have a place in the Republican Party."

Newsweek's full report is available here. Tampa Bay Times' report is here.

Oscar-winning British actor Maggie Smith, a star of stage and screen for more than seven decades, died in hospital in London on Friday, her sons announced.

"It is with great sadness we have to announce the death of Dame Maggie Smith. She passed away peacefully in hospital early this morning, Friday 27th September," Chris Larkin and Toby Stephens said in a statement.

Smith -- a legend of British film and theatre who won a Tony, two Oscars, three Golden Globes and five Baftas -- achieved late-career international fame for her depiction of the Dowager Countess of Grantham Violet Crawley in the hit television series "Downton Abbey".

Born on December 28, 1934, the daughter of an Oxford professor of pathology, Smith made her stage debut in 1952 with the Oxford University Dramatic Society.

She won a best actress Oscar for "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" in 1969 Oscars and for best supporting actress for her depiction of Desdemona in "Othello" in the same year.

"An intensely private person, she was with friends and family at the end," her sons said.

"She leaves two sons and five loving grandchildren who are devastated by the loss of their extraordinary mother and grandmother," they said, adding their thanks for all the "kind messages and support" they had received.

© 2024 AFP

A smiling Stephanie Ruhle slapped aside complaints and whining from Fox News personnel who spent the greater part of Thursday seemingly obsessed with her interview with Vice President Kamala Harris. She then made an offer to Donald Trump.

Appearing on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," co-host Joe Scarborough joked that Mika Brzezinski spends an inordinate amount of time watching Fox News and then pointed out that Ruhle and her Harris interview dominated their version of the news for the entire day.

ALSO READ: Dysfunction on display: Republicans complain Speaker Johnson is no Pelosi

"I noticed [Fox personality] Howie Kurtz was saying you launched a softball interview with Kamala Karris, and you seem to be the running banner for about 30 minutes," Scarborough prompted his guest as Brzezinski exclaimed, "30 minutes? All day!" as her co-host continued and joked, "What a softball interview this interview was. Of course, nothing, nothing like Donald Trump and Sean Hannity, I'm sure. But I'm just curious what your thoughts were about Fox News desperately suggesting that she bombed a softball interview."

"Well to Fox News, I would say 'thank you,' because, as I learned from Donald Trump, all press is good press, so I am thrilled to be all over their air waves all day long," Ruhle joked.

After some snarky banter about Trump selling $100,000 watches, coins, trading cards and bibles, Ruhle pushed back, calling complaints about the interview a bunch of hot air.

"That's nonsense," she told the co-hosts. "Anybody who watched the interview I did with Vice President Harris, we sat down for 25 minutes and talked about one single topic, the economy. It is the number one issue for voters. If Donald Trump would like to sit down and have that same conversation, I'm ready for you."

'I think it's hugely important," she added. "It's a vulnerability for both candidates. It's tricky, Joe, because you obviously want to cover all of these topics, but to just do it with one candidate, it's hard, because many people feel like she's speaking in platitudes; she's speaking about an economic vision, and she's not giving details. She's got an 80-page detailed policy proposal."

"Do I think that she answers every single question and gives people exactly what they want?" she asked. "She doesn't. You know why? Because she's a politician, and none of them do."

Watch below or at the link.

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Vice President Kamala Harris's campaign wasted no time pouncing on newly revealed disparaging comments that Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) made about President Donald Trump's economic record in 2020.

In the comments to an unidentified individual, Vance argued that Trump "has just so thoroughly failed to deliver on his economic populism (excepting a disjointed China policy)" and months later predicted to the same individual that Trump would lose the 2020 election to President Joe Biden.

Hours after the remarks were revealed, Harris campaign spokesperson Ammar Moussa put out a statement that hammered Trump's economic record.

ALSO READ: Expert has 'ominous' warning about J.D. Vance endorsing 'spiritual propagandist' of Jan. 6

"It is hard to conceive of a more scathing and definitive rejection of Donald Trump's economic record than his own running mate stating categorically that Trump 'failed' on the economy," Moussa said. "J.D. Vance himself was crystal clear: Donald Trump 'thoroughly failed' to deliver on his economic promises, and is only looking out for himself and his rich donors, not the American people."

The campaign's statement also pointed back to remarks Harris made earlier this week where she described Trump as "one of the biggest losers ever" when it comes to creating manufacturing jobs, as she notes that an estimated 200,000 manufacturing jobs were lost during his tenure.

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A New York appeals court five-judge panel appeared “skeptical” of the civil fraud verdict in the case charging Donald Trump, his company, some family members, and his Chief Financial Officer falsely overvalued and undervalued assets to obtain favorable loan rates and to pay less taxes. Judges appeared to suggest bans had a responsibility to beware.

Judge Arthur Engoron had imposed a $364 million sentence on Trump, which is approaching $500 millions with interest. Judges heard Trump’s appeal on Thursday.

The judges “seemed somewhat skeptical that the civil fraud verdict should hold,” HuffPost reports, “with one judge dubbing it an ‘disturbing’ amount and another suggesting that the ‘sophisticated parties’ Trump and Trump Organization engaged with were obligated to do their due diligence.”

Judges also appeared to suggest New York Attorney General Letitia James may have gone too far.

ALSO READ: Inside Trump and Johnson's shocking new bid to suppress women's votes

“How do we draw a line, or at least put up some guardrails, to know when the AG [attorney general] is operating well within her broad — admittedly broad — sphere … and when she is going into an area that wasn’t intended for her jurisdiction?” Justice John Higgitt asked, The Hill reports.

The Washington Examiner, however, reported it “was not immediately clear where the panel might land once it reached a decision on the case. At times, the panel asked several pointed questions to James’s team of lawyers, while the judges appeared to listen more intently to the defense’s argument at other moments.”

Trump announced a press conference at Trump Tower for Thursday at 4:30 PM, although a topic was not included in the release.

As Hurricane Helene barrels closer to making landfall off of Florida’s coast, the Taylor County Sheriff’s Office offered residents ignoring evacuation orders a stark warning that stunned many: mark your bodies with a permanent marker so that you can be identified later.

Taylor County, home to 20,000 residents in northern Florida near the Big Bend region, was expected to take a direct hit from the Category 4 storm, according to NBC News. The storm was projected to make landfall Thursday night. Sheriff Wayne Padgett said the county will be “in the dead center of” the storm, the news station reported.

“If you or someone you know chose not to evacuate, PLEASE write your name, birthday and important information on your arm or leg in A PERMANENT MARKER so that you can be identified and family notified,” the Taylor County Sheriff's Office wrote in a social media statement.

The post generated more than 3,000 shares and hundreds of comments ranging from comparisons of Hurricane Katrina before it struck New Orleans in 2005, to fear for those choosing to ride out Helene.

ALSO READ: Inside Trump and Johnson's shocking new bid to suppress women's votes

“It cannot be stressed enough how serious of a situation this is for Florida,” Jordan Hall, an international storm chaser for MyRadar Weather wrote on X.

“This has to be the most scariest post I’ve ever read, prayers for everybody up there,” wrote Florida resident Tyler White in a Facebook comment to the sheriff’s office.

“I felt the same way reading this. Very surreal way to put it,” another Facebook user, Jen Marie, responded.

Another user Traci Elliott chimed in: “Morbid yes but also helpful.”