Harris on Ukraine, Trump on Adams Indictment: Election News You Missed Today

Vice President Kamala Harris turned her attention to foreign policy, while former President Donald Trump criticized her planned visit to the U.S.-Mexico border on Thursday.
As New York Mayor Eric Adams’ indictment on bribery charges, which he has denied, dominated the news cycle, Harris and Trump had a quieter day on the campaign trail. The indictment of a sitting Democratic mayor became, notably, a moment of bipartisanship for some MAGA supporters, who called it a form of “lawfare” against Adams.
Trump amplified that argument when asked a question about the indictment. “I don’t know the mayor well but he’s been fairly generous in his statements for awhile,” the former president said.
“I watched abut a year ago when he talked about how the illegal migrants are hurting our city and the federal government should pay us and I said you know what? He’ll be indicted within a year and I was exactly right.”
Harris had no campaign events, instead spending the day at the White House ahead of a trip to Arizona on Friday. Trump blasted that trip in a press conference from Trump Tower in Manhattan, but held no other official campaign events. He will be back on the trail in Michigan on Friday.
The vice president shifted her focus on Thursday on foreign policy after delivering a speech outlining her economic plans in Pittsburgh the day prior. She pledged to continue providing U.S. support for Ukraine during remarks alongside Ukrainian PresidentVolodymyr Zelensky from the White House.

The meeting was technically part of her official VP duties—not a campaign event—but her remarks to the press were designed to give her the opportunity to burnish her credibility on foreign affairs.
“I’ve been proud to stand with Ukraine. I will continue to stand with Ukraine, and I will work to ensure Ukraine prevails in this war. To be safe, secure and prosperous, the United States must continue to fulfill our longstanding role of global leadership,” Harris said.
Standing with Ukraine is part of what makes America “the most powerful and prosperous nation” in the world, she said, adding that U.S. support for Ukraine is “not out of charity, but because it is in our strategic interests.”
She lamented that there some Americans who “would instead force Ukraine to give up large parts of its sovereign territory, demand for Ukraine to “accept neutrality” and “require Ukraine to forego security relationships with other nations.”
“These proposals are the same of those of Putin, and let us be clear. They are not proposals for peace. Instead, they are proposals for surrender, which is dangerous and unacceptable,” Harris said.
Biden, in his own bilateral meeting with Zelensky, announced nearly $8 billion in new support for the war effort.
Zelensky has drawn Republicans’ ire during his visit to the U.S. for UN Week.
During a rally in North Carolina, Trump slammed Zelensky for “making little nasty aspersions” toward him and not accepting a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war. Trump said Ukraine has been “absolutely obliterated” by the conflict and that “millions and millions of people” are “dead.”
Zelensky earlier this week described Trump’s running mate Ohio Senator JD Vance, who has said he doesn’t “really care what happens to Ukraine one way or the other,” as “too radical,” criticizing his stance on the war. He also said Trump “doesn’t really know how to stop the war even if he might think he knows how.”
As Harris spoke alongside the Ukrainian president, Trump posted to Truth Social what appeared to be a screenshot of a message from Zelensky to him, asking for a meeting in New York on Friday.
Meanwhile, House Republicans have opened an investigation into Zelensky’s visit to Pennsylvania—a crucial battleground state viewed as a must-win for Harris — with House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, a Kentucky Republican, raising concerns about the use of taxpayer money to fly him out to the state on a military plane.
“This rhetoric coming from a foreign leader released in anticipation of a U.S.-taxpayer-funded visit about the current Administration’s political opponent is highly concerning,” Comer wrote in a statement.
Republicans like Texas Senator Ted Cruz argued Zelensky was effectively campaigning for Harris in a swing state, where he also visited an ammunition factory with Governor Josh Shapiro, a Harris surrogate.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre dismissed these critiques as a “political stunt” during a press briefing, saying the visit was Ukraine’s idea, as Zelensky would already be in the U.S. this week for the UN general assembly.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, called on Ukraine Ambassador Oksana Markarova to resign over the visit.
Trump also slammed Harris’ planned border visit in his remarks outside of Trump Tower Thursday afternoon, repeating a favored line that she responsible for “the worst border crisis in the history of the world.”
“Kamala Harris will be visiting the southern border that she has completely destroyed, from what I understand. Why would she go to the border now, playing right into the hand of her opponent? I mean you take a look at this. Why would you do that? There can be no justification for what she’s done,” Trump said.
Harris is expected to visit the border town of Douglas, Arizona during a campaign stop in that state Friday. Immigration remains a major issue in the election and a weakness for Democrats, according to polls that suggest Americans trust Trump more to handle the issue (though that gap is closing).
Republicans have blamed the Biden administration for an influx of migrant border crossings, but border crossings have declined over the past few months after Biden issued an executive order curbing asylum claims.
Trump criticized Harris for a number of policies implemented by the Biden administration including a 100-day pause on deportations in 2021 and ending the “Remain in Mexico” policy instituted by his administration.
He said Harris should “save her airfare” and instead return to the White House to “close the border,” referring to her as the “grandmother of sanctuary cities.”
During his remarks, Trump continued to attack Harris, accusing her of lying about working about working at McDonald’s. He has repeatedly said he does not believe she ever worked at the fast food joint, despite a lack of evidence.
When asked by Newsweek, the Harris campaign did not respond to requests for evidence of her McDonald’s stint.
Elsewhere in Trump world, a New York appeals court heard legal arguments into Trump’s effort to overturn a $489 million civil fraud ruling, arguing that the penalty is excessive and based on flawed legal reasoning. The court appeared receptive to some of those arguments.
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) announced plans to invest millions of dollars in the Florida and Texas Senate races, suggesting they see those races, where polls are tightening, as possibly in play.
DSCC Chair Gary Peters touted the investments as Democrats going “on offense” by supporting Representative Colin Allred, challenging Republican Senator Ted Cruz, in Texas and former Representative Debbie Murcarsel-Powell, challenging GOP Senator Rick Scott, in Florida.
“All cycle long the DSCC has been preparing to take advantage of Sens. Cruz and Scott’s damaged standings in their states – and now our efforts in Texas and Florida are accelerating. Democrats have strong candidates running effective campaigns in both states, and as we escalate our communications against Sens. Cruz and Scott we will crystallize the case against them,” he wrote in a statement.
These two races were once viewed as longshots in states Trump is expected to win easily, but Democrats may have little choice but to make a play for these seats after a flurry of strong polls for Republican Tim Sheehy in Montana’s Senate race against Democratic Senator Jon Tester if they want to keep their majority.
Democrats face an uphill battle to retain control of the Senate, which currently is made up of 51 Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents, and 49 Republicans.
The seat vacated by West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin is all but certain to flip to Republicans, meaning Democrats’ path to a majority runs through either holding both Montana and Ohio, or flipping either Florida or Texas.
Two pollsters released surveys of critical swing states on Thursday, continuing to show razor-thin margins in the important battlegrounds.
The University Massachusetts of Lowell Center for Public Opinion unveiled polls of Michigan and Pennsylvania, both of which were conducted from September 11 to September 19.
In Michigan, where 650 likely voters were polled, Harris led Trump by five points (48 percent to 43 percent). Meanwhile, Harris led Trump by two points in Pennsylvania (48 percent to 46 percent).
A Marist College poll, conducted from September 19 to September 24, pointed to a tighter race in three other battlegrounds. The poll showed a tied race in North Carolina, where 1,348 likely voters were polled. Both candidates received 49 percent of the vote.
Trump held a single-point lead in Arizona and Georgia. In both states, 50 percent of respondents said they are voting for Trump while 49 percent said they are backing Harris. Marist polled 1,264 likely voters in Arizona and 1,220 likely voters in Georgia.