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Famous firsts for US presidents

U.S. history is filled with presidential feats that were the first of their kind. Here is a look at some of the U.S. presidents and the milestones they set.
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Trump holds rally at site of 1st assassination attempt; Harris readies for media appearances

With less than a month to go until the U.S. presidential election, the Democratic and Republican presidential nominees have a busy week ahead. Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are both scheduled to continue rallying supporters in key states, amid warnings that the rhetoric is becoming more inflammatory. VOA’s Veronica Balderas Iglesias reports.
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Trump returns to site of first assassination attempt for campaign rally

BUTLER, Pennsylvania — Donald Trump returned on Saturday to the Pennsylvania fairgrounds where he was nearly assassinated in July, holding a sprawling rally before a massive crowd in a critical swing state Trump hopes to return to his column in November’s election.

The former president and Republican nominee picked up where he left off in July when a gunman tried to assassinate him and struck his ear. He began his speech with, “As I was saying,” and gestured toward an immigration chart he was looking at when the gunfire began.

The Trump campaign worked to maximize the event’s headline-grabbing potential with just 30 days to go and voting already underway in some states in his race against his Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris. Musician Lee Greenwood appeared on stage and serenaded him with God Bless the USA, frequently played at his rallies, and billionaire Elon Musk spoke for the first time at a Trump rally.

“We fought together. We have endured together. We have pushed onward together,” Trump said. “And right here in Pennsylvania, we have bled together. We’ve bled.”

‘This is a must-win’

Trump needs to drive up voter turnout in conservative strongholds like Butler County, an overwhelmingly white, rural-suburban community, if he wants to win Pennsylvania in November. Harris, too, has targeted her campaign efforts at Pennsylvania, rallying there repeatedly as part of her aggressive outreach in critical swing states.

At the beginning of the rally, Trump asked for a moment of silence to honor firefighter Corey Comperatore, who died as he shielded family members from gunfire. Opera singer Christopher Macchio sang Ave Maria after a bell rung at the same time that gunfire began on July 13.

Standing behind protective glass that now encases the stage at his outdoor rallies, Trump called the would-be assassin “a vicious monster” and said he did not succeed “by the hand of providence and the grace of God.” There was a very visible heightened security presence, with armed law enforcers in camouflage uniforms on roofs.

One of the most anticipated guests of the evening was Musk, who climbed onto the stage on Saturday jumping and pumping his fists in the air after Trump introduced him as a “great gentleman” and said he “saved free speech.”

“President Trump must win to preserve the Constitution. He must win to preserve democracy in America,” said Musk, who endorsed Trump after the assassination attempt. “This is a must-win situation.”

Musk, who bought Twitter and rebranded it as X and has embraced conservative politics, met with Trump and Vance backstage, donning a black “Make America Great Again” hat. A billboard on the way into the rally said, “IN MUSK WE TRUST,” and showed his photo.

Earlier on Saturday, Trump’s running mate, Ohio Senator JD Vance, got on stage and reflected on the events that day while criticizing Democrats for calling Trump “a threat to democracy,” saying that kind of language is “inflammatory.”

“You heard the shots. You saw the blood. We all feared the worst. But you knew everything would be OK when President Trump raised his fist high in the air and shouted, ‘Fight, fight!'” said Vance. “Now I believe it as sure as I’m standing here today that what happened was a true miracle.”

Crowds pack stands

Crowds were lined up as the sun rose Saturday. The crowd packed bleachers, folding chairs and the field stretching to the venue’s edges. Area hotels, motels and inns were said to be full and some rallygoers arrived Friday.

Much of the crowd waited several hours for Trump. About half an hour into his speech, Trump paused his speech for more than five minutes after an attendee had a medical issue and needed a medic.

Trump used the event to remember Comperatore, the volunteer firefighter struck and killed at the July 13 rally, and to recognize the two other rallygoers injured, David Dutch and James Copenhaver. They and Trump were struck when 20-year-old shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, opened fire from an unsecured rooftop nearby before he was fatally shot by sharpshooters.

The building from which Crooks fired was completely obscured by tractor-trailers, a large grassy perimeter and a fence. Most bleachers were now at the sides, rather than behind Trump.

How Crooks managed to outmaneuver law enforcement that day and scramble on top of a building within easy shooting distance of the ex-president is among many questions that remain unanswered about the worst Secret Service security failure in decades. Another is his motive.

Butler County District Attorney Rich Goldinger told WPXI-TV this week that “everyone is doubling down on their efforts to make sure this is done safely and correctly.”

Mike Slupe, the county sheriff, told the station he estimates the Secret Service, was deploying “quadruple the assets” it did in July. The agency has undergone a painful reckoning over its handling of two attempts on Trump’s life.

‘I believe God’s got Trump’

Butler County, on the western edge of a coveted presidential swing state, is a Trump stronghold. He won the county with about 66% of the vote in both 2016 and 2020. About 57% of the county’s 139,000 registered voters are Republicans, compared with about 29% who are Democrats and 14% something else.

Chris Harpster, 30, of Tyrone, Pennsylvania, was accompanied by his girlfriend on Saturday as he returned to the scene. Of July 13, he said, “I was afraid” — as were his parents, watching at home, who texted him immediately after the shots rang out.

Heightened security measures were making him feel better now, as well as the presence of his girlfriend, a first-time rallygoer. Harpster said he will be a third-time Trump voter in November, based on the Republican nominee’s stances on immigration, guns, abortion and energy. Harpster said he hopes Pennsylvania will go Republican, particularly out of concern over gas and oil industry jobs.

Other townspeople were divided over the value of Trump’s return. Heidi Priest, a Butler resident who started a Facebook group supporting Harris, said Trump’s last visit fanned political tensions in the city.

“Whenever you see people supporting him and getting excited about him being here, it scares the people who don’t want to see him reelected,” she said.

Terri Palmquist came from Bakersfield, California, and said her 18-year-old daughter tried to dissuade her. “I just figure we need to not let fear control us. That’s what the other side wants is fear. If fear controls us, we lose,” she said.

She said she was not worried about her own safety.

“Honesty, I believe God’s got Trump, for some reason. I do. So we’re rooting for him.” 
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Nearly 24M immigrants eligible to vote in U.S. election

In the United States, nearly 24 million immigrants are eligible to vote in November’s presidential election, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of U.S. census data. VOA’s Jeff Swicord spoke with two naturalized citizens about the choices they are making in this vote.
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Harris discusses US policies on Gaza, Lebanon with Arab Americans in Michigan

washington — Vice President Kamala Harris met briefly with a group of Arab Americans in Flint, Michigan, on Friday, as her campaign aims to build support with communities outraged by the administration’s response to the war in Gaza and the expanding conflict in Lebanon.

“The vice president heard directly their perspectives on the election and the conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon,” her campaign said in a statement.

Harris “expressed her concern over the scale of suffering in Gaza” and discussed “her efforts to end the war” and to prevent regional war, the campaign statement said.

On Lebanon, Harris expressed “concern about civilian casualties and displacement” and reiterated the administration’s position that “a diplomatic solution is the best path to achieve stability and protect civilians.”

Michigan, a key battleground state, is home to almost 400,000 Arab Americans, the highest in the country by percentage, according to the Arab American Institute.

Neither the Harris campaign nor the vice president’s office provided the list of participants. However, Edward Gabriel, president of the American Task Force on Lebanon, said he took part in the meeting.

“We discussed the need for a cease-fire and the support needed from the United States and its allies to address the humanitarian crisis, the presidential leadership void in Lebanon, and the important role of the Lebanese armed forces,” he told VOA. “This was a valuable two-sided exchange, and we made important progress in our relationship.”

Also participating were representatives from Emgage, a Muslim American advocacy group that endorsed Harris in September, citing the danger of “Trump’s brand of authoritarianism” for “Muslim Americans, America and the world.”

In its endorsement, the group noted its support did not equal “an agreement with Vice President Harris on all issues, but rather, an honest guidance to our voters regarding the difficult choice they confront at the ballot box.”

Pro-Palestinian groups excluded

Harris’ meeting did not include the Uncommitted National Movement and Abandon Harris, two pro-Palestinian activist groups that have been pushing for change in the administration’s policies on Gaza.

“We weren’t invited,” said Layla Elabed, a spokesperson for Uncommitted National Movement, the group that helped organize more than 100,000 Michiganders to vote “uncommitted” in the Democratic primary election to protest the Biden administration’s support of Israel’s military campaign.

Hudhayfah Ahmad, a spokesperson for the Abandon Harris campaign, a group that is actively working to defeat Harris in Michigan and other battleground states in protest of U.S. Gaza policies, said the only path forward is to hold the administration and the Harris campaign accountable.

“We’ve remained firm in our position that we will not meet with the vice president or anyone from her campaign team, as that opportunity has passed,” he told VOA.

The Flint meeting showed the group’s pressure on the Harris campaign is working, Elabed told VOA. However, she added, the campaign should heed the group’s request for Harris to meet “everyday Americans whose loved ones are being impacted by this administration’s policy to continue supplying the bombs and weapons to Israel that are killing Palestinians and now Lebanese people, including Americans in Gaza and Lebanon.”

In the past two weeks, Israel’s military campaign targeting Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon has killed hundreds, including Kamel Ahmad Jawad, an American from the nearby city of Dearborn, Michigan.

Earlier this week, Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, spoke to a Muslim group focused on activities to increase voter turnout. Harris’ national security adviser, Phil Gordon, also met virtually with Muslim and Arab community leaders Wednesday.

With the exception of the Arab American Institute and the American Task Force on Lebanon, Gordon’s engagements did not include major Muslim and Arab groups.

James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute, who participated in the eight-person engagement with Gordon, told VOA it did not include representatives of the community.

The vice president’s office did not respond to queries on why these groups were excluded from the Flint meeting.

A campaign spokesperson, however, said Harris was “committed to work to earn every vote, unite our country, and to be a president for all Americans.”

“Throughout her career, Vice President Harris has been steadfast in her support of our country’s diverse Muslim community, ensuring first and foremost that they can live free from the hateful policies of the Trump administration,” the spokesperson told VOA.

“She will continue working to bring the war in Gaza to an end in a way where Israel is secure, the hostages are released, the suffering in Gaza ends, and the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, security, freedom and self-determination.”

Harris’ outreach efforts come as a new poll indicates Arab American support for the Democratic presidential nominee is virtually tied with that for the Republican nominee, former President Donald Trump.

Vote evenly split

On Wednesday, the Arab American Institute released a nationwide poll of 500 Arab American registered voters that indicated support for Trump stood at 42%. For Harris, it was 41%.

Among those who said they were very likely to vote, Trump led Harris 46% to 42%.

The poll suggested the administration’s handling of the crisis in Gaza has eroded the community’s support for Democrats, whom they traditionally back. Arab Americans now are evenly divided between the two parties: 38% for each.

Trump has also been courting Arab and Muslim voters. He has won the support of Amer Ghalib, the Yemeni American mayor of Hamtramck, Michigan. The city is home to about 30,000 people, almost half of them Muslim, and it is the only city in the U.S. to have an all-Muslim city council.

“Endorsing President Trump was a combination of disappointment and hope,” Ghalib told VOA. “Disappointed at the current administration’s policies domestically and internationally, and in hope that President Trump will come to fix things up, end the chaos in the Middle East and restore peace everywhere, as well as preventing our economy from further deterioration.”

Ghalib’s endorsement came last month following his meeting with Trump, also in Flint, Michigan.
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Trump, Harris enter last month of campaigning

There is just one month to go in the U.S. presidential race between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. VOA Correspondent Scott Stearns looks at the state of the race.
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Major Arab, Muslim, Palestinian American groups say they were excluded from Harris’ Middle East outreach 

washington — Major Muslim and Arab American organizations and pro-Palestinian activist groups say they were excluded from Vice President Kamala Harris’ office’s outreach to community leaders on the administration’s efforts to contain the widening conflict in the Middle East.

On Wednesday, the White House announced that Phil Gordon, Harris’ national security adviser, met virtually with “Muslim, Arab and Palestinian American community leaders from across the United States” to discuss the administration’s efforts to end the war in Gaza.

In a statement, the White House said Gordon “expressed concern for civilians in Lebanon” and about Israeli “actions that undermine peace, security and stability in the West Bank.”

The meeting appeared to be an attempt to repair ties with Arab, Palestinian and Muslim communities who are outraged about the administration’s continued support for Israel in the war against Hamas, which has killed tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians and left a humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

However, none of the major community groups, including the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Muslim Public Affairs Council, were invited. Neither were the Uncommitted National Movement and Abandon Harris, the two pro-Palestinian activist groups that have been pushing for change in the administration’s policies on Gaza.

Community leaders of prominent groups in the Washington area, including MakeSpace, the Dar Al Hijrah Islamic Center and the Mustafa Center, were also not invited.

James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute, participated in the eight-person engagement with Gordon. He said the meeting was “irritating,” as it did not include representatives of the community.

“We were told an Arab American meeting. We were told a Muslim meeting. It was none of the above,” Zogby told VOA. “There were no Palestinian leaders. There were some Palestinian Americans, but there were no organizations representing Palestinian Americans.”

The White House, the vice president’s office and the Harris campaign did not respond to VOA’s queries.

Zogby said he felt “blindsided” by the event, characterizing it as a “check the box” engagement with the community. He said the administration missed an opportunity by not inviting the list of people the community had recommended to be included.

“There were only two of us out of the eight who headed any organization at all,” he said.

Edward Gabriel, president of the American Task Force on Lebanon, said that the VP’s office has engaged him in “nearly a dozen” meetings, including the one with Gordon this week.

“Our meetings continue to be positive,” he wrote to VOA. “We have expressed to the vice president and her team the importance of now providing our community with a clear message on the need for ending this war and helping those Lebanese citizens most affected by the conflict.”

In the past two weeks, Israel’s military campaign targeting Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon has killed hundreds, wounded thousands and displaced over a million people. The victims included Kamel Ahmad Jawad, an American from Dearborn, Michigan.

Gabriel said Biden’s stance on the widening of Israel’s campaign to Lebanon to date “has not been well received by the Lebanese American community, as there was no sense of compassion expressed for the loss of life of innocent citizens, especially women and children.”

Virtually tied

Harris’ outreach efforts come as a new poll showed that Arab American support for the Democratic presidential nominee is virtually tied with that for the Republican nominee, former President Donald Trump.

The Arab American Institute on Wednesday released a nationwide poll of 500 Arab American registered voters that showed support for Trump stood at 42%. For Harris, it was 41%.

Among those who said they were very likely to vote, Trump led Harris 46% to 42%.

The poll suggested the administration’s handling of the crisis in Gaza has eroded the community’s support for Democrats, whom it traditionally backs. Arab Americans were evenly divided between the two parties, with 38% for each.

The U.S. is home to roughly 3.5 million Arab Americans, according to the latest census. The U.S. Census Bureau does not count population based on religious beliefs, but various sources show an estimated 4 million to 6 million Muslim Americans.

That’s a very small percentage of the 337 million total U.S. population. However, since Arab Americans are concentrated in a few states such as California and Michigan, they may play an outsized role in next month’s election.

This may be seen especially in Michigan, a battleground state with the largest percentage of Arab Americans. Biden won the state in 2020 with only 154,000 votes more than Trump. In 2016, Trump won the state over Hillary Clinton by just under 11,000 votes.

More than 100,000 Michiganders voted “uncommitted” in the Democratic primary to protest the Biden administration’s support of Israel’s military campaign — votes that could be up for grabs for Trump.

Trump courting community

Trump has been courting Arab and Muslim voters and has won the support of Amer Ghalib, the Yemeni American mayor of Hamtramck, Michigan. The city is home to 30,000 people, almost half of them Muslim, and is the only city in the country to have an all-Muslim city council.

“Endorsing President Trump was a combination of disappointment and hope,” Ghalib told VOA. “Disappointed at the current administration’s policies domestically and internationally, and in hope that President Trump will come to fix things up, end the chaos in the Middle East and restore peace everywhere, as well as preventing our economy from further deterioration.”

Ghalib’s endorsement came last month following his meeting with Trump, who held a campaign event in the nearby city of Flint.

On cultural issues such as LGBTQ rights and the right to abortion, Ghalib and many of his constituents are more aligned with the Republican Party. He has supported conservative measures taken by his city council, including a 2023 ban on Pride flags on city property — a move that angered members and allies of the LGBTQ community.

“The cultural issues are important to some,” Zogby said. Wanting to “punish Democrats” over Gaza is another motivator for the community, he added.

“I don’t think that there’s anyone actually very seriously considering that Donald Trump is better than Kamala Harris on the Middle East,” he said. “It’s a question of, they might be both terrible. That’s, I think, the more prevalent view.”

VOA’s U.N. Correspondent Margaret Besheer and reporter Sayed Aziz Rahman contributed to this report.
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Voting by mail — how does it work?

America’s voting landscape is shifting. While many still cast ballots at local polls, mail-in voting is on the rise. Once limited to military personnel and homebound citizens, it’s now the primary method in several states.
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Trump, Harris stances on China differ, but not completely

The United States’ policy on China has been mostly consistent from the administration of Donald Trump to the White House of Joe Biden — with both presidents viewing China as America’s biggest competitor. But in the race for the next president, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump have slightly different approaches toward the global superpower. VOA’s Elizabeth Lee explains.
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In India, pride in Harris’s run for US presidency, but excitement missing

NEW DELHI — In the small South Indian village of Thulasendrapuram, where U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris’s maternal grandfather once lived, locals and priests have prayed to the local deity at a Hindu temple for her victory as she runs for the U.S. presidency.

In the capital, New Delhi, many express pride that one of the candidates for the world’s most powerful office has Indian roots – she is the daughter of an Indian mother and Jamaican father.

But Harris has failed to enthuse others who feel she never built on her Indian connection during her vice presidency.

“It’s quite exciting for someone like me who is a common girl around town,” said New Delhi resident, Simran Singh.

Another city resident, Nandita Soni, and her husband watched Harris debate her opponent, former U.S. President Donald Trump, last month.

“I think she won hands down. Of course, there is a sense of pride for us. That she is, firstly, a woman and then of Indian heritage, feels really good,” Soni said.

Harris is not the only Indian connection to the American presidential race. Usha Vance, the wife of Republican vice-presidential nominee J.D. Vance, is also the daughter of Indian immigrants.

Not many in India have heard of Usha Vance. Those who have, see it as a tribute to a country where immigrants can make a mark.

“I think both of them having a role in the elections is a very good thing for our Indian heritage and diaspora, but I think it is much more important for the American system,” said Shyam Bajpai, a retired professional. He praises Harris for “reviving the Democrat Party’s energy after a very difficult moment with Mr. Biden.”

However, the euphoria witnessed in India four years ago when Harris became vice president is missing. She hosted a luncheon for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year during his state visit to Washington, where she spoke of her deep personal connection to India. In interviews she has said that her introduction to the concepts of equality, freedom and democracy came from her Indian grandfather during her visits to her maternal family’s hometown, Chennai, when she was young.

But some point out that she neither visited India during her tenure as vice president nor emphasized her Indian identity much while in office.

“To be honest we did not hear much of her in India, because as vice president, her connections with India were not all that great,” said Pradeep Bhargava, a New Delhi resident. “We were not getting much news about her.”

That may be why many young Indians ask: Who is Kamala Harris?

“I think she is not on social media,” said Simar Kaur, an undergraduate student in Delhi University. “I get most of the news from social media only.”

But IT professionals who have long eyed the United States for career opportunities are excited about the possibility of an American president with roots in India. “I am sure this will help in more job opportunities for Indians in the future,” said software engineer Vishal Chabra. “It will be good for India as well.”

Those who are tracking the U.S. race see Harris’s bid as another huge milestone for its diaspora in Western countries — Rishi Sunak, who became British Prime Minister in 2022 but lost in July, was also of Indian origin. They also point to the success of Indian Americans who have risen to the top of the corporate ladder in the U.S., heading companies like Google.

“With UK also and now America, Indians are all the way, and it is the way to go from them,” said Soni.

 
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