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The week in political news, from the newsmakers themselves

DEBBIE ELLIOTT, HOST:

It's been another ground-shifting week in the presidential race. Here are some moments from the campaign trail.

(SOUNDBITE OF MONTAGE)

PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: You know, the name has changed the top of the ticket, but the mission hasn't changed at all. And by the way, I'm not going anywhere. I'm going be out there. I'm going to campaign with her, with Kamala. I'm going to be working like hell.

JD VANCE: Democrats are the ones who want to throw out 14 million ballots and not elect Kamala Harris but select Kamala Harris with a bunch of billionaires and Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi making the decision instead of Democrat voters. It's disgraceful, and that's the threat to American democracy. That...

TIM WALZ: She's talking that we matter, that our schools matter, that...

ALEX WAGNER: Yeah.

WALZ: ...Our jobs matter, that our environment matters, it - those freedoms. These are weird people on the other side. They want to take books away. They want to be in your exam room. That's what...

DONALD TRUMP: It's been 3 1/2 years. Lying Kamala Harris has been the ultraliberal driving force behind every single Biden catastrophe. She is a radical-left lunatic who will destroy our country if she ever gets the chance to get into office. We're not going to let that happen.

(BOOING)

VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS: Do we want to live in a country of freedom, compassion and rule of law...

UNIDENTIFIED AUDIENCE: Yeah.

HARRIS: ...Or a country of chaos, fear, and hate?

UNIDENTIFIED AUDIENCE: No.

HARRIS: And here's the beauty of this moment. We each have the power to answer that question. The power is with the people.

(CHEERING)

HARRIS: We each have the power to answer that question.

AILSA CHANG, BYLINE: Childless cat ladies - that's how JD Vance, the Republican vice presidential nominee, once described leadership on the progressive left.

VANCE: We're effectively run in this country via the Democrats, via our corporate oligarchs, by a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they've made. And so they...

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: JD Vance actually said that people with children should be assigned more votes than people without children and that if you have a kid, you get, like, an extra vote, but then you get to control that vote until they turn 18. It's weird and...

TRUMP: Christians, get out and vote, just this time.

(CHEERING)

TRUMP: You won't have to do it anymore. Four more years - you know what? - it'll be fixed. It'll be fine. You won't have to vote anymore, my beautiful Christians. I love you, Christians. I'm a Christian. I love you. Get out. You got to get out and vote. In four years, you don't have to vote again. We'll have it fixed so good. You're not going to have to vote. In conclusion, America...

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

NPR National Correspondent Debbie Elliott can be heard telling stories from her native South. She covers the latest news and politics, and is attuned to the region's rich culture and history.