Monday Briefing: The fallout of Trump’s false claims

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September 16, 2024

	By Gaya Gupta

Good morning. We’re covering Trump’s false claims and hostages killed by an Israeli airstrike.

Plus, Ye performed in China this weekend.

Dilapidated buildings in Aurora, Colo., are at the center of a national firestorm fueled by Donald Trump’s anti-immigration claims.  Michael Ciaglo for The New York Times

How false stories became central to Trump’s campaign

After Donald Trump’s untrue claim during last week’s debate that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, were abducting and eating pets, the town that has been dragged into national conversation remains uneasy. Two of its hospitals went into lockdown this weekend, and bomb threats closed schools, businesses and City Hall earlier in the week.

Yesterday, JD Vance, Trump’s running mate, said that he stood by the debunked claims, and that he was willing “to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention.”

The increasingly hostile language from Trump, other politicians and some extremist organizations has shaken some of the thousands of Haitians who have settled in Springfield. Some have considered moving to bigger cities.

But there’s another town central to Trump’s anti-immigration narrative: Aurora, Colo. The mayor’s false claims that the town was overrun by a violent Venezuelan street gang became a focus of the right-wing media and Trump’s campaign. Now, the mayor says he is trying to undo the damage as Trump’s words stoke fears in his community.

Your questions:

We’re asking readers what they’d like to know about the election and taking those questions to our reporters. Today, we gave one to Shane Goldmacher, who covers U.S. politics and the election.

Have the many millions of dollars spent on election campaigns got out of hand? And should it be limited by law? — Anthony Rhodes, Dover, Britain

Shane: The amount of money in American campaigns keeps spiraling upward year after year — and there is no end in sight. What’s interesting is that the spending is being driven by both mega contributors and a deluge of small donors. In the first three days that Vice President Kamala Harris was a candidate for president, for instance, mostly small contributors gave $173 million through the online donation portal ActBlue to Democratic causes and candidates.

There is not really any chance to curb this explosion of political money and spending, barring a constitutional amendment. The Supreme Court has broadly determined that money amounts to free speech and must be protected, and has steadily eroded limits that Congress had previously put in place.

You can send us your questions here.

More on the U.S. election Americans head to the polls in less than 60 days. Former President Trump was unharmed after gunshots were fired “in his vicinity” in West Palm Beach, Fla., his campaign said. Officials said the intent was unknown. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told Trump supporters at an event on Saturday that he was being investigated over his handling of a whale carcass two decades ago. For many young women, the Trump era has moved their politics to the left, a new analysis shows. Stay up to date: See our poll tracker Listen to “The Run-Up” podcast Sign up for the On Politics newsletter

The funeral of Alon Shamriz, who was mistakenly killed by Israeli soldiers in December. Avishag Shaar-Yashuv for The New York Times

Three hostages were killed by an Israeli strike, the military said

Three hostages were likely killed in November as a result of an Israeli airstrike targeting a senior Hamas commander, the Israeli military announced yesterday. The military said it had conducted an investigation based on where the hostages’ bodies were found in December, as well as intelligence materials and analysis, but would not be able to definitively determine the cause of their deaths.

Outrage in Israel has recently swelled over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s conduct during the war, with many calling for a cease-fire deal that would prioritize the release of the remaining hostages, even if that allowed Hamas to survive the war. Soldiers discovered the bodies of six hostages in Gaza last month, prompting major protests in Tel Aviv and other cities. In December, news that Israeli soldiers had mistakenly shot and killed three hostages set off a roar of indignation.

Brenda Cotter and her daughter Charlotte at their home in Newton, Mass. Kylie Cooper for The New York Times

Families are torn over the legacy of China’s adoption program

China announced this month that it was halting nearly all foreign adoptions, ending a program that forged several generations of American families. More than 82,000 Chinese children have been adopted in the U.S. since the program began in 1992.

Several of those adoptive families said they were glad that the program was coming to an end, recognizing that it was a byproduct of a harsh policy restricting many Chinese families to having only one child. Though most treasure their adoptive experiences, many recognize the program’s abuses and the underlying trauma that came from removing children from their birth parents and culture.

President Masoud Pezeshkian of Iran, left, and Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani of Iraq in Baghdad on Wednesday. Pool photo by Murtada Al Sudani

Sports

Oscar Piastri celebrates with Lando Norris after winning the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Hannah Mckay/Reuters

Ye onstage in Inglewood, Calif., in March. Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times, via Getty Images

Why did the notoriously prickly Chinese government allow Ye, the notoriously provocative rapper formerly known as Kanye West, perform in Hainan yesterday?

The answer may lie in China’s struggling economy. After three years of coronavirus lockdowns, the government has been trying to stimulate spending and tourism.

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In Dress to Impress, a game on the Roblox platform, users design outfits and then compete on the catwalk.

The internet vies for ‘Top Model’ status

The online gaming platform Roblox may be ubiquitous among tweens, but a popular fashion game has adults — and a few celebrities — paying attention.

Dress to Impress, released last year, has quickly become one of Roblox’s most popular games. The premise of the game is simple: At the beginning of each round, players are given a theme and then have five minutes to create outfits that relate to it.

The game has been played more than 2.7 billion times, and around half its users are over 18, according to Roblox. Big names have gotten involved, including Charli XCX, the British singer, who collaborated with developers to release “brat”-themed outfit patterns.

Christopher Simpson for The New York Times. Food Stylist; Simon Andrews.

Cook: Celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival by making these honeyed pistachio mooncakes.

Listen: There’s something for everyone in our pop critic’s roundup of five of her most anticipated albums of the fall.

Read: “Hampton Heights” is a comic, gently spooky ’80s tale of boyhood, community and Burger King.

Compete: Take our latest news quiz.

Play: Spelling Bee, the Mini Crossword, Wordle and Sudoku. Find all our games here.

That’s it for today. See you tomorrow. — Gaya

We welcome your feedback. Send us your suggestions at briefing@nytimes.com.

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