Trump blames others after combative debate with Clinton

Donald Trump blamed the moderator, a bad microphone and anyone but himself Tuesday after he was forced onto defense by Hillary Clinton's cascade of criticism about his taxes, honesty and character in the first presidential debate. The Republican nominee plunged into re-litigating some of Clinton's most damaging attacks, even when the explanations seemed only to further damage his image among the voters he needs to win.

The Latest: Clinton speaks with Charlotte pastors

Hillary Clinton has spoken by phone with African-American pastors in Charlotte, North Carolina, as the city deals with the aftermath of the fatal police shooting of Keith Lamont Scott. Clinton's campaign says the pastors told her the city would come together to rebuild trust between the police department and community.

New law may complicate release of Charlotte police video

Protesters who have filled the streets to push for the release of video of a fatal police shooting could see their task get much harder if Charlotte authorities do not share the footage within a week. A North Carolina law that takes effect Oct. 1 will declare that the video is not a public record and that only a judge can release it, potentially making the issue far more complicated than if police simply shared the footage on their own.

Charlotte Police Say Video Shows Keith Lamont Scott Had Gun in Hand When Shot By Police

ABC News is reporting that police in Charlotte, NC have confirmed that video shows that Keith Lamont Scott had a gun in his hand during the altercation with police officers before he was fatally shot. Initially, the family stated that Scott was carrying a book.

Trump’s appeal to black America is ludicrous – but that…

Trump's choice of Don King as a black surrogate is insulting -- and we don't need him to tell us Obama is imperfect I wonder what Donald Trump is smoking? The idea that he, the onetime slumlord who refused to rent properties to black people, the ultimate justifier of police shootings and the spearhead of the most racist political movement in my lifetime, is now presenting himself as the solution to the problems that exist within the African-American community is as stupid as using Don King as a Negro surrogate - oh wait, he did that too. No black person in their right mind would ever listen to Don King.

#Charlotte ‘Run Them Down’ Gets @Instapundit Suspended From @Twitter

Professor Glenn Reynolds' response to the anarchy in Charlotte - where a criminal mob of hate-filled Democrat voters looted stores, attacked police and white civilians, and shut down a major freeway - was three words of advice to endangered motorists: "Run them down." What are we permitted to say about marauding gangs of thieves and thugs? The owners of Twitter have evidently hired Democrat Party activists to control the narrative on their platform, effectively turning it into a propaganda platform for a violent anti-white terrorist organization .

Trump calls for racial unity, embraces a stop and friska

PITTSBURGH >> Lamenting a “lack of spirit” between whites and blacks, Donald Trump encouraged racial unity on Thursday even as he called for one of the nation's largest cities to adopt “stop and frisk” policing tactics that have been widely condemned as racial profiling by minority leaders. The Republican presidential contender, eager to blunt criticism that his campaign inspires racism, confronted racial tensions after police-involved shootings of black men in Oklahoma and North Carolina.

State of Emergency Declared in Charlotte

North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory has declared a state of emergency in the city of Charlotte after unrest continued for a second night sparked by the fatal police shooting on Tuesday of Keith Lamont Scott, 43, a black man who they say was armed and others claim was holding a book as he waited for his son to get off a school bus. Police used tear gas Wednesday night to disperse crowds.

Will either side blink over North Carolina’s House Bill 2?

North Carolina's Republican leaders and gay-rights supporters are daring each other to clean up the mess over the state's law limiting LGBT protections against discrimination, which is crimping the state's economy as sponsors of major sporting events pull out of the state. Gov. Pat McCrory and GOP legislators have offered to consider rescinding the law, but only if the Democrats who lead Charlotte's City Council act first and essentially admit they were wrong to pass a local ordinance that would have expanded protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

Clinton’s challenge: Rebuilding Obama’s coalition

The Democratic nominee's effort to win over voters who twice put Barack Obama in the White House -- and who represent her best chance of victory in November -- will reach new intensity this week in the run-up to her first crucial debate clash in seven days. Young, college-educated and minority voters formed the backbone of Obama's majority in 2008, helping to put once reliably Republican states like Virginia and North Carolina in the Democratic column and shore up the battered incumbent in swing states like Ohio and Florida in 2012.

N.C. drops ‘bathroom bill’ lawsuit: Why that won’t settle the issue

North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory dropped a lawsuit against the federal government Friday, but debate over the state's so-called 'bathroom bill' rages on. North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory speaks June 24 during a candidate forum in Charlotte, N.C. After suing the federal government in May to defend the state's controversial new law limiting LGBT rights, Gov. McCrory dropped the lawsuit Friday.