We are now closing our live coverage of Wednesday's developments on the US campaign trail.

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You can read more about today's news below:

Biden 'not confident' of peaceful transition if Trump loses

Walz has history with China - it's more hawkish than critics claim

Vibes and jibes - why Harris picked Walz as running mate

Republicans attack Democratic VP pick's handling of Floyd protests

The writers for this page have been Nadine Yousif, Rachel Looker and Madeline Halpert.

It has been edited by Caitlin Wilson, Brandon Livesay, Laura Blasey and Gareth Evans.

Image source, Reuters

It has been an eventful Wednesday on the campaign trail here in the US, where the focus has been on the midwestern states of Wisconsin and Michigan.

Both are considered battleground states whose voters could decide the outcome of the presidential election in November.

If you are just joining us, here is a quick recap of the day:

• Both JD Vance, the Republican nominee for vice president, and the Democrats' Harris-Walz campaign held events in Wisconsin today
• Vance spoke at a local warehouse in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, where he condemned Harris for not speaking to reporters and where he attacked the Democrats on their energy policy and their handling of the US-Mexico border
• Meanwhile, Tim Walz and Kamala Harris held a rally, also in Eau Claire, where they sought the support of local union workers. Later in the day, the two held a similar, albeit larger, rally near Detroit, Michigan
• At both rallies, Walz and Harris positioned themselves as "joyful warriors" who are fighting to preserve Americans' freedoms, while positioning Trump and Vance as candidates who want to take those freedoms away
• In Michigan, Harris was briefly interrupted by pro-Palestinian protesters, who have criticised the Biden administration's response to the war in Gaza. Harris shot back at them by saying, "I'm speaking"

• Also today, Trump alluded in an interview with the television programme Fox & Friends that he would be open to debating Harris 'in the pretty near future' but that they have yet to agree on a date and broadcaster to run the showdown
• Meanwhile, US president Joe Biden told BBC's US partner CBS that he is not confident a peaceful transfer of power will take place should Trump lose November's election

Nomia Iqbal
North America correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

Donald Trump loves to compare crowd sizes. And the Harris campaign knows it. They have even been mocking him over it on his own social media platform, external.

Yesterday’s event in Philadelphia was packed. I spotted a few empty spots, but for the most part the 10,000-seat arena was full. It was after all the first event where Harris unveiled her running mate Tim Walz.

Tonight she’s continued giving Trump a run for his money - doing something out of his playbook by pulling up in Detroit at an airport hangar with Air Force 2 plane in view to be greeted by a huge crowd. Her campaign says more than 12,000 people are out tonight. But does size matter?

Huge crowds and lines of cars aren’t always a barometer of a campaign’s destiny. In 1984, Democratic nominee Walter Mondale was trailing Ronald Reagan but pointed to the size of his crowds as a sign of enthusiasm that would translate into votes at the ballot box. The same thing happened with Democratic nominee Michael Dukakis four years later when he was trailing Republican nominee George H W Bush. “I smell victory in the air don’t you?" he told a large crowd in Kentucky on his final weekend on the campaign trail. He also lost.

Rallies are simply to "rally" supporters into a deeper commitment - but that doesn’t mean there’s no political benefit at all. They can often be an incentive for people to find out more to check out the hype around a candidate or to actually ensure those who back a candidate will donate money and actually vote.

Image source, Reuters

Harris concludes her remarks by asking the crowd whether they want "a country of freedom, compassion and the rule of law, or a country of chaos, fear and hate."

"And the beauty of our democracy is we each have the power to answer that question."

She then asks supporters to "use that power" in the remaining 90 days of the campaign and to "make your voices heard."

Itoro Bassey
Reporting from Michigan

There has been a bit of commotion during Kamala Harris’s speech here in Detroit, with some of the crowd chanting in support of Harris and another group chanting in protest to the Biden-Harris administration’s stance on Israel's war in Gaza.

It had been difficult for the vice-president to speak over the fray - at one point she addressed the protesters and said, "If you want Donald Trump to win, say that. Otherwise, I'm speaking."

Michigan is home to a large population of Arab Americans, many of whom have been loudly critical of Joe Biden's response to Israel's fight against Hamas in Gaza.

It appears the crowd has cooled down and the VP has gotten her speech back on track, focusing on her fight for reproductive rights, which has become one of the key issues she hopes to address in her campaign.

She says, “We who believe in reproductive freedom will fight for a woman’s right to choose.” And the crowd, which is now more unified, is chanting, “We’re not going back”.

Much like the Wisconsin rally earlier today, Harris draws a sharp contrast between her and Donald Trump.

She outlines her vision of "affordable housing and childcare," and an economy "where every American has an opportunity to own a home and to start a business."

Once again, she says that her campaign is that of "joyful warriors".

"Unlike Donald Trump, I will always put the middle class and working families first," Harris says.

She asks the crowd to check out Project 2025, a policy proposal by conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation, which Harris calls "a plan to weaken America's middle class" that will be enacted if Trump is elected.

"This has been a big week," Harris says.

She recounts that on Monday, she officially became the Democratic nominee for president.

On Tuesday, she announced Tim Walz as her running mate.

"As you've just heard, he has an incredible record as the governor of the great state of Minnesota," Harris says.

She calls him a "serious leader who loves our country," telling the crowd that they will soon get to know him better.

Harris starts by saying that Walz will be "the most incredible vice-president."

She then shouts out Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, thanking her for her "friendship, sisterhood and leadership".

Harris also gives a nod to the United Auto Workers union, which has endorsed Harris for president.

"The UAW has always worked to lift up the working people of our nation," she says, adding that she is proud to have them by her side.

Image source, Itoro Bassey / BBC

Walz introduces Kamala Harris as "the next president of the United States."

Harris walks out to roaring applause as the song Freedom by Beyonce plays in the background - a track that has been frequently used at her campaign stops.

"Good evening Detroit," she says as she greets the crowd, which continues to cheer for her.

Donald Trump "doesn't know the first thing about service," Walz tells the crowd.

"He mocks our laws. He sows chaos and division amongst the public," Walz says.

Walz then criticises Trump's handling of the Covid-19 pandemic and takes aim at his legal troubles.

Walz later says that he knows it will be a "hard race" between his campaign and that of Trump's, but he urges supporters to not let the election outcome "be so close that these guys have anything to say" - appearing to allude to Trump's unverified claims of election fraud after his loss in 2020.

"Let's just win the damn thing by a broader margin," Walz says.

"It has been an interesting 24 hours for me, I have to be honest," Walz says, adding he cannot explain how it felt to walk out to supporters in Philadelphia on Tuesday after he was chosen as the vice presidential pick, or to supporters in Wisconsin earlier today, and now in Michigan.

He says he was told that the Michigan rally is "the largest of the campaign".

Walz then repeats some of the points he made at earlier campaign stops, praising Harris as someone who "emanates joy".

He also runs through his credentials, telling the crowd that he served in the National Guard, was a teacher and a high school football coach.

Democratic vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz is now up at the podium in Michigan.

He walks out to Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen and a roar of applause.

"Holy hell can you throw a party in Michigan," he tells the crowd.

Image source, Reuters

Michigan's Governor Gretchen Whitmer is at the Harris-Walz rally, where she is speaking to the crowd ahead of the Democratic candidates' appearance.

She says she is "fired up" to elect Kamala Harris as the next president, and adds that she is excited "for our next vice-president" Tim Walz.

She encourages supporters to get loud and excited before Harris and Walz take the stage.

Whitmer also takes aim at Donald Trump and JD Vance, saying that this election features "two very different candidates".

"One is a prosecutor, the other is a convicted felon," she says, repeating an oft-used talking point by Democrats on the campaign trail.

Itoro Bassey
Reporting from Michigan

Image source, Itoro Bassey / BBC

To a cheering crowd, UAW President Shawn Fain says the presidential election boils down to one question: Which side are you on?

He told listeners that Vice-President Kamala Harris has stood for the rights of autoworkers and walks the talk, calling her a "champion for the working class".

The UAW has formally endorsed Vice-President Kamala Harris's bid for president, and Fain reiterates the union’s support by applauding her selection of her newly appointed running mate Governor Tim Walz, saying to the crowd "He’s a proud union member... he’s one of us."

Itoro Bassey
Reporting from Michigan

It’s a packed house here at the Harris-Walz campaign rally in Detroit, Michigan and the room is energized as the crowd gets ready to welcome Vice-President Kamala Harris.

Here is a picture of the room, trying to capture the electricity of the moment as we wait.

Image source, Itoro Bassey / BBC

Ahead of Kamala Harris and Tim Walz's second rally of the day, this time in Michigan, the president of the powerful United Automobile Workers (UAW) union Shawn Fain is speaking to the crowd in support of the Democratic presidential ticket.

Fain calls Donald Trump a "scam" and says the former president is a "lapdog" of the billionaire class.

On the other side of the aisle, Fain says, Kamala Harris is a "badass woman who stood on the picket line with striking workers."

Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are about to make their second stop of the day in Romulus, Michigan, just outside Detroit.

There, they are expected to address supporters who have gathered at a local airport hangar in anticipation of hearing the vice-president and her running mate speak.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

One of the first criticisms levelled against Tim Walz from allies of Donald Trump has been over his handling of the riots in the wake of George Floyd's murder in May 2020.

But a newly released recording from that year, made public by ABC News, external, shows that Trump was actually in favor of how Walz responded to the unrest at the time.

Floyd was killed in Minnesota, where Walz serves as governor, by a white police officer. Bystanders captured a video of the officer kneeling on Floyd's neck, when Floyd said "I can't breath".

The footage drew outrage across the country and reignited issues of racial injustice and police brutality in the US. Protests and riots erupted in a number of states, including Floyd's home of Minnesota.

JD Vance, Walz's vice-presidential opponent, has since sought to discredit his handling of this unrest, saying that "he allowed rioters to burn down the streets of Minneapolis."

Trump, however, praised Walz at the time in a joint phone call with other governors.

"I know Governor Walz is on the phone, and we spoke, and I totally agree with the way he handled this in the last couple of days," Trump says on the call, which took place on 1 June 2020.

He especially lauded Walz's decision to call in the National Guard to put a stop to the riots, calling him at one point "an excellent guy".

As the Democratic and Republican campaigns get into full swing, US President Joe Biden says he is worried what could happen if Donald Trump loses the election in November.

"If Trump loses, I'm not confident at all" that there will be peaceful transfer of power in 2025, Biden tells, external the BBC's US partner CBS.

"We don't take him seriously, he means it, all the stuff about, 'If we lose there'll be a bloodbath,'" Biden tells CBS's Robert Costa in a preview clip of an interview released on Wednesday.

In March, while speaking about the auto industry, Trump had told a rally in Ohio, "Now, if I don't get elected, it’s going to be a bloodbath for the whole - that's gonna be the least of it. It’s going to be a bloodbath for the country. That'll be the least of it."

Biden has previously criticized Trump's use of the word "bloodbath," with the president's campaign at the time accusing the former president of wanting "another 6 January" - referring to the 2021 Capitol riot.

Trump's campaign quickly responded that he had been warning about an "economic bloodbath" for autoworkers if he were to lose.

The rest of Biden's interview with CBS is set to air on Sunday.

Republicans target Walz's military servicepublished at 23:24 British Summer Time 7 August 2024

23:24 BST 7 August 2024

Nomia Iqbal
North America correspondent

The Republican Party seems to have now honed a specific line of attack on Tim Walz that could be damaging if we look at history.

JD Vance has accused Walz of misleading the public about his military service, saying “he has not spent a day in a combat zone”. Apart from the fact Walz hasn’t claimed that, JD Vance also didn’t see any combat when he was with the Marines - instead spending time as a military correspondent.

This is reminiscent of the “Swift Boat Veterans for Truth” campaign that badly damaged Democrat John Kerry’s 2004 presidential prospects.

It is not a coincidence that Chris LaCivita, the Republican strategist who was behind the movement, is now a senior strategist for Donald Trump. With Kerry, LaCivita sought to cast doubt on his record in Vietnam, leading to some Republicans like war hero John McCain calling the smearing dishonest.

Swiftboating is now a term used to describe an untrue or unfair political attack/smear campaign.

Walz hasn’t responded to this line of attack. Donald Trump, meanwhile, avoided service in Vietnam through student and medical deferments for what he said was a bone spur in his foot.

You can watch Vance call out Walz on his military service in the video below.