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This Is the First Presidential Debate Without an In-Person Audience Since 1960
John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon were the last presidential candidates to debate with no live audience during a general election.
By Neil Vigdor
My focus is on breaking news, voting rights issues and election disinformation. My role involves a mix of reporting from the campaign trail, explanatory journalism and contributing to live coverage of election results, debates and candidate speeches.I am especially interested in tracking voting legislation, keeping tabs on threats against election offices and officials and more broadly, monitoring actions that undermine democracy.
Previously, I covered a wide range of breaking news stories, including the police killing of George Floyd, several mass shootings, pandemic-related news and more. I have written about the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, pandemic grifting, cold case breakthroughs, hurricanes and eclectic topics, like bee infestations and the story of a man who tried and failed to walk on water from Florida to New York on a hamster wheel.
I graduated from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., where I was editor of the student newspaper. I covered Connecticut and national politics for The Hartford Courant and Hearst, reporting on four national conventions and two inaugurations. I was named an outstanding state political reporter by The Fix, The Washington Post’s political blog. When I am not reporting, I moonlight in celestial and street photography.
Independence and sound news judgment are the bedrock of covering politics. That’s why I place a heavy emphasis on seeking out a variety of voices and perspectives for stories. Not only is it vital to be accurate and transparent, it’s critical that we understand the nuances of the issues that we’re writing about, both for the sake of readers and sources. I am uncompromisingly apolitical, including how I conduct myself on social media. You can learn more about The Times’s ethics policy here.
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John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon were the last presidential candidates to debate with no live audience during a general election.
By Neil Vigdor
The debate will be hosted by CNN from its Atlanta studios starting at 9 p.m. Eastern time on Thursday.
By Neil Vigdor
Critics have accused the former president of co-opting the flag for personal gain. Some of his supporters have flown the flag upside-down to protest his 2020 defeat.
By Neil Vigdor
A park near the convention site will be off limits to protesters, according to the plans for the July gathering in Milwaukee.
By Neil Vigdor
A coin flip won by President Biden gave him the option of picking which podium he will use or choosing the order of closing statements.
By Neil Vigdor
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. did not meet the criteria to make the debate stage next week, according to the outlet, denying him the opportunity to confront President Biden and Donald J. Trump.
By Chris Cameron
In a closed-door meeting with G.O.P. House members, the former president disparaged the city where his party’s convention will be held, according to people in the room.
By Michael Gold, Luke Broadwater and Neil Vigdor
More than 11 years after one of the worst school shootings in U.S. history, on what would have been the victims’ high school graduation day, the residents of Newtown, Conn., paused to reflect.
By Claire Fahy
The Republican congressman from Florida was visiting Philadelphia to persuade Black voters to support former President Donald J. Trump.
By Neil Vigdor and Maya King
It is the fifth battleground state to prosecute former President Donald J. Trump’s supporters for trying to overturn his defeat in the 2020 election.
By Neil Vigdor and Danny Hakim
Democrats had been clamoring for the president to ratchet up his criticism of his predecessor.
By Neil Vigdor
Michelle Troconis was convicted of several crimes in the killing of Jennifer Dulos, who disappeared five years ago and whose body has never been found.
By Lola Fadulu and Neil Vigdor
Republicans urged the former president to appeal the verdict after a jury found him guilty of all 34 criminal counts.
By Neil Vigdor and Luke Broadwater
The former Hawaii congresswoman, who became estranged from the Democratic Party, has drawn intrigue from Donald J. Trump but is considered a long shot.
By Neil Vigdor
Seeking to troll Donald Trump outside his Manhattan trial, the Biden campaign held a news conference with the actor and two former Capitol Police officers. Mr. De Niro veered off script.
By Reid J. Epstein, Nate Schweber, Neil Vigdor and Michael Gold
The former president praised Nikki Haley, once his bitter rival for the Republican nomination, a day after she said that she would vote for him.
By Neil Vigdor
Maggie Tamposi Goodlander, a Democrat and former White House aide, is running for an open seat in New Hampshire’s second district.
By Neil Vigdor
Hazardous materials teams responded to the Republican National Committee headquarters in Washington after a suspicious package was found.
By Neil Vigdor
In a speech to the state’s Republican Party, the former president said “I know we won” there in 2020. But it has been 52 years since a G.O.P. presidential candidate carried Minnesota.
By Neil Vigdor
But President Biden’s campaign has been firm in wanting the debates to be between only him and the former president.
By Neil Vigdor
No one was injured in the incident, which happened while the jet was taxiing early Sunday, the F.A.A. said. On Wednesday, the former president was traveling on a different plane.
By Neil Vigdor and Yan Zhuang
Their first debate, on CNN, is approaching on Thursday, and the second is set for early September on ABC News.
By Neil Vigdor
Half of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s supporters said they were voting chiefly for him, and nearly half said their support was mostly a vote against President Biden or former President Donald J. Trump.
By Shane Goldmacher and Neil Vigdor
The Republican senator from Ohio is on former President Donald J. Trump’s short list of running mates.
By Neil Vigdor
Party leaders accused Mike Norton and Arturo Hernandez of entering the primary to help Democrat Ruben Gallego and Republican Kari Lake tip the nationally-watched contest.
By Neil Vigdor and Maggie Astor
Both presidential candidates are scheduled to address a Libertarian gathering this month in Washington.
By Neil Vigdor and Rebecca Davis O’Brien
Young voters are far more likely than other Americans to support Palestinians. But few cite the conflict as a top source of discontent with the president.
By Charles Homans and Neil Vigdor
This was featured in live coverage.
By Shane Goldmacher, Neil Vigdor, Nicholas Nehamas and Maggie Astor
Two producers said the PAC’s ‘Fugitive’ ad, which depicts a woman being forced to take a pregnancy test during a traffic stop, copied their 2023 short film, ‘Roed.’
By Neil Vigdor
The former president called Robert F. Kennedy Jr. a ‘Democrat plant’ and attacked his running mate, Nicole Shanahan, who gave $2 million to the Kennedy campaign.
By Neil Vigdor
Mr. Meijer, a former House member, said he did not have a “strong pathway to victory” in the Michigan primary race.
By Neil Vigdor
The ad portrays a woman trying to leave the state to have an abortion. The Campaign for Democracy, a political action committee started by Mr. Newsom, the California governor, created it.
By Neil Vigdor
President Biden’s campaign had $85.5 million on hand at the end of March, filings show, and Donald Trump had $45 million, but the president is spending far more freely on the race.
By Rebecca Davis O’Brien and Neil Vigdor
Austin Smith, a Republican in the Arizona House, also withdrew from his re-election bid on Thursday as his candidate petitions drew scrutiny in a constituent’s court complaint.
By Neil Vigdor
Hecklers disrupted a concert in Ohio — and online critics pounced to say, falsely, that it started because the liberal singer had expressed support for the president.
By Neil Vigdor
President Biden’s remarks on the issue came shortly after Caitlin Clark, the University of Iowa basketball star, was selected first in the W.N.B.A. draft.
By Neil Vigdor
The post by Angela Stanton-King targeting Diante Johnson, founder of the Black Conservative Federation, was removed from social media.
By Neil Vigdor
The tribes barred the Republican governor from their reservations after she told lawmakers that Mexican drug cartels had a foothold there and were committing murders.
By Neil Vigdor
The diplomat, a fixture in multiple Republican administrations who now opposes Mr. Trump, said he also voted for the former vice president in 2020.
By Neil Vigdor
Melina Abdullah, a racial justice activist in Los Angeles and professor of Pan-African Studies at California State University, joins the independent presidential ticket.
By Neil Vigdor
David Hume Kennerly, a Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer, resigned from the board of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation over what he said was a snub.
By Neil Vigdor
Several of the party’s candidates, particularly those in battleground states, said they favored letting states regulate the procedure instead of having a national ban.
By Neil Vigdor
The secretary of state’s office, led by Frank LaRose, a Republican, said Democrats must nominate President Biden by Aug. 7. The party’s convention does not start until Aug. 19.
By Neil Vigdor
On Friday, the independent presidential candidate retracted his statement that “the protesters had no weapons” when they stormed the Capitol.
By Neil Vigdor
The far-right firebrand from Colorado, who is part of a slim Republican majority in the House, is expected to make a full recovery, her campaign said.
By Neil Vigdor
Representative Tim Walberg denied that he was advocating the use of nuclear weapons and said that his town hall remarks were taken out of context.
By Neil Vigdor
An increasing number of states have advanced A.I.-related legislation to combat attempts to mislead voters during the 2024 election, according to a new analysis by the Voting Rights Lab.
By Neil Vigdor
The vice president under Donald J. Trump said the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol was not the sole factor in his decision.
By Neil Vigdor
This was featured in live coverage.
By Neil Vigdor, Nicholas Nehamas and Michael Gold
The former president won all 39 delegates against Nikki Haley during the caucus-style event in Grand Rapids.
By Neil Vigdor and Steve Friess
Fifteen states will hold contests on Tuesday and a mutiny among Michigan Republicans has marred their presidential nominating convention.
By Neil Vigdor
This was featured in live coverage.
By Neil Vigdor
Kristina Karamo has not said whether she will proceed with holding a dueling presidential nominating convention this weekend.
By Neil Vigdor
This was featured in live coverage.
By Neil Vigdor
The pastime of sailing is distinctly intertwined with the Kennedys.
By Neil Vigdor
This was featured in live coverage.
By Neil Vigdor
By Chris Cameron and Maggie Astor
Republicans will use both a primary on Feb. 27 and a statewide nominating convention on March 2 to award presidential delegates.
By Neil Vigdor
“Our court system is a mess,” said the former president, who faces felony charges in four other cases and has been found liable in civil cases related to business fraud, sexual assault and defamation.
By Neil Vigdor
Republicans in the battleground state are bracing for competing nominating conventions on March 2 in the party’s presidential contest.
By Neil Vigdor