MEG KINNARD

National politics reporter

Kinnard covers national politics for The Associated Press. She lives in South Carolina.
FILE - Anti-abortion demonstrators and abortion rights activists protest outside the Supreme Court in Washington, Saturday, June 25, 2022. More than a year after the Supreme Court overturned the federal right to abortion, the issue has at times dominated the discussion among the Republicans seeking their party’s 2024 presidential nomination. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)
Where do the 2024 presidential candidates stand on abortion? Take a look
More than a year after the Supreme Court overturned the federal right to abortion, the issue has at times dominated the discussion among the Republicans seeking their party’s 2024 presidential nomination.
 
Republican presidential candidate Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., eats pork after working the grill at the Iowa Pork Producers tent at the Iowa State Fair, Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2023, in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
Tim Scott will share the spotlight at massive South Carolina campaign event headlined by DeSantis
Just a few days after the first GOP presidential debate of the 2024 cycle, two of the contenders will be hitting the same stage in front of the largest annual gathering of Republicans in early-voting South Carolina. Florida Gov.
 
FILE - Former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign event at the South Carolina Statehouse, Jan. 28, 2023, in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
How the Georgia indictment against Donald Trump may be the biggest yet and other case takeaways
The fourth indictment of former President Donald Trump may be the most sweeping yet. The 98-page document approved by a Fulton County Grand Jury on Monday charges Trump and 18 other defendants with taking part in a conspiracy to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
 
FILE - South Carolina State Sen. John Scott speaks during a prayer vigil in remembrance of Cyrus Carmack-Belton, Friday, June 2, 2023, in Columbia, S.C. Scott, a longtime South Carolina state lawmaker who served in state government for more than three decades, died Sunday, Aug. 13, after a stint in the hospital, according to Democrats across the state. (AP Photo/Erik Verduzco, File)
South Carolina state Sen. John Scott, longtime Democratic lawmaker, dies at 69
State Sen. John Scott, a longtime South Carolina lawmaker who served in state government for more than three decades, has died after a stint in the hospital.
 
FILE - U.S. Attorney David Weiss speaks during a press conference on May 3, 2018, at his district office in Wilmington, Del. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Friday, Aug. 11, 2023, he is appointing a special counsel in the Hunter Biden probe, deepening the investigation of the president's son ahead of the 2024 election. Garland said he is naming David Weiss, the U.S. attorney in Delaware who has been probing the financial and business dealings of the president's son, as the special counsel. (Suchat Pederson/The News Journal via AP, File)
The origins of special counsels, their powers and what to expect in the Hunter Biden probe
The appointment of a special counsel to oversee the Justice Department’s probe of Hunter Biden is bringing renewed attention on the role such prosecutors have played in history.
 
FILE - In this June 4, 2009 file photo, former New York City police Commissioner Bernie Kerik stands outside the Federal Court in Washington. Kerik has met with investigators from special counsel Jack Smith’s team. Kerik's meeting is part of the government's case accusing former President Donald Trump of working to overturn his 2020 election loss. Kerik's attorney says Kerik met with government officials Monday to discuss Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani's efforts to overturn the Republican president's loss to Democrat Joe Biden. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)
Bernie Kerik, who advised Giuliani after Trump’s 2020 election loss, meets with Jack Smith’s team
Former New York Police Commissioner Bernie Kerik has met with investigators from special counsel Jack Smith’s team. Kerik’s meeting is part of the government’s case accusing ex-President Donald Trump of working to overturn his 2020 election loss.
 
FILE - Republican presidential candidate and former Vice President Mike Pence speaks with the media during a stop at the Indiana State Fair, Aug. 2, 2023, in Indianapolis. Pence announced Tuesday he has qualified for the first Republican debate of the 2024 presidential cycle, securing the required number of donors with just two weeks until candidates gather in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings, File)
Pence says he’s now met the polling and donor qualifications for the first Republican debate
Former Vice President Mike Pence says he has qualified for the first Republican debate of the 2024 cycle. He announced Tuesday that he had secured the requisite number of donors just two weeks before the debate in Milwaukee.
 
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, and Republican presidential candidate former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie shake hands during their meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Aug. 4, 2023. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)
GOP presidential hopeful Chris Christie says ‘inhumanity’ of war is palpable during visit to Ukraine
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has become the second 2024 Republican presidential hopeful to visit Ukraine.
 
FILE - The Republican National Committee logo is shown on the stage as crew members work at the North Charleston Coliseum, Jan. 13, 2016, in North Charleston, S.C. Some Republican presidential candidates haven’t yet met polling and fundraising thresholds for the first 2024 debate, and now the stakes for making it to the second debate will be even higher. (AP Photo/Rainier Ehrhardt, File)
Republican National Committee boosts polling and fundraising thresholds to qualify for 2nd debate
Some Republican presidential candidates haven’t met polling and fundraising thresholds for the first 2024 debate, and now requirements for making it to the second debate will be even higher.
 
Special counsel Jack Smith speaks about an indictment of former President Donald Trump, Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023, at a Department of Justice office in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Takeaways from the Trump indictment that alleges a campaign of ‘fraud and deceit’
The indictment of Donald Trump on Tuesday marks the first time that the former president has been formally held accountable for his efforts to overturn his 2020 election defeat.
 
FILE - Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump arrives to speak at the Republican Party of Iowa's 2023 Lincoln Dinner in Des Moines, Iowa, Friday, July 28, 2023. With less than a month to go until the first 2024 Republican presidential debate, eight candidates say they have met the qualifications for a podium slot. Trump has already indicated he is likely to skip the debate and hold a competing event instead. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)
Who’s in, who’s out, who’s boycotting: The 8 candidates expected onstage for the first GOP debate
 
FILE - Former President Donald Trump visits with campaign volunteers at the Elks Lodge, July 18, 2023, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. A federal judge in Florida has set a trial date for next May for former President Donald Trump in a case charging him with illegally retaining hundreds of classified documents. The May 20, 2024, trial date was set Friday by U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)
With Trump newly indicted, here’s what to know about the documents case and what’s next
Donald Trump has been indicted on three additional charges in a case that accuses him of illegally possessing classified documents.
 
Republican presidential candidate Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., speaks during a town hall meeting, Thursday, July 27, 2023, in Ankeny, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
Scott criticizes DeSantis over his support for Florida’s slavery curriculum as they stump in Iowa
U.S. Sen. Tim Scott is criticizing fellow Republican presidential candidate and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for supporting standards requiring teachers to instruct middle school students that slaves developed skills that “could be applied for their personal benefit.”
 
Former President Donald Trump visits Café du Monde in New Orleans, Tuesday, July 25, 2023. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Donald Trump faces new charges in the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case. Here’s what to know
New charges — and a new defendant — added to the classified documents case against former President Donald Trump underscore how the Mar-a-Lago investigation is still very much ongoing, even as the focus has been on an expected indictment in a separate case related to the 2020 election.
 
Republican presidential candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during a campaign event on Monday, July 17, 2023, in Tega Cay, S.C. (AP Photo/Meg Kinnard)
DeSantis will headline a barbecue billed as South Carolina Republicans’ largest annual gathering
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is scheduled to headline next month a barbecue billed as South Carolina’s largest annual gathering of Republicans. Event host Rep.
 
FILE - Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy speaks during the Turning Point Action conference, July 15, 2023, in West Palm Beach, Fla.Ramaswamy is slated to headline a GOP fundraiser in South Carolina as he returns to campaigning in the first-in-the-South primary state. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File)
Ramaswamy slated to headline South Carolina county GOP fundraiser in return to early voting state
Biotech entrepreneur and Republican presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy is slated to headline a GOP fundraiser in South Carolina as he returns to campaigning in the first-in-the-South primary state.
 
Florida Governor and Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis speaks during a press conference at the Celebrate Freedom Foundation Hangar in West Columbia, S.C. July 18, 2023. For DeSantis, Tuesday was supposed to mark a major moment to help reset his stagnant Republican presidential campaign. But yet again, the moment was overshadowed by Donald Trump. The former president was the overwhelming focus for much of the day as DeSantis spoke out at a press conference and sat for a highly anticipated interview designed to reassure anxious donors and primary voters that he's still well-positioned to defeat Trump.(AP Photo/Sean Rayford)
DeSantis fights to reset his stagnant campaign as Trump dominates the 2024 conversation
For Ron DeSantis, Tuesday was supposed to be an important opportunity to help reset his stagnant Republican presidential campaign. But yet again, the moment was overshadowed by Donald Trump.
 
Republican presidential candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during a campaign event on Monday, July 17, 2023, in Tega Cay, S.C. (AP Photo/Meg Kinnard)
Trump and his legal woes overshadow DeSantis as he rolls out military policy plan in South Carolina
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis held a brief news conference Tuesday as part of a shift in strategy for his presidential campaign, but the governor took only four questions, almost all of which centered on the party’s front-runner Donald Trump.
 
FILE - The Republican National Committee logo is shown on the stage as crew members work at the North Charleston Coliseum, Jan. 13, 2016, in North Charleston, S.C. With six weeks until the first 2024 Republican presidential debate, some hopefuls are finding creative ways to boost their donor numbers and ensure they make it on stage. (AP Photo/Rainier Ehrhardt, File)
2024 GOP candidates desperate to make debate stage are finding creative ways to boost donor numbers
With six weeks until the first 2024 Republican presidential debate, some hopefuls are finding creative ways to boost their donor numbers and ensure they make it on stage.
 
Republican presidential candidate and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and his wife Casey, walk in the July 4th parade, Tuesday, July 4, 2023, in Merrimack, N.H. (AP Photo/Reba Saldanha)
DeSantis to become 1st GOP candidate to file for South Carolina primary during visit next week
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis plans to file his 2024 candidacy for South Carolina’s Republican presidential primary when he visits the first-in-the-South voting state next week. He’ll become the first GOP hopeful to file in the state.
 
FILE - Republican John Warren participates in a gubernatorial primary debate at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, S.C., on June 5, 2018. Warren — the multimillionaire businessman who forced South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster into a 2018 GOP runoff — has written a new book, saying he wants to share leadership lessons he has learned from military service and the business world, while leaving open a return to politics for himself. (Grace Beahm Alford/The Post And Courier via AP, File)
John Warren, ex-South Carolina GOP gubernatorial candidate, details leadership lessons in new book
John Warren — the multimillionaire businessman who forced South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster into a 2018 GOP runoff — has written a new book, saying he wants to share leadership lessons he has learned from military service and business.
 
FILE - Roy Herron hugs and shakes hands with supporters with help from Wesley Warrilow, right, after being defeated by Stephen Fincher for U.S. representative, Nov. 2, 2010, at the Elks Lodge in Dresden, Tenn. Herron, a longtime Tennessee state lawmaker and former chairman of the state Democratic Party, died Sunday, July 9, 2023, from injuries sustained in a jet ski accident. He was 69 years old. (Katie Brake/The Jackson Sun via AP, File)
Roy Herron, longtime Tennessee Democratic lawmaker, dies after injuries from jet ski accident
Roy Herron, a longtime Tennessee state lawmaker and former chairperson of the state Democratic Party, has died from injuries sustained in a jet ski accident. He was 69 years old.
 
President Joe Biden speaks during a stop at a solar manufacturing company that's part of his "Bidenomics" rollout on Thursday, July 6, 2023, in West Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Meg Kinnard)
Biden makes his economic case in deep-red South Carolina, says his policies add jobs in GOP states
President Joe Biden visited South Carolina on Thursday to make the argument that even Republican-led states are gaining factory jobs under economic measures he pushed through Congress despite stiff GOP opposition.
 
FILE - In this Dec. 2, 2020 file photo, Attorney Lin Wood, member of President Donald Trump's legal team, gestures while speaking during a rally in Alpharetta, Ga. Wood has asked officials in his home state of Georgia to retire his law license, a move that comes as multiple states have sought to discipline the lawyer for his false insistence that former President Donald Trump actually won the 2020 election. Wood made the request Tuesday and posted it to his Telegram account. (AP Photo/Ben Margot, File)
Attorney who challenged Trump’s 2020 loss gives up law license as states weigh disciplining him
Attorney Lin Wood, who filed legal challenges seeking to overturn Donald Trump’s 2020 election loss, is relinquishing his law license, electing to retire from practicing rather than face possible disbarment.
 
Former President Donald Trump speaks during a rally, Saturday, July 1, 2023, in Pickens, S.C. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
Trump’s South Carolina rally attracted a massive crowd in heavily Republican area
South Carolina’s heavily Republican Upstate is a popular stop for presidential candidates trying to attract support for the first-in-the-South primary in 2024.
 
Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley speaks at American Enterprise Institute, Tuesday, June 27, 2023, in Washington. Haley is criticizing former President Donald Trump for being too friendly to China during his time in office while also warning that weak support for Ukraine would “only encourage” China to invade Taiwan. Haley said in a speech at the American Enterprise Institute on Tuesday that Trump was “almost singularly focused” on the U.S.-China trade relationship but ultimately did “too little about the rest of the Chinese threat.”(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
Haley says Trump did ‘too little’ about China threats, warns of global conflict if Ukraine falls
Former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley is criticizing former President Donald Trump for being too friendly to China during his time in office while also warning that weak support for Ukraine would “only encourage” China to invade Taiwan.
 
FILE - Republican presidential candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks at an annual Basque Fry at the Corley Ranch in Gardnerville, Nev., June 17, 2023. DeSantis is rolling out endorsements from 15 South Carolina lawmakers. (AP Photo/Andy Barron, File)
Florida Gov. DeSantis picks up backing from 15 South Carolina lawmakers as he makes a campaign swing
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is rolling out endorsements from 15 South Carolina lawmakers. The list was shared first on Thursday with The Associated Press ahead of DeSantis’ town hall in North Augusta.
 
FILE - Hunter Biden, son of President Joe Biden, boards Air Force One with the president, Saturday, Feb. 4, 2023, at Hancock Field Air National Guard Base in Syracuse, N.Y. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)
What to know about Hunter Biden’s plea deal in federal tax and gun case
The announcement that federal prosecutors have reached a plea deal with President Joe Biden’s son Hunter over tax and gun charges marks the likely end of a five-year Justice Department investigation that has dogged the Biden family.
 
FILE - Voters fill out their ballots at a primary polling place, Feb. 29, 2020, in North Charleston, S.C. South Carolina Republicans have set Feb. 24 as the date of their 2024 presidential primary, a move that, if approved, the party says will give GOP White House hopefuls more time to campaign in the first-in-the-South state. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)
South Carolina GOP sets Feb. 24 date for first-in-the-South presidential primary
South Carolina Republicans have set Feb. 24 as the date of their 2024 presidential primary. Party official Hope Walker says the executive committee voted Saturday.
 
Maj. Michael Haley stands at attention during a deployment ceremony for his South Carolina National Guard unit on Saturday, June 17, 2023, in Charleston, S.C. Haley's yearlong deployment to Africa will encompass much of the campaign of his wife, former Gov. Nikki Haley, for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination. (AP Photo/Meg Kinnard)
Nikki Haley’s husband begins Africa deployment as she campaigns for 2024 GOP nomination
Nikki Haley’s husband deployed on Saturday for a yearlong stint with the South Carolina Army National Guard to Africa. The mission will encompass most of the remainder of his wife’s campaign for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
 
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