The Latest: Lots of empty seats at Trump rally in Richmond
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Latest on campaign 2016 (all times Eastern):
8:45 p.m.
Donald Trump is kicking off his first general election swing with a rally in Richmond, Virginia - and is doing so in front of a lot of empty seats.
Trump is holding a rally Friday night at the Richmond Coliseum, a downtown sports arena that has a capacity of nearly 12,000. But as the presumptive Republican presidential nominee took the stage, the arena featured section upon section of empty seats and was no more than a third full.
Trump, usually a huge draw, has filled similar-sized venues in disparate places like Charleston, West Virginia, Costa Mesa, California, and Albany, New York.
Some of those in attendance pointed out that there were several other major events happening in Richmond on a mild Friday night, including a Tim McGraw concert and a college graduation.
The sparsely attended Virginia stop comes the day before Trump will visit two other swing states, Florida and Pennsylvania.
__
6:45 p.m.
Mitt Romney says he worries that Donald Trump is promoting "trickle-down racism" and appealing to the racist tendencies of some Americans.
Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee, says he will consider voting for the Libertarian candidate, Gary Johnson. Romney made the remarks in a CNN interview while hosting his annual politics and business summit at a ski resort near Park City, Utah.
Romney has been one of the most outspoken Republican Trump critics and continued hammering the presumptive nominee on CNN.
Of the billionaire businessman's taxes, which Trump has refused to release, Romney says, "there's something in those taxes that's even worse than shooting someone on Fifth Avenue."
A spokesman for Trump says on CNN that Romney's comments amount to "sour grapes."
__
4:30 p.m.
Donald Trump told a gathering of evangelical Christians on Friday that "no one should be judged by their race or their color."
Trump has been under fire for suggesting that the judge hearing a case against his now-defunct Trump University is biased against him because the judge's parents were born in Mexico.
Trump has proposed building a wall along the southern border and deporting everyone living in the country illegally.
He has refused to apologize for his remarks about the judge. He issued a statement earlier this week saying his comments had been "misconstrued."
He said Friday the United States is deeply divided and vowed he'd "bring our nation together."
__
2:10 p.m.
Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton is expected to receive an endorsement from the AFL-CIO, the nation's largest labor federation.
It's the latest sign of Democrats shifting toward the general election against Republican Donald Trump.
A union official said the AFL-CIO's political committee voted Friday to recommend that the labor federation's general board hold a conference call next week Thursday to consider the endorsement.
Clinton is all but assured of it, because she has received most of the endorsements of the AFL-CIO's member unions.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the private meeting.
___
1:35 p.m.
Donald Trump has been interrupted by protesters as he addresses a gathering of evangelical Christians.
A handful of protesters shouting "Stop hate! Stop Trump!" and "Refugees are welcome here!" were escorted out of the ballroom as Trump addressed the Faith & Freedom Coalition's Read to Majority Conference in Washington Friday.
Trump stressed his commitment to conservative causes and criticized presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton for her domestic and foreign policy stances.
He said a Trump administration would "restore respect for people of faith."
___
1:10 p.m.
Hillary Clinton is offering an unabashedly feminist attack on GOP rival Donald Trump, in her first speech since becoming the Democratic party's presumptive nominee.
Linking abortion rights and birth control to national economic growth, Clinton argues that Trump would take the country back to a time when "when abortion was illegal women had far fewer options and life for too many women and girls were limited."
She says: "When Donald Trump says let's make America great again that is code for let's take America backward."
Clinton is speaking to the national conference of Planned Parenthood in Washington, D.C. She's thanking the non-profit women's health group for their support in the primary and highlighting her staunch support for abortion rights.
In January, the group backed Clinton, offering its first endorsement in the group's 100 year history.
"This victory belongs to all of you," says Clinton.
___
10:45 a.m.
Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren has arrived at the Washington home of Hillary Clinton for their first meeting since Warren endorsed the presumptive Democratic nominee.
Clinton is in Washington for a speech to Planned Parenthood. Warren was in town for a rare Friday session in the Senate.
Warren threw her support behind Clinton Thursday night, following President Barack Obama. On Thursday, she offered a blistering attack on the presumptive Republican nominee, Donald Trump.
Warren was the only holdout among the Senate's Democratic women and, given her stature among liberals, her endorsement could be an important boost for Clinton. She also is being floated as a potential vice presidential pick for Clinton.
___
10:40 a.m.
It almost went unnoticed, but in a nine-word tangent, Vice President Joe Biden has endorsed Hillary Clinton for president.
Biden had been expected to hold off on his formal endorsement for a day or two after President Barack Obama endorsed Clinton on Thursday. Biden met with Bernie Sanders on Thursday and had been arranging to speak by phone to Clinton.
But in a speech to the American Constitution Society on Thursday evening, Biden said that the next president would likely have to deal with a Supreme Court vacancy for another court term. He added as an aside: "God willing, in my view, it'll be Secretary Clinton."
Biden's office says Friday that the off-the-cuff remark is his endorsement for Clinton. Biden is expected to hit the trail aggressively for Clinton and for Senate Democratic candidates in the coming months.
___
9:10 a.m.
Hillary Clinton is meeting with Sen. Elizabeth Warren, just hours after the progressive hero endorsed the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.
Clinton is in Washington for a speech to Planned Parenthood. Massachusetts' Warren was in town for a rare Friday session in the Senate. A senior Democratic official said the two women planned to meet.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity to confirm the private meeting, first reported by The Washington Post.
Warren threw her support behind Clinton Thursday night, following President Barack Obama.
Warren was the only holdout among the Senate's Democratic women and, given her stature among liberals, her endorsement could be an important boost for Clinton. She also is being floated as a potential vice presidential pick for Clinton.
___
3:00 a.m.
Democrats are coalescing around Hillary Clinton's presidential bid and looking to reunite the party through a carefully orchestrated plan aimed at nudging rival Bernie Sanders aside.
President Barack Obama's endorsement of Clinton headlined a day of unity for Democrats Thursday as the party prepares for Republican Donald Trump. Amid the message of harmony, Sanders crisscrossed the nation's capital and received praise in meetings with Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and Senate Democratic leaders.
At his campaign rally outside RFK Stadium, Sanders didn't mention Clinton and didn't repeat his calls to persuade superdelegates to support him. Nor did he talk about plans for a contested convention in Philadelphia.
Democrats are wary that divisions that emerged between Clinton and Sanders during the primaries might spill out during next month's Democratic National Convention.