Kamala Harris and Donald Trump will on Wednesday lay out their rival visions for the economy, a top issue for many American voters, ahead of the vice president’s first major solo interview since entering the White House race.
Harris is delivering a speech in the industrial city of Pittsburgh in the key swing state of Pennsylvania, in which the Democrat will put forward what her campaign says is a “pragmatic” policy that stands in contrast to that of billionaire former President Trump.
The vice president will next sit down with left-wing news channel MSNBC in what will be a rare test of her ability to handle unexpected questions since taking over as the party’s flagbearer from President Joe Biden.
Trump, the Republican nominee, commented on the “Made in America” economy, though he kept the spotlight on foreign policy as he stepped up his tough rhetoric against U.S. rival Iran.
The developments come against a backdrop of fresh security concerns as Trump, who has survived two assassination attempts this year, has said there is a “significant threat” to his life from Tehran.
Ryan Routh, the gunman accused of plotting to kill Trump a week ago at a Florida golf course, was charged Tuesday with attempting to murder a major presidential candidate.
The election remains uncertain less than six weeks before the Nov. 5 vote, and many Americans say the economy is the most important issue after higher prices in the post-COVID years.
Both Harris and Trump are tailoring their economic messages to the small number of voters in about a half-dozen swing states who are expected to decide the election in a country of 330 million people.
Since Biden replaced her in July, polls have shown Harris has an edge over Trump in terms of who voters trust most on the economy — but voters are unfamiliar with her policies.
– ‘Putting America First’ –
Harris’ campaign said her speech in Pittsburgh would focus on her own middle-class upbringing to show she understands the pressures of making a living, unlike the industrialist Trump.
According to the campaign, she plans to say that “For Donald Trump, our economy works best if it works for the people who own the big skyscrapers. Not the people who build them. Not the people who wire them. Not the people who clean the floors.”
She will also unveil proposals to “make America the world leader in manufacturing across the industries of the future.”
Trump is making similar pledges to boost American manufacturing, but with his own protectionist stance.
He told supporters in Mint Hill, North Carolina, that his “unwavering commitment to putting America first is what this country needs to restore its economy.”
Trump complained that the Biden administration had allowed Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to address the United Nations General Assembly in New York “under the protection of large security forces” even though the former president was facing threats from anti-Americans.
The comments came after the Trump campaign said top US intelligence officials had briefed the candidate on threats to assassinate him from Iran.
“If I were president, I would tell the threatening country — in this case Iran — that if you do anything to harm this man, we will destroy your largest cities and your country,” he said.
Meanwhile, Harris’s MSNBC interview, set to air at 7 p.m. ET (2300 GMT), is part of her effort to define herself after facing criticism from Republicans for avoiding major interviews and holding no press conferences.
He has given only one interview to a national TV network since Biden withdrew from the election, in August, when he and fellow candidate Tim Walz gave a joint interview to CNN.
Trump’s vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance called the decision to go on liberal MSNBC “legitimately pathetic for a guy who wants to be president.”
Trump has given numerous interviews in recent weeks, but many of them have been with friendly media — while at many of his events held as press conferences, he took no questions.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
