Donald Trump delivered a negative speech at a rally in the crucial US state of Wisconsin on Saturday, while Democrat Kamala Harris sat in another key battleground, Pennsylvania, in preparation for next week’s televised presidential debate.
Trump and Harris are now essentially tied in the polls, and Republicans have once again overcome the mountain of scandals that have sunk past candidates.
At the rally in Mosinee, Wisconsin, the former president unleashed his characteristic stream of insults, exaggerations and outright lies, painting a picture of a doomed America run by a left-wing dictatorship — an “evil regime.”
Under President Joe Biden and Vice President Harris, “your government has imported murderers, child predators and serial rapists from across the planet, while weaponizing law enforcement to imprison political opponents,” Trump told several thousand supporters at an airport in the heartland of Trump’s mostly white, conservative base.
“Your vote in this election will put an end to their lies, fraud, theft, deceit and conspiracy.”
He denounced the criminal charges he faces, from an effort to overturn his 2020 election loss to Biden to dozens of felony fraud cases in New York.
Harris, taking a break from days of debate preparation in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, visited a spice shop, where she offered a contrast to Trump’s serious tone.
When asked what message she would like to send at Tuesday’s debate, she replied: “It’s time to turn the page on divisive elements. It’s time to unite our country and chart a new path forward.”
Harris said she was “honored” by the recent endorsement of two prominent conservatives, former Vice President Dick Cheney and his daughter, former Rep. Liz Cheney, adding, “It’s important to put country over party.”
When asked if she was ready to face Trump, Harris simply said, “Yes, I am ready.”
As she left the store, a crowd outside cheered, and the Harris campaign released a video of the vice president hugging emotional supporters there, including a little girl.
Police Union for Trump
Trump got a boost on Friday when the nation’s largest police union, the Fraternal Order of Police, endorsed him despite his historic status as a criminal.
And he also scored a legal victory that day when a New York judge delayed his sentencing in a case involving paying off a porn star to keep quiet until after the November election.
Trump also came out to reporters to defend himself against women who have accused him of sexually inappropriate behavior.
Harris, a former California prosecutor, is emphasizing her message that she represents law and order in a face-off against a convicted felon who sought to overturn her defeat in the 2020 election — another unprecedented element in a political season that has the nation on edge.
Harris’s policies
The vice presidential candidate jumped into the 2024 race at the last minute after Biden abruptly dropped out of the race on July 21 amid concerns about his stamina and mental acuity.
Despite initial enthusiasm from Democrats, Harris had to run a race to introduce and define herself.
Tuesday’s debate provides her with a perfect opportunity to lay out clear policy proposals — she has been criticized for lacking in detail — as well as sharpen her attack against Trump.
The former president, perhaps trying to set expectations for the debate, said Saturday that the “crooked system” would not accept it if he won on Tuesday.
“They’ll say, ‘Trump suffered a humiliating defeat,’” he said.
Pennsylvania, where Harris is campaigning, is closely divided between Republican and Democratic voters, and could play a decisive role in the state-by-state Electoral College battle that decides US presidential elections.
The debate will be the first meeting between Harris and Trump. She refused to attend Biden’s inauguration – he would have met her there – because he falsely claimed the 2020 election was stolen from her.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
