Kamala Harris questioned Donald Trump’s fitness for office on Friday as the oldest major party nominee to the White House in history faced speculation he was “tired” after backing out of several interviews.
While he has been appearing on friendly TV networks, the 78-year-old Republican has canceled meetings with media outlets including NBC, CNBC and CBS. After proving to be the best in the first debate, he has also refused to have a second debate with Harris.
Politico reported that a Trump aide negotiating for an interview had told producers at a website that the former president was “tired” and was refusing some appearances – a claim described by his campaign as “detached from reality”. Was.
But Harris, who will turn 60 this weekend, attacked Trump over her health and resiliency.
“If you’re exhausted on the campaign trail, it raises real questions about whether you’re cut out for the toughest job in the world,” Harris told supporters during several stops a day across the state of Michigan.
Former presidents have rarely been inactive, engaging in busy schedules with new and traditional media, but mostly on outlets where they are rarely challenged.
Trump reacted angrily to Harris’ jab, telling reporters she had not canceled anything and calling her Democratic opponent a “loser” who “doesn’t have the energy of a rabbit.”
duel rallies
He also claimed to have “beaten” her in the election and said she had not passed the bar exam.
Harris – the former California attorney general who passed the bar exam in 1990 – has a slight lead in the national polling average, while several October surveys show her in a tight race in Michigan.
Trump has surprised analysts with a schedule that mixes swing state stops with appearances in areas where he has no chance of winning but where he is guaranteed big crowds.
He was in the liberal bastion of New York for a Catholic charity dinner on Thursday, where he mocked Harris in an occasionally mean-spirited speech that drew gasps for his vulgar comments and profanity.
But before heading to Michigan to counterprogramming against Harris, he was back on home turf Friday morning for a Fox News interview.
Both candidates are spending their final campaign days in crucial battleground states where early voting is already underway.
With less than three weeks left, Harris has seen signs encouraging supporters to vote early as a hedge against the traditional Republican lead among Election Day voters.
Nearly 12 million votes had been cast by Friday evening, according to data tracked by the University of Florida Election Lab — about a third of them in seven swing states expected to decide the election.
Surge in early voting
Georgia is breaking records, while North Carolina reported its first day of voting on Thursday, surpassing 2020, when there was a pandemic-related surge in early ballots.
Where party breakdowns were available, registered Democrats made up about half of the total, while Republicans — who have spent much of the Trump era objecting to drop boxes and mailed ballots — accounted for about a third.
After her event in Grand Rapids, Harris targeted blue-collar voters with comments at a union hall in Lansing, and gave a more manufacturing-focused speech in which she argued that the future of the labor movement “is on the line” in the November election. ” Was.
She was scheduled to hold an evening rally in Oakland County before returning to Detroit on Saturday.
The Democrat has found herself in trouble as she maintains President Joe Biden’s support for key ally Israel, while Muslim and Arab American voters — particularly in Michigan — have expressed outrage over the death toll in Gaza. .
The killing of Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar sparked optimism from Harris for a Gaza ceasefire, but Israel immediately said his death does not mark the end of the campaign launched in response to the terrorist group’s October 7, 2023 attack.
Speaking to reporters before a speech in Detroit, Trump said Sinwar’s death raised the possibility of a peaceful resolution to the war in Gaza — while warning Biden not to try to rein in Israel.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)