As the rivals traded jabs from a distance on Saturday, Vice President Kamala Harris positioned herself as the “underdog” in the presidential contest and referred to her Republican opponent, Donald Trump, as “just plain weird.” In turn, Trump characterised Harris as “evil,” “sick,” and “unhinged.”
The contests concluded a hectic week in which President Joe Biden, 81, resigned from his candidacy for reelection in response to growing pressure from his fellow Democrats, propelling Harris to the top of the Democratic ticket. According to multiple polls, Trump’s lead over Biden was obliterated in a couple of days by Harris’s arrival.
During a private event in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, where singer-songwriter James Taylor was the main guest, Harris claimed that a lot of the rhetoric being used by Trump and his running mate, US Senator JD Vance, was “just plain weird.”
Her use of the term “weird” to characterise her opponents was a component of a new Democratic tactic. The Harris campaign referred to Trump as “old and quite weird” after he appeared on Fox News on Thursday. At least one Trump supporter appeared outside the event on Saturday with a placard that read, “Trump is weird.”
As she did during a flurry of campaign events this week, Harris, 59, claimed her candidacy was about the future while Trump, 78, wants to take the nation back to a “dark past.” She again compared her experience as a prosecutor with Trump’s record as a convicted criminal.
A few hours later, at a rally in St. Cloud, Minnesota, Trump launched a torrent of exaggerated criticism, claiming that Harris would “destroy the country” and attacking her on everything from immigration to public safety.
Too huge to rig, that’s what we want.
Trump declared, “If a crazy liberal like Kamala Harris gets in, the American dream is dead,” calling her “even worse” than Biden.
The former president made it apparent in his address that his brief plea for unity following the attempt on his life two weeks ago had completely faded. The speech was filled with well-known complaints and bogus allegations about election fraud.
“I’d like to be kind. Everybody says, “I think he’s changed,” according to Trump. “No, I’ve not altered. Perhaps I’ve become worse.”
The former president agreed with the US Secret Service’s instruction to stay away from major outdoor gatherings in the wake of the assassination attempt at a rally in Pennsylvania by attending an ice hockey game at an 8,000-seat venue.
In addition to announcing that the Secret Service had “agreed to substantially step up their operation” to protect him, Trump indicated on his Truth Social website on Saturday that he would continue to do outdoor rallies.
Although Minnesota hasn’t selected a Republican for president in fifty-two years, the Trump campaign felt that victory was getting closer after Joe Biden’s dismal performance in the June 27 debate, which caused his poll ratings to decline.
But Harris’s takeover has given the campaign new life after it had stumbled miserably due to Democrats’ scepticism about Biden’s prospects of unseating Trump or his capacity to lead should he win.
In the 36 hours following Biden’s decision to withdraw from the race, Harris—the first Asian American and Black woman to hold the office of vice president—raised more than $100 million. Approximately 800 people attended the fundraiser on Saturday, contributing almost $1.4 million, according to her campaign.
Moms Demand Action’s founder, Shannon Watts, revealed to MSNBC on Saturday that over 200,000 people participated in a Zoom call on Thursday to increase support for Harris among white women, generating over $11 million. Moms Demand Action is a gun safety organisation with over 10 million members.
Trump spoke at a cryptocurrency conference in Nashville earlier on Saturday as part of a larger Republican push to lure bitcoin fans before the election on November 5.
He declared that the US would become the “crypto capital of the world,” which is a long cry from his 2021 declaration that bitcoin was a “scam.” If elected, Trump pledged to enact legislation that would be favourable to the business, warning that China and other nations might adopt cryptocurrency if the US did not. At the moment, China forbids cryptocurrencies.
Following his remarks at a conservative event on Friday, Trump said to Christians that if they vote for him in November, “you don’t have to vote again in four years.” This comes ahead of his rally on Saturday. You won’t have to cast a ballot because we’ll have things fixed so well.”
Democrats quickly interpreted the former president’s remarks—which were unclear at the time—as proof that he still poses a threat to democracy, even though it had been four years since his attempt to overturn his 2020 defeat and the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.
