It’s been different whirlwind week successful United States politics. And with conscionable implicit 2 weeks near successful the statesmanlike race, the candidates are preparing to marque their last appeals to voters.
What person Kamala Harris and Donald Trump — the Democratic and Republican statesmanlike nominees, respectively — been doing arsenic the last countdown approaches?
Find retired successful our latest rundown of the week’s apical governmental news.
The predetermination astatine a glance
- How galore days left?
There are 17 days until the November 5 statesmanlike race.
- What’s the latest successful the polls?
National averages person remained mostly dependable since past week, with Harris maintaining a razor-thin pb — good wrong the borderline of error.
The canvass aggregator FiveThirtyEight, for instance, has Harris sitting astatine 48.3 percent arsenic of October 17. Trump, meanwhile, was adjacent down astatine 46.3 percent.
Some polls of idiosyncratic plaything states, however, person shown Trump creeping higher. A canvass this week from CBS News and YouGov, for instance, zeroed successful connected Arizona, wherever analysts noted a three-point pb for Trump implicit Harris.
An NPR investigation likewise saw the tides turning successful Trump’s favour successful battleground states, though the quality outlet underscored however choky the contention is. It besides emphasised that polls seldom archer the full communicative — and surprises doubtlessly loom implicit the horizon.
Harris run targets Trump’s age
Sunday volition people Harris’s 60th birthday.
But adjacent arsenic the Democratic nominee prepares to observe entering a caller decennary of life, her run has taken purpose astatine her Republican rival’s advancing age.
Trump is 78 years old, and helium would beryllium the oldest idiosyncratic to beryllium elected president if helium is palmy successful November’s race.
At the commencement of the race, it was communal for Trump to criticise an adjacent older person for his property and abilities: the presumptive Democratic nominee, President Joe Biden.
Biden, 81, had been slated to header the Democratic ticket. But aft a wobbly show successful the June statesmanlike debate, concerns astir his property reached a fever pitch, and Biden bowed retired of the race.
Trump — who had agelong slammed Biden arsenic “weak” and “sleepy” — present faces a importantly younger hostile successful Harris. And Harris has flipped the script, utilizing Trump’s property against him.
“I’ve been proceeding reports that his team, astatine least, is saying he’s suffering from exhaustion,” Harris said connected Friday. “If he’s exhausted being connected the run trail, is helium acceptable to bash the job?”
Her comments came connected the heels of a drawstring of cancelled Trump events — and her ain glowing health report, released by the White House past week.
Trump renews threats to governmental rivals
Trump boasts a agelong past of threatening to imprison his governmental rivals. Even successful 2016, during his archetypal palmy statesmanlike bid, helium was known to pb crowds successful chants astir his rival, Democrat Hillary Clinton: “Lock her up! Lock her up!”
Just past month, Trump pledged to prosecute those helium perceives arsenic threats to this year’s election.
“WHEN I WIN, those radical that CHEATED volition beryllium prosecuted to the fullest grade of the Law, which volition see agelong word situation sentences,” helium wrote connected societal media.
But the Republican person took his rhetoric up a notch this past Sunday, successful a Fox News quality with big Maria Bartiromo. In his interview, helium compared Democratic politicians with overseas adversaries.
“We person 2 enemies: We person the extracurricular enemy, and past we person the force from within. And the force from within, successful my opinion, is much unsafe than China, Russia and each these countries,” Trump said.
“The happening that’s tougher to grip is the lunatics that we person inside,” helium continued, naming US Representative Adam Schiff arsenic an example. “I telephone him the force from within.”
Schiff led Trump’s archetypal impeachment proceedings successful 2020.
Later successful the week, Trump doubled down connected his comments astatine a Fox News municipality hall. “I’m not threatening anybody. They’re the ones doing the threatening. They bash phony investigations.”
An interrogation connected Fox News gets testy
Seeking to torpedo disapproval that she avoids property scrutiny, Harris has continued her media blitz this week with an eyebrow-raising choice: an interview with the conservative-leaning Fox News.
The prime was, successful part, a reflection of a larger run strategy to entreaty to middle-ground voters, arsenic good arsenic to Republicans disillusioned with Trump.
But from its opening moments, Thursday’s interrogation with Fox News big Bret Baier was tense.
The writer and the Democratic nominee struggled to beryllium heard implicit 1 another.
“May I delight decorativeness responding, please?” Harris asked Baier astatine 1 point. “You person to fto maine finish. Please. I’m successful the mediate of responding to the constituent you’re raising, and I’d similar to finish.”
Baier besides grilled Harris connected the taxable of immigration, a taxable for which the medication of President Joe Biden has received bipartisan criticism.
“Bret, let’s conscionable get to the point,” Harris responded astatine 1 point. “The constituent is that we person a breached migration strategy that needs to beryllium repaired.”
Democrats amp up the prima power
Harris and Trump person spent overmuch of October crisscrossing the 7 plaything states that volition apt determine the statesmanlike race.
But arsenic she campaigned this past week, Harris unveiled a star-studded lineup to assistance her marque her last transportation to voters.
On Saturday, the rapper and vocalist Lizzo opened for Harris successful Detroit, Michigan, arsenic she tried to drum up enactment for aboriginal voting.
And aboriginal that aforesaid day, the vocalist Usher took a interruption from his performance circuit successful Atlanta, Georgia, to springiness opening remarks astatine a rally there.
“It’s conscionable 17 days distant from a precise important election, arsenic we each know, and we person the accidental to take a caller procreation of enactment for our country,” Usher told the crowd, repeating a communal refrain from the Harris campaign.
JD Vance endorses 2020 predetermination denialism
Throughout the campaign, Republican moving mate JD Vance has danced astir the taxable of the 2020 election: He has refused to contradict Trump’s mendacious claims of wide predetermination fraud, but helium has besides avoided saying that Trump definitively mislaid the race.
That changed this past week, arsenic Vance led a rally successful Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
At the Wednesday rally, Vance took questions, and helium reacted powerfully erstwhile pressed astir the connection helium was sending by refusing to springiness a consecutive reply astir the 2020 race.
“On the predetermination of 2020, I’ve answered this question straight a cardinal times: No. I deliberation determination were superior problems successful 2020,” Vance said.
“So did Donald Trump suffer the election? No, not by the words that I would use.”
Election denialism has been a persistent interest since the 2020 election, erstwhile Biden won implicit Trump.
Trump had refused to judge the result, calling the predetermination “rigged” and “stolen”. His words helped motivate a radical of supporters to tempest the US Capitol successful an evident effort to halt the certification of the results.
In this year’s race, Trump has hedged erstwhile asked if helium would judge different defeat. “If everything’s honest, I’ll gladly judge the results,” helium said successful May.