Trump, Harris hone attack lines as US election 100-day mark arrives

AFP | Saint Cloud, United States

The Daily Tribune - www.newsofbahrain.com

Donald Trump labeled Vice President Kamala Harris a “crazy liberal,” while she vowed to prevail over his “wild lies” as both laid out presidential campaign attack lines Saturday with just 100 days left until election day.

After earlier addressing a bitcoin conference in Tennessee, Trump rallied supporters Saturday evening in Minnesota, seeking to make the historically Democratic midwest state into a battleground.

“This November, the American people are going to reject Kamala Harris’s crazy liberal extremism in a massive landslide,” the Republican told the crowd assembled in a hockey arena. He quickly took aim at several positions Harris took during her 2020 Democratic primary campaign, some of which she has since walked back, such as a desire to ban fracking or majorly overhaul the criminal justice system.

Calling Harris a “radical left lunatic,” Trump also hammered her and President Joe Biden’s record on illegal immigration, inflation and crime -- all of which saw significant spikes during their term but have returned to historical averages in recent months.

In his 90-minute speech, the populist billionaire also repeated pledges to “have the largest deportation effort” in US history and end taxation of tips, while repeating unfounded allegations that his 2020 election loss had been “rigged.”

Meanwhile, Harris on Saturday held a fundraising event in Massachusetts with celebrity guests including singer-songwriter James Taylor and cellist Yoyo Ma. The Harris campaign has adopted “weird” as a new catchall for describing Trump’s aggressive rhetoric.

His attacks, repeated on Saturday, include allegations that Harris wants to legalize killing newborn babies -- a falsehood stemming from the vice president’s fervent support of abortion rights.Harris has made her advocacy on the issue central to her campaign against Trump, whose three conservative nominees to the Supreme Court helped overturn the national right to the procedure in 2022.

Trump on Saturday thanked all six conservative justices by name “for the wisdom and courage they showed on this long-term, very contentious issue.” Harris, a former California prosecutor, also challenged Trump to a debate, after his campaign said this week he would not agree to keeping a September 10 televised face-off previously scheduled with Biden. “I hope he reconsiders because we have a lot to talk about,” she said.