Las Vegas:

Kamala Harris on Thursday slammed Donald Trump for “very offensive” remarks about women as she pressed her case that his misogyny has no place in 21st century America, just days ahead of a nail-biter election.

With each candidate seeking even the slightest of advantages, they took their knife-edge White House race to western battleground states, homing in on immigration and wooing Latinos five days before voting concludes November 5.

In one of three stops in the West, Trump painted a dark picture of immigration run amok as he addressed supporters in border state New Mexico, saying migrants are “unleashing a violent killing spree all across America.”

There is no evidence of a migrant crime wave in the United States.

As the Democratic vice president and Republican former president chase one another through the seven swing states expected to decide the election, Harris is conveying a more upbeat message, with her final stop of the day at a star-studded rally in Las Vegas, where she was introduced by pop maven Jennifer Lopez.

Harris targeted Trump over his remarks when he told a Wednesday rally he wanted to “protect” American women “whether the women like it or not.”

She branded the comments “offensive to everybody.” 

‘Yes we can’

In Las Vegas, she slammed Trump as a man who “simply does not respect the freedom of women or the intelligence of women to be able to make decisions about their own lives.”

“And we know if he were elected, he would ban abortion nationwide, restrict access to birth control, put IVF treatments at risk, and for states, listen to this, to monitor women’s pregnancies.”

Reproductive rights have served as a rallying cry for Democrats — and an Achilles’ heel of sorts for Trump — since the conservative-dominated US Supreme Court ended the federal right to abortion in 2022.

Polling for this year’s election shows a wide gender gap, with women voters tilting toward Harris, and Trump earning more support from men, so abortion could play a determining role in the outcome.

Trump’s three stops were characterized by his now-usual stream of insults, including against Democrats Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Harris.

“She destroyed our economy,” Trump said, referring to a period that, contrary to his criticism, is showing robust US growth, low unemployment and increasing consumer confidence, despite voter concerns about high prices.

In what was billed as an interview with right-wing provocateur Tucker Carlson, Trump got personal again, calling the vice president “a low IQ individual… dumb as a rock.”

Carlson, who once texted a colleague that he hated Trump “passionately”, had given the former president a fawning introduction, and said he would be proudly voting for him.

‘I love Hispanics’

Trump is betting frustrations over the Biden-Harris administration’s immigration policy will swing border state Arizona back in his favor after Biden beat Trump there in 2020.

His appearance in New Mexico was a head-scratcher, though, given that polls suggest Harris will carry the state. Nevertheless he courted Hispanic voters there.

“I love Hispanics. They are hard workers,” said Trump, who faced backlash from Puerto Ricans earlier in the week after a racist comment by a warm-up speaker at a rally. “And they are warm — sometimes they are too warm, if you want to know the truth.”

On Thursday night, J Lo became the latest person of Puerto Rican heritage to lash Trump for the jibe.

“He reminded us who he really is and how he really feels,” she told a cheering crowd.

“It wasn’t just Puerto Ricans that were offended that day, okay? It was every Latino in this country, it was humanity and anyone of decent character.”

Latinos traditionally have aligned more with Democrats, but recent polling shows a noticeable trend toward Republicans.

In Nevada, Trump also confirmed that he had sued US television network CBS for $10 billion over an interview given by Harris this month to its flagship news show, “60 Minutes.”

According to the complaint, Harris gave a confusing answer to a question on the Biden administration’s handling of Israel’s war in Gaza, and CBS edited the answer to cover up “word salad.”

Trump — whose own rhetorical meanderings have at times been glossed over by the press in a practice some have dubbed “sanewashing” — called it “election interference fraud.” CBS has denied the accusation. 

The latest New York Times/Siena poll showed Harris with 52 percent support among Hispanic voters to Trump’s 42 percent.

More cat-and-mouse campaigning occurs Friday in Wisconsin, where both candidates will hold rallies in Milwaukee.

Some 63.5 million Americans have cast their ballots early, more than 40 percent of the 2020 total vote.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Houston, United States:

Superstar Beyonce provided the latest shot of stardust to Kamala Harris’s White House campaign on Friday, as the vice president and rival Donald Trump courted voters with just 11 days to go in a neck-and-neck election.

Taking the stage with her Destiny’s Child co-star Kelly Rowland, the Grammy-winning diva introduced Harris to over 20,000 roaring supporters in the Texas metropolis of Houston, Beyonce’s hometown.

“It’s time for America to sing a new song,” Beyonce said, urging voters to show up.

While the superstar did not perform any hits, her presence brought even more attention to Harris’s rally, which focused on abortion restrictions in Republican-led states.

Beyonce said she was not there as a celebrity but as “a mother who cares deeply about the world… a world where we have the freedom to control our bodies.”

Texas is not one of the handful of battlegrounds that are expected to decide the presidential election, or where the Democrat and her rival would normally be campaigning in the home stretch.

But Harris is banking on her star-studded show — which also featured 91-year-old country legend Willie Nelson, who sang “Mamma, don’t let them babies grow up to be cowboys” — to energize her campaign ahead of the final week.

“Voting has already started, and we know this will be a tight race until the very end,” Harris said.

“We are 11 days out from an election that will decide the future of America, including the freedom of every woman to make decisions about her own body.”

‘Fascist’ row

While Harris was in Houston, Trump was in the state capital Austin, taping an interview with “The Joe Rogan Experience,” the United States’ most popular podcast.

Trump’s follow-on rally, in battleground Michigan, was delayed after his taping with Rogan ran on for three hours.

Harris and Trump also locked horns earlier Friday over accusations that the Republican ex-president has been running as a “fascist.”

The two camps traded barbs over claims by Trump’s longest-serving White House chief of staff, echoed by Harris, that Trump is a “fascist” who cannot be trusted with power again.

Republican leaders in Congress attacked her over that characterization, in a statement revealing they had been briefed on “ongoing and persistent” threats to Trump, and accused Harris of encouraging “another would-be assassin” after he survived an attempt on his life in July.

‘Garbage can’

Half the country agrees with Harris that Trump is a fascist, according to a new ABC News/Ipsos poll of registered voters, and she hit back at an impromptu news conference.

“The truth is that some of the people closest to Donald Trump, when he was president… have been very clear about the danger and the threat that (he) poses to America, and the fact that he is unfit to serve,” Harris said.

“The American people deserve to hear that, and know about that, so they can make a decision.”

Trump described the United States as a “garbage can for the world” for a second time this week while giving remarks in Austin — the latest in a string of inflammatory comments on immigration.

The race is a dead heat, according to polls. A New York Times/Siena College survey released Friday showed Trump and Harris tied at 48 percent each.

Both candidates have sought to broaden their support by sidestepping newspapers and the big TV networks in favor of podcasts and YouTube shows consumed by uncommitted young voters who could make the difference.

Trump hopes to woo Rogan’s massive audience. “The Joe Rogan Experience” was the world’s most listened-to podcast on streaming giant Spotify in 2023 and has 17.5 million subscribers on YouTube. 

‘Bad things happen’

Trump’s latest remarks ahead of the recording aimed at undermining trust in US elections and alarming Americans about crime committed by undocumented immigrants, who are statistically more law-abiding than the native population.

He complained that elections “go on forever, and bad things happen.”

Harris is “here in Texas to rub shoulders with woke celebrities. Isn’t that exciting? But she’s not going to meet with any of the victims of migrant crime while she’s here,” he said.

Harris is banking on the issue of abortion to help sell her message that Trump is a threat to Americans’ freedoms.

“Texas, what is happening across this state and our country is a health care crisis, and Donald Trump is the architect of it,” Harris said, describing the agony of several women who were forced to travel out of state for emergency medical care.

“Please know, no one is protected if there is a Trump national abortion ban.”

November’s presidential election will be the first held after a 2022 US Supreme Court ruling overturned nationwide protection of abortion.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Washington:

Donald Trump surrogate Elon Musk’s offer of a million dollars to one registered voter in a swing state every day until the US Election Day on November 5 has raised questions about the legality of such a move.

While Democratic candidate Kamala Harris’s campaign has not commented on the contest, Josh Shapiro, the Democratic Governor of Pennsylvania, said on NBC’s Meet the Press: “I think it’s something that law enforcement should take a look at.”

Musk, the world’s richest man, announced the contest Saturday in Pennsylvania, one of the seven “swing states” that will likely determine who will become the next US president — Harris, or Republican Trump. 

The contest requires entrants sign a petition “to support free speech & the right to bear arms,” Tesla and SpaceX CEO Musk said on X, the social media platform he owns.

The endeavor enters hot water with the requirement that people are registered to vote in swing states in order to participate.

Danielle Lang, a professor at Georgetown Law School who specializes in election law, told AFP the contest could be “subject to civil or criminal enforcement by the Department of Justice.”

“It is illegal to give out money on the condition that recipients register as voters,” she said.

“As the terms of this ‘contest’ to win $1 million require the recipient to be a registered voter in one of seven swing states (or to register if they have not already), the offer violates federal law,” she continued.

Gray area

Rick Hasen, a political science professor at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Law, expressed a similar sentiment on his Election Law Blog. 

He cited the specific law that prohibits anyone who “pays or offers to pay or accepts payment… for registration to vote,” adding that the penalty involves a fine of $10,000 or up to five years imprisonment.

Not everyone is of the same mindset, however. 

Brad Smith, the former chairman of the Federal Election Commission, told the New York Times what Musk is doing is “something of a gray area.”

Since Musk is not paying people to register directly, but rather for signing a petition, “I think he comes out OK here,” Smith said.

For his part, Musk defends his move by saying it is a simple get out and vote effort.

“We want to make sure that everyone in swing states hears about this and I suspect this will ensure they do,” he wrote on X.

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Musk has pulled out all the stops in recent weeks to support former president Trump, including donating $75 million to a pro-Trump political action committee and appearing at campaign rallies.

“Just go out there and talk to your friends and family and acquaintances and people you meet in the street and… convince them to vote,” he told the crowd at the rally where he announced the petition contest.

Lang said that schemes such as these occur “each election cycle.”

“We tend to see some businesses that engage in some questionable activity along these lines (such as offering a free item for showing an ‘I Voted’ sticker) but this is notable for its far larger size,” she said.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Combination picture of U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and former U.S. President Donald Trump. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris zeroed in on former President Donald Trump’s comments suggesting the U.S. military could be used to deal with “the enemy from within” as the two presidential nominees took the fight for battleground Pennsylvania to opposite ends of the State on Monday (October 14, 2024).

Ms. Harris, at her rally in northwestern Pennsylvania, called Mr. Trump a serious threat to American democracy who is “out for unchecked power.”

“He considers anyone who doesn’t support him or who will not bend to his will an enemy of our country,” Ms. Harris said after playing a clip of the comment on the jumbo screen at her rally at an Erie arena. “This is among the reasons I believe so strongly that a second Trump term would be a huge risk for America, and dangerous.”

Democrat Harris and Republican Trump have been become fixtures in the country’s largest 2024 battleground State. It was Ms. Harris’ 10th visit to Pennsylvania this campaign season, and Mr. Trump’s Monday town hall in suburban Philadelphia came after visits last week to Scranton and Reading.

Ms. Harris was highlighting what she says are examples of Mr. Trump’s increasingly “unstable and unhinged” behaviour. It’s part of her effort to win over a small universe of undecided voters and tear away even a small slice of traditionally Republican voters in the fight for Pennsylvania and six other closely contested States that are expected to determine who wins next month’s election.

She argued that Mr. Trump’s comments in a Fox News “Sunday Morning Futures” interview are the latest example of threatening rhetoric from the former president that should concern Americans about what a potential second Mr. Trump term could look like.

Mr. Trump made the comment in response to a question about “outside agitators” potentially disrupting Election Day, pivoting to what he said is a foe closer to home.

“I think the bigger problem is the enemy from within,” Mr. Trump said. He added: “We have some very bad people. We have some sick people, radical left lunatics. And I think they’re the big — and it should be very easily handled by, if necessary, by National Guard, or if really necessary, by the military, because they can’t let that happen.”

Mr. Trump’s running mate, J.D. Vance, defended Mr. Trump’s comments during a campaign stop in Minneapolis earlier Monday.

“Is it a justifiable use of those assets if they’re rioting and looting and burning cities down to the ground? Of course it is. Right?” Mr. Vance told reporters. “I think the question is, is it a justifiable use of assets, depends on what’s actually happening.”

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris waves as she boards Air Force Two at LaGuardia International Airport, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024, in New York.
| Photo Credit: AP

With less than a month to go for the  U.S. elections, Democratic candidate and Vice President, Kamala Harris, has been engaged in an unusual spate of media interviews. Ms. Harris, who has not held a formal press conference since she became the presumptive nominee for her party at the end of July, is racing to let voters get better acquainted with her.  Her Republic opponent, Former President  Donald Trump, is much more of a known quantity. While Ms. Harris seeks to more clearly define her positions,  the other side has  stepped up its efforts to crystallize their definition of her – pegging Ms Harris to the Biden administration’s policies.

In addition to responding to the Harris interviews these past few days, the Trump campaign’s recent emphasis has included making unsubstantiated claims about  Hurricane Helene, which has killed more than 200 people. Mr. Trump and his supporters have claimed that the government has run out of money for relief and that funds are being diverted to migrants rather than hurricane victims. The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s chief  and several Republican lawmakers are among those who have pushed back against these claims.

With Ms. Harris acquiring a slight lead in several polls this week, her campaign is trying to show more of what she stands for, while also focusing  on who she is standing against – by continuing to paint Mr. Trump as  a danger to the U.S. Constitution and as unfit for office on the basis of his character.

 In her appearance on  The View, one of the hosts  said, “When people say they don’t know enough about her, I say, just look at the opponent.” However, there appears to be a sense in the Harris campaign that this will not be enough. Ms. Harris’s media appearances were designed to cater to different segments– including independents, undecided and Republican voters

On the Call Her Daddy podcast, whose listeners are mostly young women, The Vice President spoke about agency and reproductive rights. She did an interview with Howard Stern, whose listeners include married white males;  she appeared with a panel of women on ABC’s The View and  CBS’s  ‘60 Minutes’, which both parties’ candidates have traditionally appeared on for decades.

Last week, Ms. Harris campaigned with former Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney in Ripon, Wisconsin, the birthplace of the Republican Party. This week, she signaled that she had become more moderate in her positions. On ’60 Minutes’ she provided more details about her gun ownership and said, as she has done before, that she had sought “common ground” in backing away from a fracking ban and in adopting more hardline positions  on illegal migration. On ‘The View’ she said she planned to appoint a Republican to her cabinet.

The Trump campaign meanwhile has amped up its linking of Ms Harris to administration policies.

Creating distance between herself and Mr. Biden’s policies might have, however, become harder for Ms. Harris, when she said on The View that she would not have done anything differently from the current President (with the exception of appointing a Republican to her cabinet). 

Mr. Trump, who has previously responded to his opponents with  sexist and personal insults –  called Ms Harris’s statement “Election Defying” as he referred to the “dumb women” on the show. He  also called Mr .Stern a “beta male”.

While Ms. Harris deployed Ms. Cheney, Mr. Trump deployed Elon Musk, a billionaire entrepreneur and owner of social media site X. Appearing at Mr Trump’s rally in Butler County , Pennsylvania, last Saturday, Mr. Musk said “the other side [ Democrats ] wants to take away your freedom of speech” , adding that the U.S. Constitution’s   Second Amendment (right to bear arms) was there to protect the First Amendment (freedom of expression).   

Mr. Trump’s campaign and his supporters have argued that Democrats, including Ms. Harris, want to clamp down on the freedom of expression , based on comments Democrats have made in the context of curbing misinformation and hate speech.

Mr. Musk has also taken it upon himself to drive voter registration in favour of Republicans. He announced an offer of $47 to each person who could get a swing state registered voter to sign a petition supporting the First Amendment  and Second Amendment in a swing state.

Mr. Musk recently said in an October 7 interview with Tucker Carlson that if Mr. Trump did not win in November, it would be “the last election”.  According to Mr. Musk, a Harris administration would end the notion of ‘Swing States’ by flooding them with illegal migrants, who would eventually become citizens and vote for the Democratic Party.

Mr .Trump, however, has already suggested that this will be the last election if he does win. Addressing Christians at a Florida event on July 28 he had said,  “In four years, you don’t have to vote again, we’ll have it fixed so good you’re not going to have to vote.”

New York:

Democratic Vice Presidential candidate Tim Walz and his Republican rival JD Vance debated each other on Wednesday as millions of Americans tuned in to the first, and most-likely, only vice-presidential debate before the country votes on November 5.

Unlike the presidential debate, which saw personal attacks by the contenders, the vice presidential debate was calm, structured and surprisingly civil as Mr Vance and Mr Walz engaged in debating mostly policy issues.

Instead of indulging in slander, both candidates stuck to criticism of the opposing presidential candidate. The debate came as a surprise to most, especially after a months-long ugly and divisive election campaign – that saw personal attacks, derogatory language, racist slurs, inflammatory rhetoric and even assassination attempts.

The US Vice Presidential debate between JD Vance and Tim Walz was calm, structured and surprisingly civil.

Mr Vance and Mr Walz too, have in the past, attacked each other during the election campaign, but for the vice-presidential debate, they struck a respectful tone.

THE MOST HEATED EXCHANGE OF THE DEBATE

The debate was cordial and focused mostly on policy matters but saw some tense moments towards the end when a question was asked to the Republican candidate on whether he agrees that Donald Trump lost the 2020 US election.

During the debate Mr Vance, who has said that he would not have voted to certify the result of the previous presidential election, evaded the question when asked if he would challenge this year’s vote if Donald Trump loses the election.

To this Mr Walz responded by blaming Donald Trump’s false claims of voter fraud which had instigated a mob attack on the US Capitol in January, 2021, which was an attempt to prevent the certification of Joe Biden’s election win in 2020.

Blaming Mr Vance, Mr Walz said, “He is still saying he (Tump) didn’t lose the election,”. He then directly questioned his rival by asking, “Did he (Trump) lose the 2020 election?” When the Republican candidate again dodged the question and went on to accuse Kamala Harris of pursuing online censorship of opposing views, the debate was at its most intense exchange.

“That’s a damning non-answer,” Mr Walz exclaimed.

Slamming JD Vance, Tim Walz said, “He is still saying he (Tump) didn’t lose the 2020 election”.

The two candidates, with vastly divergent views on every subject, debated each other on a series of subjects – from inflation to immigration, from taxes to the economy, from abortion to gender issues, the West Asia crisis and even climate change.

PUNCHES AND COUNTER-PUNCHES

Picking on each other’s presidential candidate and what they considered their vulnerabilities, both Mr Walz and Mr Vance dodged the verbal punches that came their way and responded with equal measure.

Describing Donald Trump as an “unstable” leader who puts the interest of billionaires before commoners, Mr Walz attacked Donald Trump over his policy on immigration. He slammed the former president for “pressuring the Republicans in Congress” to abandon the bipartisan bill on border security.

“Donald Trump had four years to do this. He promised you, Americans, saying how easy it will be.”

Mr Vance took a jab at the Democrats over the problem of inflation and economy, and repeatedly questioned Kamala Harris on why she has not done enough to address these important issues in the four years that she was vice-president in the Biden Administration.

Vance and Walz also clashed on pressing global issues, especially the crises in Europe and West Asia.

“If Kamala Harris has such great plans for how to address middle-class problems, then she ought to do them now – not when asking for promotion, but in the job the American people gave her 3-1/2 years ago,” Mr Vance said.

The two also clashed on pressing global issues, especially the crises in Europe and West Asia. Mr Walz called Donald Trump “too fickle” and “sympathetic” to strongmen like Putin and Netanyahu and said that Trump cannot be trusted to handle the conflict-prone region. Mr Vance rejected these claims and asserted that when Mr Trump was President, he had made the world “a more secure place” during his term in office.

Donald Trump, who was watching the debate live, was posting messages – mostly personal attacks – on his website ‘Truth Social’ in his trademark style. He attacked the moderators of the debate hosted by US television network CBS. He also called the Democratic vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz a man with “low IQ” and even called him “pathetic”.

During the debate, Republican candidate JD Vance, who had once been a strong Trump basher, blamed the media for its reporting on Donald Trump, and tried to set the record straight by saying “I was wrong about Donald Trump”.

He went on to explain that “I was wrong, first of all, because I believe some of the media stories that turned out to be dishonest fabrications of his record. But most importantly, Donald Trump delivered for the American people.”

THE ‘MINNESOTA NICE’ DEBATE

The Vice Presidential debate was between Democratic candidate Tim Walz, 60, a former high school teacher and current Governor of Minnesota with liberal views, and his Republican rival JD Vance, 40, a former venture capitalist, bestselling author and conservative firebrand US senator from Ohio with some very conservative views on issues like abortion.

Though both candidates portrayed themselves as sons of America’s Midwestern heartland, each had deeply opposing views on nearly every major issue that is gripping a vastly polarised United States of America.

By and large both candidates appeared calm and courteous, demonstrating a ‘Minnesota Nice’ attitude throughout the debate.

While both candidates tried to outperform one-another while dealing the occasional blow to the rival, by and large both men appeared calm and courteous, demonstrating a ‘Minnesota Nice’ attitude throughout the debate, occasionally even thanking each other.

At the end of the debate, reports and polls suggested that neither candidate dealt a ‘knockout punch’ to the other, nor could one outshine the other, resulting in a balanced debate with no clear winner.

Political analysts believe that vice presidential debates generally do not alter the outcome of a presidential election. That said, even a slight shift in public opinion could prove decisive with the race on a razor’s edge five weeks before election day.