Trump and Harris make their final move

In the final, frenetic days of the 2024 presidential campaign, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Trump are crisscrossing the country, maintaining a dizzying schedule of rallies, public appearances and media interviews, making their final pitch to voters in critical swing states.

Trump has campaigned aggressively in North Carolina, holding three weekend rallies in the state where election officials have struggled to secure opportunity to vote in counties affected by Hurricane Helen in September.

Harris, after rallies in Atlanta and Charlotte, North Carolina, on Saturday, is set to spend Sunday in Michigan, the blue wall state where Trump won in 2016 and narrowly lost to Joe Biden four years later.

Harris plans to appear in and around Detroit on Sunday before an evening rally at Michigan State University in East Lansing.

Trump’s controversial remarks who said Last week in Wisconsin, the assertion that “whether women like it or not,” he will protect them rang out all weekend, as did a bizarre moment during a Friday night rally in Milwaukee in which the former president ranted about microphone problems.

“Did you hear what Donnie Trump said the other day?” said rapper Cardi B on stage at Friday’s rally for Harris, who was also in Milwaukee.

“He said he would stand up for women whether they like it or not,” Cardi B said, adding that “defending women, especially when we’re talking about maternal and mental health care, doesn’t mean telling them what to do with theirs.” body.” . He supports them and gives them the care they need about what they want to do with their body.”

During the event at the Wisconsin State Fairgrounds, Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson told attendees that “our community, we are literally, quite literally, the crossroads of this election,” emphasizing the campaigns’ focus on the Badger State and its 10 electoral votes. .

“You know what’s going on all over the city right now,” he added, referring to Trump’s rally seven miles away at Fiserv Forum, home of the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks.

Minutes after Trump spoke, the crowd began chanting, “Fix the microphone!”

Irritated, Trump removed the microphone from its stand and raised it to his face. He became even more angry when the crowd again shouted that they could not hear him.

“You want to see me beat people out backstage?” Trump asked the crowd, who applauded.

When he complained about the low height of microphone stands at some of his events, Trump leaned over the stand, ran his hand up and down on it and shook his head with his mouth agape as the audience laughed.

“Too low,” he said, moving the microphone stand back.

This moment was widely ridiculed social media users who said Trump was faking oral sex.

Harris Campaign tweeted the video moment along with one question mark.

During the rally in Milwaukee, Trump also highlighted the October jobs report.

The Labor Department reported Friday that U.S. employers added 12,000 jobs in October, hampered by a pair of hurricanes – Milton and Helen – and a strike at Boeing. The 4.1% unemployment rate reflects the overall healthier state of the economy.

Trump told supporters he didn’t believe the hurricanes were a factor.

“It’s like depression,” he said. “And there is nothing, no event – I think they are trying to blame it on the hurricane. No, it was, you know, a small, relatively small area. No, not a hurricane. Not that hurricane. They hurricane”.

“Trump called into Fox & Friends on Saturday morning and called the jobs report a ‘gift’ to his campaign.”

Politicians typically refrain from gloating over economic indicators that are perceived as poor and instead express sympathy for Americans struggling financially.

Trump, however, said: “I finally got a gift.”

“I’m competing with two people who just posted the worst employment numbers, and this is a big event, the biggest event economically, the biggest event that has happened,” he said.

During a Saturday rally in Gastonia, North Carolina, Trump repeated his false claims that the Federal Emergency Management Agency defrauded hurricane victims using money intended to help undocumented immigrants.

And he repeated his comments about protecting women.

“I will protect our women,” he said. “I was in such trouble, you saw it.”

“I think women love me because they know, you know what, if they don’t have me, they’ll make millions of people pour in and come through the suburbs.”

He painted a grim, distressed picture of women being attacked in their homes by migrant criminals.

“I believe women should be protected, men, children, everyone – but women should be protected when they’re at home in the suburbs,” he said.

The former president also promised a prominent role for Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an anti-vaccination activist who has promoted conspiracy theories. In recent speeches supporting Trump, Kennedy said he wanted to get rid of “toxins” in Americans’ food.

“We will make America healthy again,” Trump said. “RFK Jr. will be responsible for this.”

North Carolina’s 16 electoral votes are a coveted prize in a tight presidential race. Republicans have won the state in 12 of the last 14 presidential elections: Democrats Jimmy Carter won there in 1976 and Barack Obama won there in 2008 before losing to Republican Mitt Romney four years later.

In 2020, Trump beat Biden there by just over 1% of the vote.

On Saturday, he told his supporters: “We’re going to win this state, we’re going to win the whole game.”

Harris, performing in Atlanta on Saturday outlined her economic plans, saying her priority in the White House would be lowering the cost of living.

Trump, she said, will enter office “with a list of enemies in mind,” and she said she will enter “with his to-do list,” including enacting a federal ban on food price gouging.

Harris said Trump is “increasingly unstable, obsessed with revenge, consumed by grievances, and the man seeks unfettered power.”

“In less than 90 days,” she said, “who will be in the Oval Office—him or me?”

The crowd responded, “You!”