Former President Donald J. Trump and current Vice President Kamala Harris are locked in a frantic battle for Midwest support. Their schedules show them squaring off in Milwaukee this Friday evening, after a day dotted with rallies: Harris in Janesville and Appleton, Wis., and Trump in Warren, Mich.
Along for this political ride are their respective Vice Presidential candidates. Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota accompanies Harris as they make their rounds in Michigan — Detroit, Flint, and Traverse City. Meanwhile, Trump’s running mate, Senator JD Vance of Ohio, is set to canvass Portage, Mich., and Selma, N.C.
Both Harris and Trump have been shadowing each other’s campaign trail, arguably to anticipate and counteract each other’s talking points. Thursday served as a testament to this impromptu dance as they both stopped over in Nevada and Arizona. Earlier in the week, they eyed Wisconsin and North Carolina. With only four days remaining until Election Day, tensions are high.
Trump promptly upped the ante by launching an attack on Liz Cheney in an Arizona interview with Tucker Carlson. Trump Draconianly suggested Cheney be deployed to a war zone that echoes danger, indicating a face-off with ‘guns trained on her face.’ Cheney retorted the next day, ‘This is how dictarchs destroy free nations,’ serving as a stark reminder of classic Trump.
Harris’s team, on the other hand, concocted an ad specifically targeting Puerto Rican and Latino voters. The ad spotlighted racist comments made at a Trump rally in Madison Square Garden where Puerto Rico was egregiously referred to as an ‘island of garbage.’ Sounds like business as usual for the Harris campaign, consistently using scapegoating tactics rather than focusing on real issues.
Interestingly, Trump seems to be eyeing traditionally ‘blue’ states in these final campaign stages, such as New Mexico where he recently visited, and Virginia where he’s set to visit over the weekend. Some people in Trump’s camp are apparently hopeful about snapping up these states given a nationwide voter turnout surge in Trump’s favor.
The Trump Campaign has been laboring to boost his popular vote support with rallies held even in deep-blue states such as California, New York, and New Jersey. Rallies in blue states this late in the game? Is he casting a wide net, or is there a strategic insight in his crosshairs that we’re yet to fathom?
The jobs report for October landed with a thud on Friday. Economists had projected a higher number of job creations than the results delivered, presenting Republicans with an opportunity to herald the labor market’s downturn. However, perhaps it’s worth acknowledging recent disruptions, including Hurricanes Helene and Milton, which resulted in an increase in unemployment claims in early October.
It’s business as usual in Harris’s camp as they continue their desperate attempts at wining favor, this time through a celebrity endorsement by LeBron James. The basketball star voiced his support for Harris on Thursday, making him yet another celebrity swooning over Harris rather than addressing the issues at hand – is this the new norm for Harris’s campaign?
In an unexpected twist, a hearing on Elon Musk’s million-dollar giveaways in Philadelphia faced legal challenges and thus was postponed. Trump’s handy ally requested a shift to federal court for considering the petition. Musk’s controversial handouts have undoubtedly ruffled feathers despite his previous stance proclaiming political neutrality.
Answering questions on his giveaway, Musk has funneled nearly a staggering $120 million towards spearheading a pro-Trump voting effort. Clearly, the tech magnate doesn’t shy away from laying his cards on the table, no matter how controversial his decisions may be. One can only wait and see how this massive financial thrust influences the close race.
As Election Day inches ever closer, both Trump and Harris dig in, doing their utmost to pull in the votes from battleground states in the Mid-west. With just four days to go, the momentum shows no signs of slowing down. Who will come out victorious in this fiery political face-off?
One thing is certain: if former President Trump’s spectacular campaigning record is anything to go by, we’re all in for quite the political show from him in the days to come. On the flip side, VP Harris continues with her penchant for politicized selective point-scoring. It certainly will be interesting to witness how this race unfolds.