More than 68 million Americans have already cast their votes ahead of Election Day on Tuesday (SAMUEL CORUM/AFP via Getty)
Donald Trump came under fire for violent comments against a prominent Republican supporter Kamala Harris On Friday, the candidates held rallies in critical Rust Belt battlegrounds, four days before the culmination of a volatile U.S. presidential campaign.
More than 68 million Americans have already cast their votes ahead of Election Day on Tuesday. Opinion polls show that Trump and Harris are even at a dead end, with victory depending on who has the upper hand in the seven swing states, including Wisconsin and Michigan.
Both held a full day of campaign events, ending with rallies in Milwaukee, Wisconsin’s largest city.
“Everything we’ve fought for over the last four years comes down to the next four days,” Trump told a boisterous crowd in Warren, Michigan.
The former president was next scheduled to speak at the same venue where he earned the Republican Party nomination this summer, delivering a triumphant acceptance speech just days afterward. survive an assassination attempt in Pennsylvania.
Harris – who only entered the race in July after President Joe Biden dropped out amid fears over his declining mental acuity – was due to be joined by star rapper Cardi B at the latest in a series of high-energy rallies.
Harris previously blasted Trump for using “violent rhetoric” when discussing one of his top Republican critics.
Trump has “suggested that guns should be pointed at former Rep. Liz Cheney,” Harris told reporters in Madison, Wisconsin.
“This should be disqualifying. Anyone… who uses this kind of violent rhetoric is clearly disqualified and not qualified to be president.”
‘Vote, vote, vote’
As the battle draws to a close, Trump has doubled down on his most provocative talking points, trying to galvanize a base he needs to come out in large numbers.
“Call out everyone you know. Vote, vote, vote,” the 78-year-old billionaire pleaded in Michiganwhich, along with Wisconsin, is part of the Democrats’ “blue wall” in the Midwest.
But the region can go either way, and with it the presidency.
The other path to victory could be through the southern and western Sun Belt swing states, where both Trump and Harris campaigned on Thursday.
At an event in Arizona with former Fox News host Tucker CarlsonTrump called the 60-year-old Harris a “sleaze bag.”
He also claimed, without evidence, that polls are being rigged in the largest swing state of Pennsylvania, reinforcing expectations that, as in 2020, he will refuse to accept the results if he loses.
But it was his comments about Cheney, once a senior Republican lawmaker who supported Harris, that sparked the most controversy.
Citing her hawkish foreign policy views, Trump evoked the image of Cheney — daughter of former Republican Vice President Dick Cheney — being shot.
“She is a radical war hawk. Let’s put her there with a gun and nine barrels shooting at her, okay? Let’s see how she feels about, you know, having the guns pointed at her face,” Trump said.
Cheney responded, saying, “This is how dictators destroy free nations. They threaten with death those who speak out against them.”
Harris rushed to her defense, saying Trump has become increasingly unhinged and “permanently out for revenge.”
But Trump did not give up, saying Cheney “doesn’t have the guts to fight America’s enemies.”
Adding to tensions, social media has been awash with disinformation that authorities say has been fueled by Russian agents and amplified by prominent right-wing voices — including Trump ally Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and owner of the platform.
A large part of Musk’s efforts involved spreading lies about non-citizen immigrant voting.
‘Junk science’
Trump notably made a stop Friday in Dearborn, Michigan, home of the largest Arab-American community in the countrywhere outrage over Israel’s war on Gaza has alienated many Muslims from the Democratic Party.
After meeting with supporters at a halal restaurant, Trump confirmed to reporters that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. would play a “major role” in health care if elected. Kennedy later joined Trump on stage in Warren.
Harris described Kennedy as a promoter of “junk science and crazy conspiracy theories.”
Harris has repeatedly warned of the dangers of an authoritarian Trump administration.
In Michigan, Trump’s rhetoric for a few minutes suggested a traditionally rousing speech in the final days of a campaign.
“I ask you to dream big again,” he told the crowd.
But he quickly reverted to type with a sinister view on immigration, labeling the Biden-Harris economy a “total disaster.”