CNN
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Donald Trump is conjuring up a vision for a radically new White House term that will transform America and shake up the world.
And Vice President Kamala Harris has just three weeks to avoid this as she struggles to regain momentum in a close race leading up to Election Day.
Republican candidate warns outsiders with “bad genes” have “infiltrated” country, warns of U.S. after falsely claiming Haitian immigrants were legally eating pets in Ohio escalating the most harmful anti-immigrant rhetoric in modern history. At a rally in Arizona on Sunday, Trump baselessly suggested that if Harris were elected, “the whole country would turn into an immigrant camp.” Two days earlier, in Colorado, he again vowed to “launch the largest deportation operation in American history” and promised to “shut down our borders.” We will stop illegal intrusions into our country. we defend our territory. we will not be conquered. ”
And he further escalated his threats against his political opponents this weekend, saying on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” that he could turn the military against “the enemy from within.” The former president, who incited violence to maintain power after the 2020 election, also said at Saturday’s rally that hecklers exercising their right to free speech should be “smacked down to the ground.”
In another preview of how President Trump can use presidential power to fulfill his personal and political whims, Harris and President Joe Biden will do the same for Hurricanes this weekend. He also threatened to withhold federal disaster aid from the Democratic-controlled state of California. It hit Republican districts. Trump also said CBS should have its license revoked because of poor editorial choices regarding Harris’ interview on “60 Minutes,” which he refused to appear on. Meanwhile, President Trump’s allies threatened to terminate a federal contract with Deloitte after an employee appeared to have leaked a private message from Sen. J.D. Vance criticizing the former president, threatening that the new administration would expressed concern about how to deal with the issue.
And after the Kremlin confirmed that it had sent a COVID-19 test to the Russian authoritarian, a mortal enemy of the United States, where President Trump has frequently downplayed the pandemic, Vladimir Putin’s New details have emerged about the former president’s lenient attitude toward foreign tyrants like Trump.
History shows that President Trump does not necessarily act on everything he says. However, his past actions suggest that his threats should be taken seriously.
And the Supreme Court’s decision granting the president effective immunity suggests there are few obstacles to imperial executive power.
President Trump’s deepening extremism has added to the already massive pressure on Harris. And Democratic leaders, including former Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, are pleading with voters in battleground states, particularly black and Latino voters who Harris needs, not to allow Trump to return.
The vice president ramped up his attacks on Trump on Sunday during a rally in North Carolina, accusing him of not releasing his medical records (shortly after issuing his own medical report) and of not meeting him during the second debate. and criticized him for refusing an interview. “60 minutes.”
“He has not been transparent with voters. … I wonder, why would his staff want him to hide? You have to wonder, is he too Are they afraid of being seen as weak and insecure?” she asked.
Among Democrats, euphoria over Harris’ entry into the race in July, the success of her convention in August, and her performance in the debate the following month has not yet led to a decisive lead over Trump. There are growing concerns about this.
There is no clear leader in the latest average of CNN’s national polls, which include close polls from CBS, ABC and NBC, released Sunday. Even if Harris leads in national polls, there are concerns that she could win the popular vote but fall short in the Electoral College, like Hillary Clinton did before her.
Three weeks later, a tense and balanced campaign shows that while Mr. Trump has departed from traditional presidential candidates, he is still giving millions of Americans what they want. Republicans argue that the Harris-Biden policies caused a spike in inflation that the White House has been trying to downplay for months. President Trump cited the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and argued that the current White House is seen as weak around the world. And after failing to address immigration policy or the political impact of immigration early in Biden’s term, Democrats have given Trump a major opening on key issues.
The close race also suggests that despite President Trump’s unabashed extremism, Democrats have failed for the third time in a row to produce a reassuring message about their candidates and election results. are. Liberals and moderates may be frightened by the strongman leadership Mr. Trump offers, but he is winning on the economy, which voters consistently say is the most important issue in the election. For example, an ABC News/Ipsos poll found that 59% of Americans say things are getting worse, even though the job market is strong, inflation is far from record highs, and interest rates are easing.
It is a responsibility for Ms. Harris to remain in her current position as Vice President when the nation is in such a dangerous mood. And her failure, in a recent interview with ABC’s “The View,” to not think of a single thing she would have done differently than Biden, was exploited by Trump all the way up to Election Day. That’s a blunder. Harris laid out a plan to help people buy or rent homes, reduce health care costs and revive the bipartisan border bill that President Trump rejected. But in her interviews, it’s often still difficult to find a strong case for her campaign. President Trump’s vows to deport immigrants, impose tariffs on America’s trade competitors, and fix a world spiraling out of control, however extreme, look powerful by comparison.
‘Bad news for Democrats’: Data reporters show major gains for Republicans
Still, Democrats looking for reassurance may note that most polls have President Trump leading with less than 48%. This means that while Harris may still have room to grow, his typical ceiling in national elections remains in place. An NBC News poll found 10% of voters said they might change their minds. And what the network called a “sliver” has yet to be picked up. In states like Pennsylvania, Michigan, Arizona and Georgia, lagging approval ratings could be decisive.
The composition of the final electorate is also important. For example, could Ms. Harris’ focus on abortion rights lead to higher-than-expected turnout among women voters, confounding pollsters’ assumptions? Will she be able to stop her opponent from making inroads among black men and Hispanic voters? Or will Mr. Trump gain new support among Americans who agree with him on many issues but rarely vote?
Democratic strategist Doug Sosnick believes the election was 50-50 and that Harris has plateaued over the past 10 days as President Trump held a moderate lead. He told CNN political director David Chalian on the “CNN Political Briefing” podcast that the presidency could hinge on which candidate ultimately labels themselves as changemakers.
The Trump campaign released a memo on Sunday claiming that question has already been answered. “She is a ‘change-maker’ on the campaign trail, unable to convince voters that she has an advantage on the economy, inflation, immigration, crime, or improving people’s financial situation,” the memo said. It’s dark. “The bottom line is that voters think President Trump will do a better job.”
But Sosnick said the campaign “is all about Harris and whether she can withstand pressure and scrutiny, and creating a permission system for people who don’t want to vote for Trump but are concerned about Harris.” It all comes down to whether we can do it or not.” He warned: “They don’t feel like she’s giving them enough reason to vote for her…She’s not doing that right now.”
Ms. Harris’ task is complicated by her lack of opportunity to confront Mr. Trump directly. The former president, who for weeks has accused her of avoiding the press, has rarely left her comfort zone of conservative media and Fox News, where she enjoys praise more than cross-examination. He avoided the second presidential debate with Harris, leaving a “60 Minutes” interview before criticizing the vice president’s performance on the show. And while Mr. Trump’s rallies were difficult to escape on cable TV in 2016, their performances are now rarely thoroughly covered outside of conservative media, and many voters are not convinced that Mr. Trump’s extreme may not appreciate his increasingly incoherent antics.
When Mr. Obama attended Ms. Harris’ campaign event in Pennsylvania last week, he seemed perplexed by his predecessor’s continued appeal among millions of voters. “There is absolutely no evidence that this man cares about anyone but himself,” Obama said. “Donald Trump sees power as nothing more than a means to an end.”
But despite being impeached and convicted twice and seeking to destroy democracy to maintain power, Trump is back in the running for the presidency with even more radical policies than before. There it is.
Sen. Chris Murphy has sounded the alarm in recent days with a series of increasingly heated posts about X. In response to President Trump last week describing illegal immigrants as “rapists” and “the world’s worst criminals,” he wrote that such rhetoric: It hints at a “dystopian country” where open-air POW camps and the rule of law have been suspended. “We cannot allow this to happen. His vision for America is not America,” the Connecticut Democrat added.
Her post underscored what Harris represents to those who fear that Trump’s return is a reality.
