By Stephanie Kelly, Jeff Mason and Tim Reid
(Reuters) -Vice President Kamala Harris forged herself because the “underdog” within the presidential race and known as her Republican opponent Donald Trump “just plain weird,” whereas Trump painted Harris as “evil,” “sick” and “unhinged” because the rivals exchanged barbs from afar on Saturday.
The dueling appearances capped a whirlwind week that noticed Harris ascend to the highest of the Democratic ticket after President Joe Biden, 81, dropped his reelection bid beneath mounting strain from his fellow Democrats. A sequence of polls point out that Harris’ entry erased the lead Trump had loved over Biden in a matter of days.
Harris, talking at a non-public fundraiser headlined by singer-songwriter James Taylor in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, stated a lot of the rhetoric coming from Trump and his working mate, U.S. Senator JD (NASDAQ:) Vance, was “just plain weird.”
Her use of the phrase “weird” to explain her opponents was a part of a brand new technique from Democrats. The Harris marketing campaign known as Trump “old and quite weird” following his look on Fox Information on Thursday, and at the very least one supporter confirmed up outdoors Saturday’s occasion holding an indication proclaiming “Trump is weird.”
As she did throughout a blitz of marketing campaign stops this week, Harris, 59, once more contrasted her background as a prosecutor with Trump’s document as a convicted felon and stated her bid was concerning the future, whereas Trump, 78, needed to return the nation to a “dark past.”
Hours later, Trump unleashed a barrage of hyperbolic assaults at a rally in St. Cloud, Minnesota, asserting that Harris would “destroy the country” and criticizing her on points starting from public security to immigration.
“If a crazy liberal like Kamala Harris gets in, the American dream is dead,” Trump stated, including that Harris is “even worse” than Biden.
The previous president’s speech – suffused with acquainted grievances and false claims about election fraud – made clear that his short-lived name for unity following the try on his life two weeks in the past had dissipated altogether.
“I want to be nice. They all say, ‘I think he’s changed,’ Trump said. “No, I have never modified. Perhaps I’ve gotten worse.”
The former president’s event at an 8,000-seat ice hockey arena complied with the U.S. Secret Service’s recommendation that he avoid large outdoor events following the assassination attempt at a Pennsylvania rally.
Trump said on Saturday on his Truth Social site that he would continue to hold outdoor rallies and that the Secret Service had “agreed to considerably step up their operation” to protect him.
Minnesota has not chosen a Republican presidential candidate in 52 years, but the Trump campaign had viewed it as increasingly within reach after Biden’s poll numbers dipped following his disastrous June 27 debate performance.
Harris’ takeover, however, has reenergized a campaign that had faltered badly amid Democrats’ doubts about Biden’s chances of defeating Trump or his ability to continue to govern should he succeed.
Harris, the first Black woman and first Asian American to serve as vice president, raised more than $100 million in the 36 hours after Biden decided to drop out of the race. Saturday’s fundraiser brought in more than $1.4 million from some 800 attendees, her campaign said.
Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action, a gun safety group with about 10 million members, told MSNBC on Saturday that more than 200,000 people joined a Zoom (NASDAQ:) call on Thursday to build support for Harris among white women, raising over $11 million.
Earlier on Saturday, Trump addressed a cryptocurrency conference in Nashville, part of a broader Republican effort to court crypto enthusiasts ahead of the Nov. 5 election.
He vowed to make the U.S. the “crypto capital of the world,” a far cry from his stance in 2021, when he called bitcoin a “rip-off.” Trump warned that China and different international locations would embrace crypto if the U.S. didn’t and promised industry-friendly laws if elected. China at present bans cryptocurrency.
Trump’s rally on Saturday follows his speech at a conservative gathering on Friday, when he advised Christians that in the event that they vote for him in November, “in four years, you don’t have to vote again. We’ll have it fixed so good, you’re not gonna have to vote.”
It was not clear what the previous president meant, however Democrats instantly seized on his phrases as proof that he stays a risk to democracy 4 years after his efforts to overturn his 2020 defeat led to the assault on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.