(AFP) – The US election takes a detour from the swing state circuit to reliably Republican Texas on Friday as Kamala Harris rallies with pop superstar Beyonce and Donald Trump sits down with the country’s biggest podcaster. Texas is an unorthodox stop just before Election Day on November 5, especially for Harris who is otherwise spending almost every hour available in the seven battleground states set to tip the overall vote.
But the Democratic team is gambling that its star-studded show — also featuring country legend Willie Nelson — will energize the campaign ahead of the final week and give Harris a huge stage to highlight Republican restrictions on abortion. Beyonce will appear alongside Harris in Houston, while Trump will be in Austin, taping an interview with Joe Rogan, who hosts the United States’ most popular podcast.
The race is too close to call, according to polls. A New York Times/Siena College survey released Friday showed Trump and Harris tied at 48 percent each. The Democrat’s shortened campaign started out on a joyful note over the summer but has taken a more somber turn as she makes her closing pitch, painting Trump as a “fascist” who cannot be trusted with power again.
The Republican leaders in Congress attacked her Friday over that characterization, saying they had been briefed on “ongoing and persistent” threats to Trump and accused her of encouraging “another would-be assassin” after he survived an attempt on his life in July. House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell did not acknowledge Trump’s long history of demonizing political opponents and the media as “enemies” of America and dehumanizing migrants as part of an “invasion” that has “poisoned the blood” of the nation.
Trump has defended neo-Nazi marchers in Virginia, refused to denounce the far-right Proud Boys militia, and pledged to “root out the communists, Marxists, fascists and the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country.” Half the country agrees with Harris that Trump is a fascist, according to a new ABC News/Ipsos poll of registered voters.
The ex-president described the United States as a “garbage can for the world” while campaigning in Arizona on Thursday — the latest in a string of divisive comments on immigration. Meanwhile, Harris is banking on the issue of abortion to help sell her message that Trump is a threat to Americans’ freedoms. November’s presidential election will be the first held after a 2022 Supreme Court ruling overturned nationwide protection of abortion, and in her campaign, Harris has repeatedly linked Trump — who took credit for the abortion ruling after reshaping the court — to shocking stories of women who have been denied vital reproductive health care.
Republican-led Texas prohibits all abortions except in rare cases. Trump was given a boost Friday as the New York Post endorsed him, two years after ridiculing him as “Trumpty Dumpty” on its front page, and the liberal Washington Post declined to endorse a candidate for the first time in decades.
Both election candidates have sought to broaden their support by sidestepping newspapers and big broadcast networks in favor of podcasts and YouTube shows consumed by uncommitted young voters who could make all the difference in a tight vote. Trump will woo Rogan’s massive audience, seeking viral moments that tap into his everyman appeal similar to his recent photo-op at a Pennsylvania McDonald’s. “The Joe Rogan Experience” was the world’s most listened-to podcast on streaming giant Spotify in 2023, for the fourth year running. It has 17.5 million subscribers on YouTube, and the most popular episode has been viewed 61 million times.
The final night of the Republican National Convention — featuring Trump’s keynote speech — was televised by 14 networks and yet didn’t get close to half that figure, notching 25 million viewers. Trump’s campaign said he would also deliver remarks to the press in Austin on border security and migrant crime before heading to a rally back in the swing states, in closely watched Michigan.
– Moises Avila with Frankie Taggart in Washington
© 2024 AFP
