Harris counters Trump's insults with "record-suspicious" donations
Joe Biden's withdrawal and Kamala Harris' campaign have brought dynamics to the US presidential race. Trump intensifies attacks against the current Vice President.
One week after Joe Biden's withdrawal from the US presidential race, the campaign has entered a new phase, according to Harris' team. They claimed to have collected donations totaling $200 million (around 184 million Euro) since the previous Sunday. Trump ramped up his rhetoric against the Vice President during weekend appearances.
Harris' team considered the fundraising results of the past few days as "record-breaking." Two-thirds of the money came from first-time donors. This suggests that Harris enjoys broad support from the party base.
Biden proposed Harris as his replacement immediately after his withdrawal. The 59-year-old must still be formally nominated by the Democrats. She managed to rally all key supporters behind her in a short time. On Saturday, she held her first fundraising event.
Electoral system favors Republicans significantly
However, according to a new survey by the "Wall Street Journal," Harris reduced Biden's six-point deficit against Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump to just two points - within the margin of error. Support among black voters, young people, and Latinos increased.
Republican pollster David Lee, who conducted the survey for the newspaper, warned Democrats against excessive optimism. "Donald Trump is in a much better position in this race than he was at a similar point in the 2020 elections," he stated. Due to the US electoral system with the Electoral College, Trump has an advantage: In 2016, he won over Democrat Hillary Clinton despite receiving nearly three million fewer popular votes. Republicans have also profited from the electoral system in previous elections. Since 1992, Americans have voted for Democratic candidates in greater numbers than for Republican ones, with one exception: George W. Bush during his re-election in 2004. In his first term, he had fewer votes than his Democratic opponent Al Gore.
"We are the underdogs in this race," Harris acknowledged on Saturday. "But this is a campaign driven by the people, and we have momentum," she added.
Trump: Kamala Harris buries the American Dream
Trump, who has been officially nominated by his party, attacked Harris with renewed ferocity. Harris is a "failure on all fronts," Trump told supporters at a rally in the state of Minnesota on Saturday. If "a lunatic liberal like Kamala Harris" were to move into the White House, the American Dream would be "dead."
A Harris victory would mean "four more years of extremism, weakness, failure, chaos, and probably the Third World War," Trump accused the Vice President of failing in immigration policy. What she had wrought disqualified her for the presidency.
Trump made headlines with statements that left room for interpretation during a campaign rally among conservative Christians in Florida on a Friday evening local time. He urged them to vote, saying, "Christians, go out and vote! Just this once. You won't have to do it again." He assured them that everything would be in order in four years and that they wouldn't have to vote anymore, his "wonderful Christians."
Harris' team interpreted Trump's remark as a sign that the Republican was planning to abolish democracy if re-elected to the White House. The statement aligned with other Trump remarks, such as his claim to be a "dictator for just one day," Harris' team revealed on Saturday. However, observers pointed out that Trump's statement did not apply to voters in general but specifically to the Christian group he addressed. This group typically votes less frequently, which Trump aimed to encourage with his speech. They wouldn't have to vote again in four years because the electoral system would be "fixed." Trump, however, remained vague about what repairs or corrections would look like.
In preparation for the US Presidency Election 2024, Donald Trump has intensified his attacks against Vice President Kamala Harris, following her nomination by the Democrats after Joe Biden's withdrawal. Despite Trump's criticism, Kamala Harris' team reported an influx of donations, totaling $200 million, with two-thirds coming from first-time donors, indicating strong support from the party base.
