COMPARISONS HAVE CONTINUED between the election campaigns of Donald Trump and Kamala Harris as the pair proceed with rallies across the United States. 

After stops in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, Harris yesterday continued her rapid tour of battleground states in Arizona while Donald Trump held his only rally of the week in Montana. 

Trump has held just five rallies since the Republican National Convention concluded in mid-July. By comparison, his opponent, who is almost 20 years his junior, has held six this week alone. 

At 78 years of age, Trump’s campaign has lacked the stamina of vice president Harris’s. 

When questioned about his absence from battleground states during a press conference at his home earlier this week, Trump dismissed the questions as “stupid” and said it was because he was “leading by a lot”. 

Before President Joe Biden dropped out of the race in late July, pollsters were predicting that Trump looked set to win back the White House, however Biden’s replacement with Harris has injected fresh energy into the Democratic campaign, tightening the race. 

Highlighting the momentum shift in the race, election forecaster Cook Political Report changed its outlook for both states this week from “lean Republican” to “toss up”.

Attacks

Vice President Harris used yesterday’s rally in Arizona, a racially diverse state extremely narrowly won by Biden in 2020, to attack Trump’s record on immigration and abortion.

Arizona is one of several states that imposed restrictions on abortion following the US Supreme Court’s 2022 reversal of the nationwide right to the medical procedure.

In her speech, Harris noted that Trump appointed three of the six justices that voted to overturn Roe v Wade.

“Now in over 20 states in our nation, there is a Trump abortion ban, many like Arizona, with no exceptions, even for rape or incest,” she said.

Turning to immigration, Harris said: “Donald Trump does not want to fix this problem. Be clear about that.”

“He talks a big game about border security, but he does not walk the walk.”

She cited a major immigration proposal that appeared set to pass Congress after long bipartisan negotiations, but which failed after Trump, wary of giving Biden a legislative win, came out against it early this year.

“Trump tanked the deal because he thought by doing that it would help him win an election. But when I am president, I will sign the bill,” Harris said to cheers.

“We know our immigration system is broken, and we know what it takes to fix it, comprehensive reform that includes strong border security and an earned pathway to citizenship.”

Meanwhile, in Montana Trump told his supporters that he would rather compete against Harris than Biden, saying she was “easier to beat”.

“I handed her the strongest border in US history, she turned it into the worst border invasion in the history of the world,” he later added.

Contains reporting from AFP and Press Association.