As the final two weeks before the election wrapped up, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump competed to gain the votes of the last remaining battleground states.
Both parties had chosen their focus for the remainder of their campaign and have received backlash due to their recent rallies. NPR said in an article that Trump has become “more vulgar in his anecdotes and attacks.” An example occurred during his rally in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, where he called Harris “the worst vice president” and told her to “get the h*** out of here.” It doesn’t end there. During his rally at Madison Square Garden in New York, he stated that she “is grossly incompetent” and a “very low-IQ individual.” He has faced retaliation because of these continuous attacks.
On the Democrat side of the equation, Harris has been distancing herself from the Biden administration in an effort to gain the votes from the last few battleground states.
Stepping back to the second presidential debate on Sep. 10, 2024, Harris said “clearly, I am not Joe Biden.” She followed that up with “and I am certainly not Donald Trump.” The question America is asking now is; has she proven that? During an interview with Reverend Al Sharpton, he asked her about the “ugly term” her opponent used to describe her. Here was her response, “The president of the United States must set a standard.” She spoke about the ways in which members of office should be representing our nation as well as the people in it. She said that “what you see in my opponent…it demeans the office” and that Trump should “never again stand behind the seal of the president of the United States.”
Many are still on the fence, however, due to some comments and attacks she’s made at not only Donald Trump but also his supporters. During a rally in La Crosse, Wisconsin, Harris made a comment that surprised many people. It was unclear who she was speaking to, though it is believed that she was addressing a pair of Christian students in the crowd who were shouting religious mantras. The students were yelling things such as “Christ is King” and “Jesus is Lord.” Harris responded, saying, “You guys are at the wrong rally…I think you meant to go to the smaller one down the street.” Many people were taken aback by her words, and some took it as a personal insult.
Another event that took people by surprise was an incident with Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe at Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally. Hinchcliffe made what most saw as a racist joke about Puerto Rico being a “floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean.” During an interview by ABC, News Trump says, “I don’t know him, someone put him up there.” He states that he didn’t even hear the remark, and his campaign is doing its best to distance him from the comedian.
His running mate, Senator JD Vance, says he also didn’t hear the remark; however, he commented that “we have to stop getting so offended at every little thing in the United States of America.” He spoke of how “over it” he was that people are over dramatizing jokes. Biden took a stance on the issue as well, stating that “the only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters.” This statement angered many people, and Harris was quick to step back and tell the world that she “strongly disagreed with any criticism of people based on who they vote for.” This comment put people at ease and worked to show her supporters that she wasn’t criticizing people for their beliefs.
