Kamala Harris criticized Donald Trump as the 'biggest loser' on the economy and a friend of billionaires on Wednesday, as the election rivals presented contrasting plans on the top issue for many US voters.
In a speech on the economy and during her first major solo interview, the Democrat warned that Trump's plans to reintroduce large tariffs on foreign imports would harm middle-class Americans financially. Republican Trump, on the other hand, reiterated his protectionist stance but also spent considerable time discussing threats to his life, following US intelligence warnings of potential attacks from Tehran.
The vice president and the former president are closely matched in the polls and are both targeting undecided voters on key issues like the economy, with less than six weeks until election day. Harris pledged to 'chart a new way forward' in a speech in Pittsburgh, an industrial city in the crucial swing state of Pennsylvania, emphasizing her focus on reducing prices for Americans.
She claimed that nearly 200,000 factory jobs were moved abroad during Trump's presidency, labeling him 'one of the biggest losers ever on manufacturing.' In her interview with MSNBC, Harris criticized the tariff plans Trump outlined over the past two days, which would revert to the policies of his first term.
Trump's campaign dismissed her speech as 'full of lies' and argued that she had already had three and a half years as part of the Biden administration to address issues like low prices. The Republican candidate is also promising to boost American manufacturing, primarily through imposing extensive tariffs on foreign imports.
However, Trump spent a significant portion of his speech discussing threats to his life, including two assassination attempts in two months and threats from Iran. He warned that if he were president, he would retaliate against any harm to him by destroying Iran's largest cities and the country itself.
Trump plans to return to Butler, Pennsylvania, on October 5, where a gunman attempted to assassinate him at a rally in July. Meanwhile, a gunman accused of planning to kill Trump at his Florida golf course, Ryan Routh, was indicted for the attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate.
These assassination attempts occurred amid one of the most dramatic US election campaigns in modern history, following a disastrous debate in June that led to Biden withdrawing from the race due to concerns about his age. Biden stated on ABC's The View that he was 'at peace with his decision,' even though he insisted he could have beaten Trump.
The outgoing president criticized Trump, stating there was 'not a social redeeming value' to the Republican, and advised Harris to win by 'being herself.'
