Trump and Harris are evenly matched in opinion polls, and the winner will depend on who wins each of the seven swing states, including Wisconsin.
Four days before the culmination of the most intense US presidential campaign in modern history, Donald Trump faced criticism for using violent language against a well-known Kamala Harris supporter on Friday during their opposing rallies in battleground Wisconsin.
More than 68 million Americans have already cast early ballots ahead of Election Day on Tuesday. Trump and Harris are evenly matched in opinion polls, and the winner will depend on who wins each of the seven swing states, including Wisconsin.
Both were campaigning in Milwaukee, the biggest city in the state.
Days after the 78-year-old barely avoided an assassination attempt in Pennsylvania, Trump was holding a rally in the same location where he celebrated the Republican Party nomination over the summer and gave a victorious acceptance speech.
At the latest of a series of intense rallies, star rapper Cardi B was set to join Harris, who only entered the race in July after President Joe Biden withdrew due to concerns about his declining mental acuity.
Harris, however, criticised Trump for using “violent rhetoric” when speaking about one of his main Republican Party critics prior to the major campaign events.
Trump had “suggested rifles should be trained on former representative Liz Cheney,” Harris told reporters in Madison, Wisconsin.
“This must be disqualifying. Anyone using such violent rhetoric who aspires to be president of the United States is obviously unfit to hold the office.
“Trained on her face” guns
Trump has increased his provocative rhetoric as the race comes to a close in an attempt to energise a base that he needs to turn out in large numbers.
Although Wisconsin is a part of the Democrats’ “blue wall” across the Midwest, the region and the presidency could go either way.
Trump and Harris both campaigned Thursday in the “Sun Belt” swing states in the south and west, which could be the alternative route to victory.
At a gathering with right-wing influencer Tucker Carlson in Arizona on Thursday, Trump referred to Biden as a “stupid bastard” and Harris, 60, as a “sleaze bag.”
Additionally, he asserted without proof that polls in Pennsylvania, the largest swing state, are already being manipulated, which fuelled speculation that, similar to 2020, he would not accept the outcome if he loses.
However, what caused the most controversy were his remarks regarding Cheney, a former top Republican official who now backs Harris.
Trump invoked the image of Cheney, the daughter of former Republican vice president Dick Cheney, being shot in order to justify her hawkish foreign policy views.
“She’s a radical warhawk. Let’s put her with a rifle standing there with nine barrels shooting at her, OK? When the guns are pointed at her face, we will see how she reacts,” Trump said.
Cheney responded, saying, “This is how dictators destroy free nations. They threaten to kill anyone who criticises them.
Trump is “someone who considers his political opponents the enemy, is permanently out for revenge, and is increasingly unstable and unhinged,” Harris said in a hasty defence of her.
Tensions are being exacerbated by the proliferation of false information on social media, which authorities claim was initiated by Russian agents and spread by right-wing American influencers like Trump supporter Elon Musk, the richest man in the world and owner of the X platform.
Musk has spent a lot of time spreading false information regarding the voting rights of non-citizen immigrants.
The nation’s largest Arab-American city, Dearborn, Michigan, is where Trump made a noteworthy stop on Friday. Trump is hoping to capitalise on the fact that many Muslims have become disenchanted with the Democratic Party due to outrage over Israel’s war in Gaza.
After meeting supporters at an upscale halal restaurant, Trump confirmed to reporters that vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr would play a “big role” in health care if Trump were elected.
Jobs’ surprise
Harris is running on a platform that promises to help the middle class, opposes Republican restrictions on abortion, and warns of an authoritarian Trump takeover.
Trump’s campaign has been centred on inciting pessimism about the economy and fears of violence by immigrants.
With low unemployment and strong growth, economists say the US economy is actually in good shape, shedding the last remnants of the COVID pandemic.
A major daily that many conservatives closely follow, the Wall Street Journal, gave a very positive assessment Thursday, stating that “the next president inherits a remarkable economy.”
But data released Friday showed that October job growth was much slower, which undermined Democratic messaging. Economists say the Boeing strike and the knock-on effects of hurricanes caused the job slowdown to be a one-time occurrence.