Trump boasts Harris easier than Biden to beat, steps up personal attacks

Trump boasts Harris easier than Biden to beat, steps up personal attacks
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza, on Aug. 17, 2024, in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. (AP)
Short Url
Updated 18 August 2024
Follow

Trump boasts Harris easier than Biden to beat, steps up personal attacks

Trump boasts Harris easier than Biden to beat, steps up personal attacks
  • In a bid to counter Harris' surge in polls, Trump has sought to portray her as far left on a number of policies
  • Rejecting calls against personal attacks, Trump went on to call Harris a “radical” and a “lunatic”

WILKES-BARRE, Pennsylvania: Republican Donald Trump said on Saturday he believed Democrat Kamala Harris will be easier to beat than President Joe Biden even as some polls showed her edging ahead in the race for the Nov. 5 presidential election.
Trump, the former president, made the remarks at a rally in Wilkes-Barre in the northeastern part of Pennsylvania, a state looming large in the campaign. Vice President Harris will conduct a bus tour of western Pennsylvania starting in Pittsburgh on Sunday, ahead of the kickoff of the Democratic National Convention on Monday in Chicago.
“I believe she will be easier to beat than him,” said Trump, referring to her as “radical” and a “lunatic.”
Trump has sought to portray Harris as far left on a number of policies. At the rally he highlighted her previous call for a ban on fracking, an industry important to the state. Harris’ campaign has recently indicated she would not support a ban.
He also continued to attack Harris on personal terms, even as some political analysts say such comments could hurt Trump with moderate voters.
“Have you heard her laugh? That is the laugh of a crazy person,” Trump said.
Pennsylvania was one of three Rust Belt states, along with Wisconsin and Michigan, that helped power Trump’s upset victory in 2016. Biden, who grew up in Scranton, Pennsylvania, flipped the trio back to the Democrats in 2020.
With 19 electoral votes out of the 270 needed to secure the White House, compared with 15 in Michigan and 10 in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania may be the biggest prize in this year’s election and potentially tip the balance for both candidates.
Harris’ entry into the race after Biden ended his reelection bid last month has upended the contest, erasing the lead Trump built during the final weeks of Biden’s shaky campaign. Harris is leading Trump by more than two percentage points in Pennsylvania, according to the poll tracking website FiveThirtyEight.

Trump has hammered Harris on the economy, associating her with the Biden administration’s inflation woes and likening her latest proposal against price gouging to measures in communist nations. Trump says a federal ban on price gouging for groceries would lead to food shortages, rationing and hunger and on Saturday asked why she hadn't worked to solve prices when she and Biden were sworn into office in 2021.
“Day one for Kamala was three and a half years ago. So why didn’t she do it then? So this is day 1,305," Trump said.
He predicted financial ruin for the country and Pennsylvania in particular, citing Harris’ past opposition to fracking, an oil and gas extraction process.
“Your state’s going to be ruined anyway. She’s totally anti-fracking,” Trump said.

Blanketing airwaces with ads
Trump won Pennsylvania in 2016 by about 44,000 votes, a margin of less than one percentage point, while Biden prevailed by just over 80,000 votes in 2020, a 1.2 percent margin.
Both campaigns have made the state a top priority, blanketing the airwaves with advertisements. Of the more than $110 million spent on advertising in seven battleground states since Biden dropped out in late July, roughly $42 million was spent in Pennsylvania, more than twice any other state, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing data from the tracking site AdImpact.
Democratic and Republican groups have already reserved $114 million in ad time in Pennsylvania from late August through the election, more than twice as much as the $55 million reserved in Arizona, the next highest total, according to AdImpact.
The Harris campaign said on Saturday it planned to spend at least $370 million on digital and television ads nationwide between the Labor Day holiday on Sept. 2 and Election Day.
The battleground states — seen as critical for winning the election — also include Arizona, North Carolina, Nevada and Georgia.
New polls published on Saturday by the New York Times found Harris leading Trump among likely voters in Arizona, 50 percent to 45 percent, and in North Carolina, 49 percent to 47 percent, and narrowing the former president’s leads in Nevada, 47 percent to 49 percent, and in Georgia, 46 percent to 50 percent. A pollster from the Trump campaign said the poll results underestimated the Republican candidate’s support.
Trump and Harris have visited Pennsylvania more than half a dozen times each this year. Trump was wounded during an assassination attempt at his rally near Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13.
Trump will give remarks on the economy at a campaign event in York, Pennsylvania, on Monday. His running mate, US Senator JD Vance, will hold an event in Philadelphia that day as well.
Trump’s trip on Saturday to Wilkes-Barre in Luzerne County is aimed at solidifying support among the white, non-college-educated voters who lifted him to victory in 2016. The blue-collar county voted Democratic for decades before swinging heavily toward Trump in 2016, mirroring other similar regions around the country.
Trump won Luzerne in 2020 by 14.4 percentage points, a smaller margin than his 19.4 point win in 2016. With Biden out of the picture, Trump likely sees room for gains in this area of the state, said Chris Borick, a political science professor at Muhlenberg College.
“This is the type of place where Trump has lots of strengths,” Borick said, referring to the state’s northeast region. “Marginal gains in a region like this certainly could have some impact on his ability to take back Pennsylvania.”

’Really fired up’

Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, will make multiple stops across Allegheny and Beaver counties on Sunday, the campaign said. The tour is the first time Harris, Walz and their spouses have campaigned together since their first rally as a presidential ticket in Philadelphia earlier this month.
Her campaign has tried to soften her stance on fracking, saying she would not ban it, even though that was her position when she was seeking the 2020 presidential nomination.
Some Democrats in Pennsylvania acknowledge the challenges but say the economy is what concerns most people in the area.
Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. Austin Davis said in an interview that voters are “really fired up.” David Harris' rally in Philadelphia to introduce her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, along with 36 field offices, including several in more Republican-leaning parts of the state.
“The energy has clearly shifted in a dramatic way toward Vice President Harris,” Davis said. He argued that Trump “just goes on rambling rants and just makes personal attacks on Harris.”
On Sunday, Harris plans a bus tour starting in Pittsburgh, with a stop in Rochester, a small town to the north. Trump has scheduled a visit Monday to a plant that manufactures nuclear fuel containers in York. Trump's running mate JD Vance is expected to be in Philadelphia that day.
Trump's Saturday rally is his fifth at the arena in Wilkes-Barre, the largest city in Luzerne County, where he has had victories the past two elections. Biden bested Trump in neighboring Lackawanna County, where the Democrat has long promoted his working-class roots in Scranton.
Some of Biden's loyal supporters in this former industrial city of 76,000 were upset to see party leaders put pressure the president to step aside.
Diane Munley, 63, says she called dozens of members of Congress to vouch for Biden. Munley eventually came to terms with Biden's decision and is now very supportive of Harris.
“I can’t deny the enthusiasm that’s been going on with this ticket right now. I am so into it,” Munley said. “It just wasn’t happening with Joe, and I couldn’t see it at the time because I was so connected to him.”
She said she does not know a Democrat or even independent in her circle of a couple hundred people who is not fully committed to Harris and Walz.
“We are all-in on Kamala Harris,” Munley said. “All in 110%.”
Robert A. Bridy, 64, a laborer from Shamokin, Pennsylvania, traveled to the rally to show support for Trump. He said the election feels tight in this state and added that his union and a close friend are trying to convince him to vote for Harris and other Democrats, but he has voted for Trump since 2016.
“It’s close. You can’t change Democrats’ minds no matter what. They’ve got a one-track mind, and that’s it,” he said.
Bridy called Trump a “working class guy like us.” Trump is a billionaire who built his fortune in real estate.
“He’s a fighter,” Bridy said. “I’d like to see the closed borders. He doesn’t mess around. He goes at it right away and takes care of business the way it should be.”
With election day rapidly approaching, Harris is trying to distance herself from unpopular Biden policies, while getting ahead of Trump’s attempts to brand her a liberal extremist.
The past week has seen the two sides home in on voters’ worries about the economy.
Trump hammered Harris on Saturday, saying her push for a federal ban on price-gouging by companies that unfairly raise prices was the sort of policy favored by communist countries.
On Friday, Harris held an event in North Carolina to unveil a series of proposals to ease the burden of post-Covid pandemic inflation.
She noted that the US economy was booming while conceding that “many Americans don’t yet feel that progress in their daily lives.”
“Donald Trump fights for billionaires and large corporations,” she said. “I will fight to give money back to working- and middle-class Americans.”
 


UK urged to honor ICC’s arrest warrants against Israeli leaders

UK urged to honor ICC’s arrest warrants against Israeli leaders
Updated 9 sec ago
Follow

UK urged to honor ICC’s arrest warrants against Israeli leaders

UK urged to honor ICC’s arrest warrants against Israeli leaders
  • Warrants issued on Thursday against Israel’s ministers, officials of Hamas

LONDON: The British government has been urged by the Council for Arab-British Understanding to immediately honor International Criminal Court arrest warrants issued against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

The ICC issued the warrants on Thursday for Netanyahu, Gallant, and officials of Hamas, accusing them of war crimes and crimes against humanity over the war in Gaza and the attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, that triggered Israel’s offensive in the Palestinian territory.

CAABU director Chris Doyle emphasized the gravity of the situation, accusing the UK government of failing to hold Israel accountable for its actions in violation of international law.

Doyle said: “This decision highlights how woefully the UK government has handled the situation of Israeli atrocities and war crimes.

“It now must demonstrate, with concrete action, that this government will honor its pledge to uphold respect for international law and the ICC by abiding in full with the ICC decision.”

Doyle also called for immediate measures, including a full arms embargo on Israel, the cessation of military and security cooperation, and an end to arms sales while atrocities were allegedly being carried out in Gaza.

CAABU warned that failure to comply with the ICC’s warrants could severely damage the UK’s international standing, making it complicit in alleged crimes against humanity, including forced displacement, apartheid, and genocide.

“The UK’s reputation globally would be trashed,” Doyle cautioned.

The organization stressed that the ICC’s warrants represented a crucial step toward justice and accountability for Palestinians. However, Doyle stressed the need for swift action.

He said: “There is no time to wait; justice delayed is justice denied. The UK needs to uphold international law, accountability, and ensure justice with immediate effect by complying with these arrest warrants.”

Britain said it respected the independence of the ICC, Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s spokesperson said on Thursday.

“We respect the independence of the International Criminal Court, which is the primary international institution for investigating and prosecuting the most serious crimes of international concern,” the spokesperson told reporters.

“There is no moral equivalence between Israel, a democracy, and Hamas and Lebanese Hezbollah, which are terrorist organizations. We remain focused on pushing for an immediate ceasefire to bring an end to the devastating violence in Gaza.”


UK says it respects ICC independence as court issues arrest warrants

UK says it respects ICC independence as court issues arrest warrants
Updated 13 min 3 sec ago
Follow

UK says it respects ICC independence as court issues arrest warrants

UK says it respects ICC independence as court issues arrest warrants
  • PM Keir Starmer’s spokesperson said: “We remain focused on pushing for an immediate ceasefire to bring an end to the devastating violence in Gaza”

LONDON: Britain respects the independence of the International Criminal Court, Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s spokesperson said on Thursday, after it issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his ex-defense chief and a Hamas leader.
“We respect the independence of the International Criminal Court, which is the primary international institution for investigating and prosecuting the most serious crimes of international concern,” the spokesperson told reporters.
“There is no moral equivalence between Israel, a democracy, and Hamas and Lebanese Hezbollah, which are terrorist organizations. We remain focused on pushing for an immediate ceasefire to bring an end to the devastating violence in Gaza.”


Russia fires what appears to be intercontinental ballistic missile at Ukraine, Kyiv says

Russia fires what appears to be intercontinental ballistic missile at Ukraine, Kyiv says
Updated 59 min 23 sec ago
Follow

Russia fires what appears to be intercontinental ballistic missile at Ukraine, Kyiv says

Russia fires what appears to be intercontinental ballistic missile at Ukraine, Kyiv says
  • Western officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, later told Reuters their initial analysis showed it was not an intercontinental ballistic missile
  • Regardless of its classification, the latest strike highlighted rapidly rising tensions in the 33-month-old war

KYIV: Ukraine said Russia fired what appeared to be an intercontinental ballistic missile at the city of Dnipro on Thursday, in what would be the first use in war of a weapon designed to deliver long-distance nuclear strikes.
Western officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, later told Reuters their initial analysis showed it was not an intercontinental ballistic missile, though they left open the possibility that conclusion could change.
Regardless of its classification, the latest strike highlighted rapidly rising tensions in the 33-month-old war.
Ukraine fired US and British missiles at targets inside Russia this week despite warnings by Moscow that it would see such action as a major escalation.
Security experts said that if Thursday’s strike involved an intercontinental ballistic missile, it would be the first use of such a missile in war. ICBMs are strategic weapons designed to deliver nuclear warheads and are an important part of Russia’s nuclear deterrent.
“Today there was a new Russian missile. All the characteristics – speed, altitude – are (of an) intercontinental ballistic (missile). An expert (investigation) is currently underway,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video statement.
Ukraine’s foreign ministry urged the international community to react swiftly to the use of what it said was “the use by Russia of a new type of weaponry.”
The Ukrainian air force said the missile was fired from the Russian region of Astrakhan, more than 700 km (435 miles) from Dnipro in central-eastern Ukraine. It did not specify what kind of warhead the missile had or what type of missile it was. There was no suggestion it was nuclear-armed.
Asked about the air force statement, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters to contact Russian military for comment.
Ukrainska Pravda, a Kyiv-based media outlet, cited anonymous sources saying the missile was an RS-26 Rubezh, a solid-fueled intercontinental ballistic missile with a range of 5,800 km, according to the Arms Control Association.
The RS-26 was first successfully tested in 2012, and is estimated to be 12 meters (40 ft) long and weigh 36 tons, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). It said the RS-26 can carry an 800-kg (1,765-pound)nuclear warhead.
The RS-26 is classified as an ICBM under a nuclear arms reduction treaty between the United States and Russia, but it can be seen as an intermediate-range ballistic missile when used with heavier payloads at ranges below 5,500 km, CSIS said.


At least 38 killed as gunmen open fire on vehicles carrying Shiites in northwest Pakistan

At least 38 killed as gunmen open fire on vehicles carrying Shiites in northwest Pakistan
Updated 21 November 2024
Follow

At least 38 killed as gunmen open fire on vehicles carrying Shiites in northwest Pakistan

At least 38 killed as gunmen open fire on vehicles carrying Shiites in northwest Pakistan
  • No one immediately claimed responsibility for the latest attack
  • Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said at least 38 people were killed in the “terrorist attack“

PESHAWAR: Gunmen opened fire on vehicles carrying Shiite Muslims in Pakistan’s restive northwest on Thursday, killing at least 38 people, including six women, and wounding 20 others in one of the region’s deadliest such attacks in recent years, police said.
The attack happened in Kurram, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province where sectarian clashes between majority Sunni Muslims and minority Shiites have killed dozens of people in recent months.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the latest attack. It came a week after authorities reopened a key highway in the region that had been closed for weeks following deadly clashes.
Local police official Azmat Ali said several vehicles were traveling in a convoy from the city of Parachinar to Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, when gunmen opened fire. He said at least 10 passengers were in critical condition at a hospital.
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said at least 38 people were killed in the “terrorist attack.” Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and President Asif Ali Zardari condemned the attack, and Sharif said those behind the killing of innocent civilians will not go unpunished.
A witness, 35-year-old Mir Hussain, said he saw four gunmen emerge from a vehicle and open fire on buses and cars.
“I think other people were also firing at the convoy of vehicles from nearby open farm field,” he said. “The firing continued for about 40 minutes.” He said he hid until the attackers fled.
“I heard cries of women, and people were shouting for the help,” he said.
Baqir Haideri, a local Shiite leader, denounced the assault and said the death toll was likely to rise.
Shop owners in Parachinar announced a strike on Friday to protest the attack.
Shiite Muslims make up about 15 percent of the 240 million population of Sunni-majority Pakistan, which has a history of sectarian animosity between the communities.
Although they live together largely peacefully, tensions have existed for decades in some areas, especially in parts of Kurram, where Shiites are the majority. Nearly 50 people from both sides were killed over a land dispute in July when clashes between Sunni and Shiites erupted in Kurram.
Pakistan is tackling violence in the northwest and southwest, where militants and separatists often target police, troops and civilians. Most of the violence in these areas has been blamed on the Pakistani Taliban and the outlawed Baloch Liberation Army.


WHO chief released from hospital in Rio de Janeiro

WHO chief released from hospital in Rio de Janeiro
Updated 21 November 2024
Follow

WHO chief released from hospital in Rio de Janeiro

WHO chief released from hospital in Rio de Janeiro
  • According to the hospital, Tedros was admitted on Wednesday afternoon
  • He “underwent all the necessary tests, which confirmed clinical indicators with no signs of seriousness”

SAO PAULO: World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has been released from Rio de Janeiro’s Hospital Samaritano Barra da Tijuca after spending the night under observation, the hospital said.
According to the hospital, Tedros was admitted on Wednesday afternoon and “underwent all the necessary tests, which confirmed clinical indicators with no signs of seriousness, and was discharged from hospital this morning.”
Local newspaper O Globo had reported earlier on Thursday that Tedros sought medical attention at the facility with “symptoms of labyrinthitis and an hypertensive crisis,” after showing signs of being unwell earlier this week on the sidelines of the G20 summit.
According to the report, Tedros was examined on Monday by health professionals on duty at the G20 summit and given medicine for high blood pressure, but was released once he was stable.
The G20 summit in Rio ended this week with calls for cooperation on climate change, poverty reduction and tax policy.