Harris and Trump campaign in swing states while playing clean up on 'garbage' rhetoric
In the closing days of the presidential race, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are back campaigning in swing states while addressing inflammatory comments made about supporters.
Trump distanced himself from a speaker who called Puerto Rico "an island of garbage" at a Sunday rally. Trump did not directly denounce the comment but claimed instead he "didn't hear it."
In a call to Latino voters Tuesday, Biden pushed back on the speaker's joke.
"The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters," Biden said.
Biden later walked back that comment, saying he was referring to the rhetoric of speakers at the rally.
The Trump campaign was quick to turn Biden's comment into a campaign opportunity. In Wisconsin Wednesday, Trump climbed into a garbage truck emblazoned with his name and later reiterated his point at a rally, attempting to tie the Harris campaign to Biden's comment.
"You can't lead America if you don't love Americans," Trump said. "Kamala Harris, a very low IQ individual, is running a campaign of hate, anger, and retribution."
Trump's divisive rhetoric highlighted a sharp difference to Harris, who focused on an unifying message in battleground states Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Wisconsin.
"I strongly disagree with any criticism of people based on who they vote for," Harris said in an attempt to separate herself from Biden's comment.
"We must turn the page on a decade of Donald Trump trying to keep us divided and afraid of each other," she said later in a Pennsylvania rally.
In North Carolina, Harris said, "I pledge to seek common ground and common sense solutions."
Trump is also casting doubt over the voting process, which is already underway in several battleground states.
In North Carolina, he suggested election workers could hide early voting ballots to sway the outcome. He called for "one-day voting" instead.
In Pennsylvania, he mischaracterized investigations of suspicious voter applications as fake votes. And in Wisconsin, he criticized the use of electronic voting machines and called for all-paper ballots.
According to the Brennan Center for Justice, 98% of all votes will be cast on paper in the 2024 election.
The only jurisdictions without a paper trail are in Louisiana and Texas - both states Trump is expected to win and not impact the election outcome.
Harris and Trump are headed west Thursday. Both will be in Arizona and Nevada while Trump adds a stop in New Mexico.