Research, editing : Gan Yung Chyan, KUCINTA SETIA
News on the U.S.
News (1)
Trump: The election campaign is almost over and he will no longer debate with Harris
Reporter : Zeng Ziheng / Editor : Li Muen / https://www.epochtimes.com/b5/24/10/10/n14347659.htm / Image : On 10 September 2024, former US President and Republican presidential candidate Trump and US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris held the first debate at the National Constitution Center. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)
U.S. Republican presidential candidate Trump rejected Fox News’s debate invitation on Wednesday (9 October 2024) , once again stated that there would not be a second debate between him and Democratic opponent Harris Harris. He pointed out that the 2024 election campaign is coming to an end, and Kamala has also stated that she will not make any changes different from Biden, so he believes that there is no need to continue the debate.
Trump published a post in capital letters on the Truth Social platform, reiterating that he had won both debates. He said that he had previously promised Fox News to debate Kamala on 4 September but Kamala rejected the proposal. As the campaign enters its later stages and early voting begins in states across the country, he refuses to hold another debate with her.
Trump said: "I won the last two debates, one with the crooked Joe and the other with the lying Kamala. I accepted Fox's invitation to debate her on September 4th, but she refused to debate me, and my partner, J.D. Vance, easily won the debate against self-proclaimed idiot Tim Walz."
"I'm also leading in the polls, and my lead is growing day by day, leading in all the swing states."
"The first thing a fighter does after losing a fight is say he 'demands a rematch,'" Trump wrote. However, the campaign has come to an end and voting has begun - there will be no reruns! Moreover, Kamala made it clear yesterday that she will not make any changes that are different from Joe Biden, so there is nothing to debate. Thank you for your attention to this issue! "
Fox News invited Trump and Harris to debate on Wednesday, scheduled for 24 October or 27 October. The debate will be hosted by the network’s reporters Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum.
Kamala accepted the invitation.
News (2)
Kamala Harris failed to explain differences with Biden's policies, Trump responded
Reporter : Zeng Ziheng / Editor : Li Muen / https://www.epochtimes.com/b5/24/10/10/n14347633.htm / Image : On 8 October 2024, U.S. Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris attended the talk show "The View". (Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images)
U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris recently changed her past campaign strategy of avoiding exclusive interviews with the media and frequently appeared on major TV programs. In an interview with the American Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on Tuesday (8 October 2024), she described herself as a reformist leader, but was unable to explain the political differences between herself and current President Biden, which aroused attention from all walks of life.
When Kamala was asked on "The View" how her policies or governance style would be different from Biden's if she served as leader, she failed to give a specific answer. She replied: "We are obviously two different people, and I will bring my leadership style to some sensitive issues."
When asked about specific policies, Kamala said: "I don't have any ideas yet."
She later added on the show that she would appoint a Republican to her cabinet.
The Associated Press article pointed out that Harris was only 9 years old when Biden was elected senator. When Trump was still a real estate tycoon and published the book "The Art of the Deal", Harris was studying in law school. Analysis said that in the two and a half months since her candidacy, Harris Harris has mainly relied on her age and prosecutorial experience to highlight her differences with 82-year-old Biden and 78-year-old Republican opponent Trump; in this fierce election battle , she must reevaluate how she discusses discussions with her superiors and how she will act independently if she wins the White House.
According to Harris' campaign assistant, Harris is very loyal to President Biden and will not publicly make any move that may be interpreted as criticizing Biden. During a time of global crisis, if she draws a line with Biden on foreign policy, there may be consequences. Any disagreement is reckless.
Republican presidential candidate Trump caused a stir when he played a clip of Kamala Harris from "The View" at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania on Wednesday. Trump said Kamala was unable to make policy changes that were different from Biden's, so she was not qualified to be president of the United States.
"Her response was that she wouldn't do anything different, which disqualified her," Trump said.
Trump recently posted on social platforms, calling this "Kamala Harris's stupidest answer so far."
News (3)
Polls show most U.S. voters are more concerned about the economy
Reporter : Qiusheng / Editor : Li Lin / https://www.epochtimes.com/b5/24/10/9/n14347467.htm / Image : The picture shows American people buying daily necessities in a supermarket. (Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images)
There is less than a month left before the U.S. election. The latest poll shows that most voters believe that the economy is the most important issue in the election. President Trump leads Vice President Kamala Harris on this issue.
The Gallup poll, which surveyed 941 registered voters from 16 to 28 September 2024, had a margin of error of 4 percentage points.
The Gallup survey found that 52% of voters said economic issues are "extremely important" to them and will determine who they vote for in November.
This is the highest proportion of voters focusing on economic issues since the financial crisis in October 2008, when 55% of voters held the same view. A Gallup poll showed that when the COVID-19 (Chinese Communist Party virus) epidemic was at its worst in 2020, 44% of voters said that economic issues were extremely important to their voting choices.
The Gallup survey also found that no other issue surpassed the 50% threshold to become an extremely important issue for voters. Just under half of respondents (49%) said America's democratic system is extremely important to their choice to vote.
The survey also found partisan differences on the issues voters consider most important. About 66% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents say economic issues are extremely important, but only 36% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents say the same.
The survey showed that on economic issues, Trump received a slim majority of respondents' approval, with more than half of voters (54%) believing that he would do a better job than Kamala in handling economic issues.
According to a report by Agence France-Presse on Tuesday (October 8), although U.S. inflation is cooling, the unemployment rate is declining, and various indicators show that the U.S. economy is moving in a stable direction, inflation is still serious, and voter sentiment is still sluggish, and there is still a lack of confidence in the economy. The outlook remains pessimistic, a mood that has frustrated Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris. "While consumers are aware that inflation has slowed, they are still frustrated by high prices," said Joanne Hsu, a research associate professor at the University of Michigan.
Nearly half of respondents believe the current economic situation is "very bad," according to a New York Times/Siena College poll released on Tuesday.
Many polls have shown that the economy is currently the issue that voters are most concerned about, especially inflation. Although Kamala worked hard to narrow Trump's lead on economic issues, polls show that voters favour the former president on economic issues.
At the same time, former President Trump is taking advantage of such voter sentiment, repeatedly claiming that he created "the greatest economy in American history" and that it was the Biden-Harris administration that destroyed it.
Trump told the media on 6 October 2024, "Inflation has destroyed our economy," and linked last week's East Coast longshoremen's strike to inflation, emphasizing that inflation has dealt a severe blow to workers. He also promised to "make America affordable again."
(This article refers to the report of "Capitol Hill")
News (4) to (7) / Reporter : Cheng Wen / Editor : Ren Zijun / https://www.epochtimes.com/b5/24/10/9/n14347597.htm
News (4)
Election bellwether Trump and Kamala battle fiercely in Pennsylvania county
Image : On 5 October 2024, former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump spoke at a campaign rally held at the site of the first assassination in Butler, Pennsylvania. (Jim Watson/AFP)
Pennsylvania has 19 electoral votes, making it the largest vote bank among the battleground states that determine who wins the U.S. presidential election. Erie County in Pennsylvania has voted for the winning presidential candidate in the past four presidential elections, making it a bellwether for the general election and a battleground between the two parties. In the 2024 election, the two camps of Trump and Kamala have invested heavily in a fierce battle here.
News (5)
Both Trump and Kamala have campaign command centers in Erie County, Pennsylvania
According to Reuters, Republican presidential candidate and former President Trump’s campaign command center in Pennsylvania is located in a small office on a commercial street in Erie County.
Two staff members of the Erie County Republican Party are here to host a network of volunteers known as "Trump Force 47" to collect votes.
A few miles away, in an office in downtown Erie, there was even more activity, as paid staff and volunteers from the campaign of Democratic presidential candidate and current Vice President Kamala Harris were busy making phone calls. Or press the new campaign button. The results of their door-knocking activities are recorded on the blackboard: so far, they have knocked on the doors of 12,000 families to collect tickets. Their target is 20,000 households, almost one-fifth of the county's households.
The Harris campaign and the Democratic Party have three offices in Erie County, eight paid staff and more than 300 volunteers.
Marie Troyer, a 60-year-old retired teacher, found a job on the Harris campaign team, answering calls and managing volunteers in Erie County. "This is the leader of it. The fact that this particular city, this particular state, ultimately gets to decide who is president, they know that," she told Reuters.
Erie County is a blue-collar area with 177,000 registered voters. It is also a must-win county among the must-win states in the history of American elections. In the 2020 election, Biden won Erie County by less than 1,500 votes (or 1.03 percentage points). Biden's overall victory advantage over Trump in Pennsylvania was 1.2 percentage points. In 2016, Trump defeated Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in Erie County by less than 2,000 votes.
News (6)
Trump and Kamala have different campaign strategies in Erie County
With less than four weeks left before the November 5 presidential election, Kamala's campaign is using its considerable cash advantage to build a massive ground campaign aimed at mobilizing supporters and finding new voters while the Trump campaign team focuses on identifying infrequent voters and pushing them to register and vote.
Federal financial disclosures show Kamala and the Democrats raised $361 million in August, while Trump and the Republicans raised $130 million. In addition, she spent nearly three times as much as Trump in August.
Reuters spoke to about 40 supporters, campaign workers, volunteers and voters who said Harris's ground-war advantage could test whether physical campaigns still work as much of the campaign now takes place on social media networks. carried out.
"Trump and his team appear to be relying on his personal influence," said Chris Borick, a pollster and political science professor at Muhlenberg College in Pennsylvania.
"Kamala and the Democratic Party are deeply invested in a more traditional ground battle here, so this election will be a test of a very different strategy." Borik added.
Volunteers and voters also described an increase in digital and television ads, robocalls, text messages and door-knocking campaigns from both camps, signaling a tense race as the two presidential candidates' campaigns pour millions of dollars into each campaign. The situation continues to escalate.
“I was bombarded with emails, phone calls and texts,” said Erin Miller, 38, a bartender and mother of six who recently moved from Colorado to Pennsylvania has yet to vote in the presidential election, making her a target voter that both campaigns are trying to win over.
Voter numbers from both parties in Erie County dwindled.
According to an interview with Reuters, although Kamala's campaign team has a ground war advantage, they found it very difficult to mobilize black male voters in Erie. About 16% of the city's population is black.
Howard Pratchett, a 48-year-old barber, said he planned to vote for Trump because he believed Trump was more "fact-oriented" than Harris. "We don't care about LBGT rights. We don't care about abortion rights. We don't worry about that. They (Democrats) have nothing to offer straight black male voters," he said.
Monty Davis, 51, who runs a local youth program, said he appreciates President Joe Biden's efforts to reduce costs and plans to vote for Harris but he warned that Erie County's black community isn't as enthusiastic about Democrats now as it was in the past for President Obama or President Biden.
"It just wasn't that intense," Davis said.
Kamala will visit Erie County for the first time on 14 October. Her vice presidential running mate Tim Walz came here in September.
Since Trump became the Republican political leader in 2015, the Democratic Party's voter registration advantage in Erie County and Pennsylvania overall has narrowed significantly.
In 2015, Democrats enjoyed a voter registration advantage of about 33,000 in Erie County but that number has shrunk to 10,000 based on current county election records.
Pennsylvania voter data shows that statewide, Democrats now have a voter registration advantage of about 338,400 over Republicans, down from 892,624 in 2016.
Erie County Democratic Party Chairman Sam Talerico acknowledged that the surge in Republican voter registration was unwelcome news to them.
"We certainly don't want to see these registration numbers close, and that's the bad news. The good news is, I still think we have an advantage in terms of independents turning to us, and that's having an impact," he said.
News (7)
Trump uses outside groups to mobilize voters in Erie County
As in other battleground states, the Trump campaign relies on deep-pocketed outside groups, such as tech billionaire Elon Musk’s America PAC, and a network of supporters and volunteers. A loose network formed to mobilize voters.
Erie County Republican Party Chairman Tom Eddy said the Trump campaign’s two paid staffers in the county also oversee campaigns in two other counties.
The Trump campaign and local Republicans declined to say how many volunteers they had in Erie County, but local officials acknowledged their numbers were smaller than Democrats'.
Republicans are also counting on Trump's frequent visits - five rallies at three campaign events in Erie County, including two visits. Large rallies give the opportunity to mobilize large numbers of voters. Rally organizers can collect information such as mobile phone numbers and emails and promote voter registration and voting.
Volunteers from the Trump Troop 47 network will knock on the doors of infrequent voters to determine if they plan to vote and for whom. Volunteers who knock on a lot of doors can receive prizes such as hats and sweaters.
"We're not trying to convince anyone," said volunteer Justin Berkheimer, 39, who works for a group that helps people with intellectual disabilities. "More importantly, the campaign just wants to make sure that people who are already inclined to vote are People who voted for Trump, go out and vote.”
There were scenes of confrontation and fierce fighting between the two campaign camps
Volunteers say the intensity of the battle for Erie County could turn into confrontations and pitched battles on both sides of the aisle between Trump and Harris.
According to local officials and volunteers, Erie County was filled with pro-Trump signs in 2016, but it will be a completely different story in 2024.
Six die-hard Trump supporters told Reuters they would be threatened if they publicly identified themselves as Trump supporters.
Credit union employee Patrick Fuller, 50, said he knocked on more than 2,000 doors for Trump during this year's campaign, but instead of wearing his red MAGA hat, he keeps the hat at home to avoid confrontation with anti-Trump people.
"A lot of people are afraid to get involved because they're afraid someone will curse them or threaten them," Fowler said.
Several other Republican volunteers said they had been spat on for having pro-Trump stickers on their car bumpers.
Erie County Democrats say they are also encountering tension as they expand into rural areas to open campaign offices. Trump won rural Erie in 2020 with 72% of the vote.
Volunteer Kelly Chelton, 62, described a man charging toward a Democratic volunteer who was angry because the volunteer had a large wooden sign that read "Christians Against Trump." .
"He came looking for a fight, and he asked, 'How do you know Trump is not a Christian?' and he started yelling," Chelton said. Chelton said the Erie County government later installed video security cameras.
No comments:
Post a Comment