Trump Talks Shooting Press, Ramps Up Election Fraud Claims During Pa. rally

Donald Trump delivered a profane and conspiracy-laden speech two days before the presidential election, in which he spoke about the deaths of reporters and suggested he “should not have left” the White House after his 2020 loss to Democrat Joe Biden.

His remarks on Sunday bore no resemblance to his standard speech in the end of the campaignThe former president has repeatedly cast doubt on the integrity of the election and revived old grievances over the persecution after he tried to overturn his defeat four years ago. Trump intensified his verbal attacks against a “highly incompetent” national leadership and the US media, at one point turning his rally in Pennsylvania to the topic of violence against members of the press.

The GOP nominee for the White House noticed the ballistic glass placed in front of him at events following the assassination attempt of a gunman in July at a meeting in Butler, Pennsylvaniaand Trump talked about places where he saw openings in those protections.

“I have a piece of glass here,” he said. “But all we have here is fake news. And to get me, someone would have to go through the fake news. And I don’t mind that so much.”

It was the second time in recent days that Trump talked about pointing guns at people he considers enemies, after he suggested that former Rep. Liz Cheney, a prominent Republican critic, would be unwilling to support foreign wars if they “ had nine barrels.” shoot her.”

His comments also reflect that with less than 48 hours before Election Day, Trump continues to promote election falsehoods, claiming he can only lose to Democrat Kamala Harris if he is cheated, even as polls suggest a tight race.

Some of his allies, most notably former chief strategist Steve Bannon, have encouraged him to declare victory prematurely on Tuesday, even if the race is still too early to call. That’s what Trump did four years ago, initiating a process of challenging the election results that culminated in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

His campaign later tried to clarify his intentions in his talks about the media.

“President Trump spoke brilliantly about the two assassination attempts on his own life, including one that took place within an inch of killing him, something the media constantly talks about and jokes about,” campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement. . “The president’s statement about installing protective glass has nothing to do with harming the media, or anything else.”

Harris, meanwhile, told a Michigan church congregation on Sunday that God is offering America a “divine plan strong enough to heal divisions.”

The two main candidates struck starkly different notes as the campaign neared its end, as Harris said voters can reject “chaos, fear and hate.”

Focusing on Michigan, she started the day with a few hundred parishioners from Greater Emmanuel Institutional Church of God in Christ in Detroit. It was the fourth straight Sunday that Harris, who is Baptist, has spoken to a black congregation, a reflection of how critical black voters are in several battleground states.

“I see faith in action in remarkable ways,” she said in remarks that quoted the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah. “I see a nation determined to turn the page on hatred and division and chart a new path forward. As I travel, I see Americans from so-called red states and so-called blue states who are ready to bend the arc of history toward justice.”

She never mentioned Trump, though she is sure to return to her more conventional partisan speech later Sunday. But Harris did tell her friendly audience that “there are those who are trying to deepen division, sow hatred, spread fear and cause chaos.” The election and “this moment in our nation,” she continued, “must be about so much more than party politics. It should be about the good work we can do together.”

Harris completed her remarks in about 11 minutes — starting and ending during Trump’s roughly 90-minute speech at a chilly outdoor rally in Pennsylvania.

Trump habitually shifts from topic to topic, a discursive style he has called “the weave.” But outside Lancaster airport he went too far, barely mentioning his usual points on the economy, immigration and rote criticism of Harris.

Trump also called John Bolton, his former national security adviser and now a fierce critic, a “stupid son of AB…”. And he repeated well-known and debunked theories about voter fraud, claiming that the only way Democrats could win was by cheating. Public polls indicate a fierce and competitive race between the battleground states that will determine the outcome of the Electoral College.

“It’s a crooked country,” Trump said. “And we’re going to make it right. We are going to make it right.”

Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday called his rally at Madison Square Garden, an event that featured crude and racist insults by several speakers, a “love fest.”

Harris pushed back on Trump’s characterization of the US election, telling reporters after the church service that Trump’s comments “are intended to distract from the fact that we have and support free and fair elections in our country.” Those “good systems” were in place in 2020, Harris said, and “he lost.”

The vice president said she is confident in the upcoming vote count and urged voters, “particularly people who have not yet voted, not to fall for this tactic, which I think includes suggesting to people that if they vote, their vote doesn’t matter. ”

Separately, the vice president tacitly acknowledged Michigan’s significant population of Arab Americans, and voters from that community who are angry with the Biden administration for continuing the U.S. alliance with Israel amid the Netanyahu administration’s war on Hamas in Gaza.

“I have made it very clear that the death rate of innocent Palestinians is unconscionable,” Harris told reporters after the church service on Sunday. ‘We must end the war and get the hostages out. And as President of the United States, I will do everything in my power to achieve that goal.”

Trump, in turn, acknowledged that his conspiratorial speech sidestepped his usual approach. He repeatedly mentioned how he ignored the advice of his aides, telling their side of the story in a mocking voice and insisting that he had to talk about election fraud.

Co-campaign manager Susie Wiles, long credited with bringing order to Trump’s often chaotic political operation, watched silently from the podium.

Trump suggested at one point that he would not give this version of his speech again: “I hope you enjoyed this,” he said, “because I’m only doing this once.”

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Superville reported from Detroit, Barrow from Washington and Cooper from Phoenix.