ST. CLOUD, Minn. \u2014 Donald Trump supporters lining up to enter a rally here passed the usual tents hawking MAGA merchandise, but suddenly most of the gear attacking President Biden (often in vulgar terms) was gone. A few straggler \u201cLet\u2019s go Brandon\u201d stickers remained. New swag targeting Vice President Harris, the new presumptive Democratic nominee, had yet to arrive.<\/p>\n
Those sale racks were a small but telling symbol of how the White House race has rapidly transformed since Biden withdrew last Sunday. Democrats have swung from despondency to jubilance with a surge of fundraising, volunteering and meme-making, with one dance club literally thumping to an excerpt of a viral quote from Harris about falling from a coconut tree. Republicans, meanwhile, have struggled to adapt to Biden\u2019s exit and settle on a clear message to define Harris, with just 100 days until the election.<\/p>\n
A new national survey by the Wall Street Journal found 49 percent of registered voters said they supported Trump and 47 percent backed Harris, within the margin of error, compared to Trump leading Biden by six percentage points in the same poll before Biden dropped out. New Fox News polls in battleground states found the candidates statistically tied in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Harris led by 6 points in Minnesota.<\/p>\n
Interviews with rallygoers ahead of a Trump event that was supposed to signal strength and a widening path to victory reflected the grab-bag attacks that Republicans are currently trying against Harris. Trump supporters referenced her role in the administration\u2019s response to migration, called her liberal and criticized the process of replacing Biden on the ticket. Similarly, the pro-Trump MAGA Inc. super PAC launched new ads attacking Harris on the border, accusing her of covering up Biden\u2019s health and having a liberal voting record.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe will always be my first choice, but she\u2019s my second choice,\u201d Trump said on Saturday of running against Biden or Harris at the top of the ticket.<\/p>\n
Harris allies responded with a new spot touting her work as a prosecutor, state attorney general and vice president. The super PAC Future Forward said it would spend $50 million boosting Harris ahead of the Democratic National Convention in August. Another group, American Bridge 21st Century, is resuming Trump attack ads in battleground states.<\/p>\n
\u201cI will proudly put my record against his any day,\u201d Harris said at a fundraiser in Pittsfield, Mass. \u201cSome folks would suggest that the measure of the strength of a leader is based on who you beat down \u2026 The true measure of the strength of a leader is based on who you lift up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Harris allies are leaning into attacking Trump\u2019s new running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), as out of touch with the values of most Americans, especially by spotlighting his three-year-old comments calling Democrats including Harris \u201ca bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable.\u201d (Harris has two stepchildren.)<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve all seen how pathetic JD Vance is, what a weirdo,\u201d second gentleman Doug Emhoff said on Saturday at a door-knocking event in Port Stevens, Wis., in support of his wife. \u201cSeriously, this guy, the more you get to know him, the more it\u2019s just ridiculous.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a viral cable news interview, Gov. Tim Walz (R-Minn.), who has emerged as a leading contender for Harris\u2019s running mate, warned Vance that he should careful about stirring the anger of cat people. The Harris campaign followed with a statement describing Vance as a \u201ccreep (who wants to ban to abortion nationwide).\u201d Even before changing candidates, the campaign has consistently sought to portray Trump as dangerous and unhinged.<\/p>\n
Walz, in an interview with The Washington Post, said he wasn\u2019t trying to drive a political message, just making \u201can observation.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is weird stuff \u2014 they\u2019re way too obsessed with our bedrooms,\u201d he said. \u201cAll of a sudden it feels like to me, people are pausing and saying, \u2018You\u2019re right, this just doesn\u2019t feel right.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Harris\u2019s fundraiser in western Massachusetts on Saturday was expected to bring in $1.4 million for the campaign, according to one of the co-hosts. The campaign said it raised $126 million from 1.4 million donors in the three days after Biden endorsed Harris.<\/p>\n
The surge of contributions marks a reversal of fortunes for Democrats. As of June, Trump and the GOP had virtually erased an earlier Democratic cash advantage.<\/p>\n
Harris landed in Massachusetts greeted by busloads of local Democrats, Air National Guard base employees and a 4-H youth group. She took her time on the rope line, mostly posing for selfies.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s definitely a complete transformation,\u201d said Valery Franco, a 23-year-old from Springfield, Mass., who works in recruiting at the nearby base. \u201cThere was a lot of discouragement about Biden and what we saw in the debate. People felt like they were choosing between the lesser of two evils. But with Kamala \u2014 there\u2019s a lot more energy that she\u2019s bringing to the table.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the fundraiser in Pittsfield, Mass., Harris told the crowd that Trump and his allies have been resorting to some \u201cwild lies\u201d about her record. And she picked up the Walz line of argument as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome of what he and his running mate are saying it\u2019s just plain weird,\u201d Harris said to laughter at The Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield. \u201cThat\u2019s the box you put that in.\u201d<\/p>\n
She also noted that Trump had \u201cjust pulled out of our debate.\u201d Trump and a spokesman have recently made statements casting doubt on sticking with the debate that Trump and Biden agreed to have in September, hosted by ABC News.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hope he reconsiders because we have a lot to talk about,\u201d she said. But she also told the crowd that Democrats are the \u201cunderdogs\u201d in the November election. \u201cThe bottom line is we have our work cut out for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
The event included cellist Yo-Yo Ma, pianist Emanuel Ax and singer-songwriter James Taylor. Former governor Deval Patrick is among the co-hosts for the fundraiser, where tickets to attend ranged from $100 to $12,500. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who ran against Harris in the 2020 presidential primary, also attended.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe made a commitment to come here before this all happened,\u201d said co-host Sherwood Guernsey, an attorney and former state legislator who leads the Rural Freedom Network political action committee. \u201cShe could have easily said \u2018I\u2019ve got to go to the swing states.\u2019 \u2026 She\u2019s got lots of other places to go.\u201d<\/p>\n
Across the pivotal swing states, the Harris campaign said it was hosting 2,300 grassroots events this weekend to mobilize supporters. Several of the events doubled as auditions for potential running mates including Walz, and Govs. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania and Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan.<\/p>\n
Trump, meanwhile, was scheduled to speak on Saturday afternoon at a bitcoin conference in Nashville. The former president previously dismissed cryptocurrency as \u201ca scam\u201d and a \u201cdisaster waiting to happen,\u201d but in this campaign he started opposing \u201ca Central Bank Digital Currency,\u201d including adding that to the Republican Party platform, after aggressive lobbying and major donations from industry executives.<\/p>\n
In the Nashville speech, Trump repeatedly attacked Biden, adding Harris almost as an afterthought.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe lost this wonderful person, you know he\u2019s actually a terrible human being,\u201d Trump said of Biden. \u201cThe problem is that Kamala,\u201d he added, mispronouncing Harris\u2019s name. \u201cShe\u2019s worse than Joe \u2026 She\u2019s got a little honeymoon going on now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Later on Saturday, Trump was set to join Vance for the rally in Minnesota. Vance has been on defense over his past comments insulting childless people and advocating for a national abortion ban.<\/p>\n
Many St. Cloud rally attendees brushed off concerns that Harris could pose a stiffer challenger to Trump than Biden. They asked, rhetorically, what she had done as vice president, convinced she had little to show for it. Like Trump, many mispronounced her name. Some had seen the viral videos of what they called Harris\u2019s \u201cword salads\u201d and predicted she would soon trip up again.<\/p>\n
But there was also a hint of apprehension in the crowd that the race just got harder.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just feel like there\u2019s more problems ahead with that happening,\u201d said Kris Ryks, a rally attendee from New London, Minn. \u201cIt just seems like there\u2019s so much money involved and so many people behind them like never before.\u201d<\/p>\n
Knowles reported from St. Cloud, Minn. Reston reported from Pittsfield, Mass. Wells reported from Wasau and Port Stevens, Wis. Arnsdorf reported from Washington.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
ST. CLOUD, Minn. \u2014 Donald Trump supporters lining up to enter a rally here passed the usual tents hawking MAGA merchandise, but suddenly most of the gear attacking President Biden (often in vulgar terms) was gone. A few straggler \u201cLet\u2019s go Brandon\u201d stickers remained. New swag targeting Vice President Harris, the new presumptive Democratic nominee, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":6852,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6851","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6851","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6851"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6851\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6852"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}