In three-quarters of an hour, JD Vance said Kamala Harris's name 53 times. Denigrating the Democratic candidate: That's how the program presented by Donald Trump's running mate can be summed up, as he spoke on Saturday, September 21, at a livestock fair in Leesport, in the heart of rural Pennsylvania. In front of some 350 supporters, the Republican senator from Ohio and candidate for US vice president developed three angles of attack against Harris in a swing state decisive for the November election: immigration, inflation and her evasion of media questions.
220 kilometers west of New York City, the Democratic and Republican campaigns spar without crossing paths, each digging its own furrow in two parallel realities. In the small crowd and in the eyes of his running mate, Trump is the absolute hero, the man who rose to his feet after his failed assassination attempt on July 13, shouting to his supporters "Fight! Fight! Fight!" "The most important job of a president is dealing with crises. And I know who I trust to deal with a crisis, it's Donald J Trump, the man who stood calm under fire. Not to Kamala Harris, who's too afraid of the American media to give an interview," attacked JD Vance.
As for accusations of the former president's many trials and escapades, they've never held any weight for supporters. The Capitol Hill rioters on January 6, 2021, who tried to overturn the election? "That's a gross exaggeration, they were just taking selfies and the cops let them in," responded Mike Moylett, 63, a corporate buyer. The ex-president's civil conviction for lying about the financial statements of his real estate empire? "Overstating your real estate, everyone does that," Moylett continued. The libel conviction against former Elle journalist E. Jean Caroll for accusing him of rape? "And what about Clinton getting a blow job in the Oval Office?" added Moylett's voluble neighbor Charles Little, who told his 13-year-old daughter Lindsay to cover her ears. The end of federal abortion rights? "Trump has given that power back to the states," Little continued, believing that women "would be better off taking birth control." In short, there's nothing wrong with the candidate.
"Trump has survived two impeachment proceedings. As for the trials, he'll win them on appeal. In the meantime, they keep calling him an offender," lamented Paul Peters, a 65-year-old retiree, a little worried about the outcome of the election. Trump's ABC debate, on September 10, was deemed a near-miss. But "it was three against one," insisted Moylett, with the two moderating journalists accused of being complicit with Harris.
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