Democratic presidential nominee and US Vice President Kamala Harris reacts during a campaign rally in Charlotte, North Carolina on November 2, 2024.
In Seattle, Washington
Various media outlets have reported Vice president Kamala Harris as leading former Donald Trump ahead of the November 5 US presidential election.
The former California top prosecutor enjoyed a comfortable lead for the past two months, but the latest news indicated that Trump “has been gaining ground and even taken the lead in some of the crucial swing states — likely to determine the race”.
Most states consistently vote either blue or red, such as the 38 that voted for the same party over and over between 2000 and 2016, but some lean differently in each election.
These battleground states of Pennsylvania, Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, and Wisconsin are swinging so close that it could really go either way.
Trump last week kept on with his rhetoric, slamming President Joe Biden and Harris in equal measure, not caring that the big old Joe is not seeking re-election, while his supporters lived to their goofing expectations, if events in Manhattan are any measure of their egregious portrayal of the minorities’, who have stoically watched as the former President disparaged them and made snide, if insulting, remarks about them.
Trump released a video tape that went viral on Tuesday, claiming that Biden had decided to retire in Zanzibar.
“I will call Madam President (Samia) Suluhu and urge her to look after Joe after destroying our economy. I hope Kamala will also join him to enjoy the tropical sun because I am going to beat her big time at the polls,” Trump said in the one-minute video.
The video came hot on the heels of a highly-offensive joke at a Trump rally in Madison Square Garden in New York City by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe that Latinos had babies and called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage”, a remark that drew outrage from Republicans themselves.
Moderate Republicans like Sen Marco Rubio (R-Fla) criticised Hinchcliffe’s goof on X. It could not have come at a worse time for Trump, who campaigned in Allentown, Pennsylvania, a crucial battleground state with almost 500,000 Puerto Ricans, reportedly the biggest share of Latino eligible voters in Pennsylvania. According to NBC News, Matt Tuerk, the Democratic Mayor of Allentown, his constituents “are furious”.
“People are going to turn out that anger into voting. That’s how people will react,” he said. “We don’t get mad; we get even.” “Even before the Madison Square Garden rally ended, condemnation poured in. Elected officials from both parties, pop culture figures, entertainers and ordinary voters recoiled at the remark,” reported NBC News.
Democratic presidential nominee and US Vice President Kamala Harris gestures during a campaign rally in Charlotte, North Carolina on November 2, 2024.
The Puerto Rican rapper and singer Bad Bunny endorsed Harris in a video that was an homage to the island, giving it an ironic caption: “Garbage”. Rep Susan Wild, a Democrat who represents the Allentown area, told reporters that in her district, “We have 70,000 Puerto Ricans and a large number of Hispanics and Latinos who are not Puerto Rican, and the outrage has been palpable.” “I am hearing more on this than I’ve heard on almost any other issue this entire campaign season,” she was quoted by NBC News.
Mindful of the fallout, the Trump campaign organised a rally at a hockey rink in Allentown that sent an affirming message about the island.
Trump, though, has yet to denounce the insult. His campaign has put out a statement: “This joke does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign.” “Unfortunately, the white and business America will vote for him; they want him back because they think he is the person to improve the economy and deal with illegal immigrants,” said Nancy Wambui, a Kenyan-born resident of Wala Wala in Washington State.
Harris is seen as the safest hand to steer the US from the politics of hate and extremism that has been the hallmark of Trump and his coterie of campaigners.
“As immigrants, women, blacks, Hispanics, Latino and other minorities, we will vote for Kamala. This country is not like Kenya where people vote in bars while watching TV and claiming, “so-and-so has won”, yet they did not even step in a voting centre. Guys have voted heavily already,” Wambui told The Weekly Review.
“If you thought that insulting remark in Manhattan about Puerto Rico was an accident, you had better wake up. That is what conservative America think of many countries. That is Trump’s thinking, too. Have you forgotten the “shithole’ remark during his presidency?” Aderio Tunya, a Kenyan immigrant, told The Weekly Review.
“They are very comfortable with their military and economy dominance and don’t care about anything else. But immigrants who are being disparaged are the ones holding this country together. This is why we (immigrants) support Kamala Harris,” he said.
Kalunga Mwanzi, a Zambian immigrant, urged restraint, claiming elections are unpredictable.
“Our people (read African immigrants) should not be excited about a Kamala Harris victory before the votes are concluded. This guy (Trump) has promised to use the military to deport immigrants and the more votes we give Harris, the better.
“But we must prepare psychologically for any eventuality. Events at the Capitol Hill on January 6, 2021 are still fresh in our minds, and only explains what this guy is capable of doing, in the unfortunate event that he wins,” Mwanzi said.
