Harris woos on-the-fence Republicans

PENNSYLVANIA

U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris made a push to woo moderates in her rival's camp in three swing states on Oct. 21, while Donald Trump slammed the government's response to Hurricane Helene as he toured the devastated state of North Carolina.

With just over two weeks until Election Day, the Democratic vice president and her Republican opponent are on a blitz through the battlegrounds that will decide the outcome in a race that polls say is too close to call.

On Oct. 21, Harris appeared in Pennsylvania alongside Liz Cheney, a prominent Republican, who called on undecided voters "to reject the kind of vile vitriol that we've seen from Donald Trump."

Trump toured storm-damaged Asheville and repeated conspiracy theories about the government's disaster response. Later, at a rally in Greenville, he hammered home his campaign message that immigrants were "looting, ransacking, raping and pillaging" the country.

On Oct. 21 alone, Harris had events scheduled in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, Rust Belt states that were in Trump's column in 2016 but crucial to President Joe Biden's victory four years later.

Cheney and her father, former Vice President Dick, were once considered fixtures in the Republican firmament, but have been ostracized since it was taken over by Trump.

Harris said Trump's dominance in politics since his shock 2016 election had led Americans to "point the finger at one another" and left the country "exhausted."

"Donald Trump is an unserious man, and the consequences of him ever being president of the United States again are brutally serious," she said.

Cheney, who endorsed Harris last month, said it was not a difficult decision to make, as a politician or as a mother.

"If you wouldn't hire somebody to babysit your kids, like you shouldn't make that guy the President of the United States," she said.