With just days left in his duel against Kamala Harris, in what could be one of the closest elections in US history, Donald Trump has made no attempt to appeal to moderates, instead doubling down on his provocations, fiery diatribes and often profane insults. Some see the strategy as a smart way to appeal to disaffected young men. But others say it may be ineffective, particularly as Trump's Democratic rival Kamala Harris has gone out of her way to appeal to Republican moderates.
The vice president has been campaigning alongside Liz Cheney, a famously conservative former Republican congresswoman, while promising to be a president "for all Americans." Harris has also abandoned several of her former positions -- on topics ranging from climate to gun control -- to avoid being seen as overly progressive ahead of an election that could be decided by a few thousand votes. But Trump? Quite the opposite.
As he holds final rallies in a gruelling schedule taking him from central New York to the southern state of Georgia, the Republican has dialed up, not toned down, his rhetoric. Migrants? They are "terrorists, assassins" who are "poisoning the blood of our country." And Harris? He calls her a "stupid" person who should have to pass a cognitive test; or more crudely, "a shit vice president.
" Nor has he spared his vitriol when it comes to the numerous Republicans from his first administration who are now sharply critical, from former vice president Mike Pence to former chief of staff Joh.