WASHINGTON: In a US Presidential election where optics is playing a major role, Kamala Harris will sit with CNN on Thursday for her first interview as the Democratic nominee even as her Republican opponent Donald Trump has confirmed he will debate her on September 10 on ABC News.
The twin media-related developments comes amid the US Justice Department filing a revised indictment related to Trump’s effort to subvert the 2020 presidential election.The superseding indictment tries to get around the Supreme Court ruling that the US President has broad immunity for official actions by revising the charges to show some of Trump’s actions were directed in his private capacity.
In a post on social media, Trump accused special counsel Jack Smith, a Biden administration appointee, of trying to “resurrect a dead witch hunt,” calling it a “ridiculous” attempt to interfere with the November election.
Adding to the non-stop churn, Democrats and Republicans are also scrapping about whose administration bears responsibility for the US debacle in Afghanistan that culminated in the death of 13 American personnel as the last troops departed from the Bagram airbase.
After he visited Arlington National Cemetery on Monday to commemorate the third anniversary of the tragedy, Trump was accused of grandstanding and using the event for a photo-op when it emerged that there was an altercation between Trump aides and a cemetery official who objected to politicisation of the wreath-laying ceremony.
The US decision to withdraw fully from Afghanistan and virtually cede the country to the Taliban was made during the final days of the Trump Presidency, but the actual pull-out took place when Biden had become president. The issue of who was responsible for the debacle has sharply divided the US military, with many veterans who served in Afghanistan going public on social media blaming one or the other side.
It will be one of several issues that will confront Kamala Harris — who MAGA Republicans taunt for “being the last person in the room” when Biden oversaw the pullout — when she sits down for her interview with CNN’s Dana Bash on Thursday.
Pilloried for weeks for avoiding the press, Harris is now being harried by Trump loyalists for scheduling a joint interview — her running mater Tim Walz will also sit in — which they alleged was being pre-taped and would be edited, and that too on a cable network they say is soft on Democrats. Trump surrogates taunted Harris, saying she is “unable to handle a solo interview” and wondered “if she will bring a teleprompter” to the interview if she would get the questions beforehand.
Trump meanwhile continued to spew out what Harris supporters described as arrant nonsense in a series of interviews with media Democrats say is sympathetic to him. Among other bizarre statements he made in another rambling interview with Dr Phil: “I guarantee if Jesus came down and was the vote counter, I would win California.” California, a Democratic bastion, last voted Republican when Ronald Reagan ran for the White House.
In another social media post, Trump confirmed that he will debate Harris on September 10, saying, “I have reached an agreement with the Radical Left Democrats for a Debate with Comrade Kamala Harris.” Efforts to portray Harris as a “communist” and “Marxist” does not seem to be making any dent in her numbers. Much more than for Trump, she continues to have the backing of Silicon Valley and Hollywood, two citadels of capitalism.
Both campaigns hit the road heading to battleground states on Tuesday. Harris and Walz will be in Georgia and North Carolina, which pollsters have now shifted to leaning Democrats, while Trump and Vance will be in the so-called “Blue Wall” states (Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania), trying to pull it back the small leads that Harris has established.
These five states, plus Arizona and Nevada in the so-called sun-belt, are expected to determine the outcome of the 2024 Presidential elections.
The twin media-related developments comes amid the US Justice Department filing a revised indictment related to Trump’s effort to subvert the 2020 presidential election.The superseding indictment tries to get around the Supreme Court ruling that the US President has broad immunity for official actions by revising the charges to show some of Trump’s actions were directed in his private capacity.
In a post on social media, Trump accused special counsel Jack Smith, a Biden administration appointee, of trying to “resurrect a dead witch hunt,” calling it a “ridiculous” attempt to interfere with the November election.
Adding to the non-stop churn, Democrats and Republicans are also scrapping about whose administration bears responsibility for the US debacle in Afghanistan that culminated in the death of 13 American personnel as the last troops departed from the Bagram airbase.
After he visited Arlington National Cemetery on Monday to commemorate the third anniversary of the tragedy, Trump was accused of grandstanding and using the event for a photo-op when it emerged that there was an altercation between Trump aides and a cemetery official who objected to politicisation of the wreath-laying ceremony.
The US decision to withdraw fully from Afghanistan and virtually cede the country to the Taliban was made during the final days of the Trump Presidency, but the actual pull-out took place when Biden had become president. The issue of who was responsible for the debacle has sharply divided the US military, with many veterans who served in Afghanistan going public on social media blaming one or the other side.
It will be one of several issues that will confront Kamala Harris — who MAGA Republicans taunt for “being the last person in the room” when Biden oversaw the pullout — when she sits down for her interview with CNN’s Dana Bash on Thursday.
Pilloried for weeks for avoiding the press, Harris is now being harried by Trump loyalists for scheduling a joint interview — her running mater Tim Walz will also sit in — which they alleged was being pre-taped and would be edited, and that too on a cable network they say is soft on Democrats. Trump surrogates taunted Harris, saying she is “unable to handle a solo interview” and wondered “if she will bring a teleprompter” to the interview if she would get the questions beforehand.
Trump meanwhile continued to spew out what Harris supporters described as arrant nonsense in a series of interviews with media Democrats say is sympathetic to him. Among other bizarre statements he made in another rambling interview with Dr Phil: “I guarantee if Jesus came down and was the vote counter, I would win California.” California, a Democratic bastion, last voted Republican when Ronald Reagan ran for the White House.
In another social media post, Trump confirmed that he will debate Harris on September 10, saying, “I have reached an agreement with the Radical Left Democrats for a Debate with Comrade Kamala Harris.” Efforts to portray Harris as a “communist” and “Marxist” does not seem to be making any dent in her numbers. Much more than for Trump, she continues to have the backing of Silicon Valley and Hollywood, two citadels of capitalism.
Both campaigns hit the road heading to battleground states on Tuesday. Harris and Walz will be in Georgia and North Carolina, which pollsters have now shifted to leaning Democrats, while Trump and Vance will be in the so-called “Blue Wall” states (Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania), trying to pull it back the small leads that Harris has established.
These five states, plus Arizona and Nevada in the so-called sun-belt, are expected to determine the outcome of the 2024 Presidential elections.