Former American President Barack Obama has urged black men to follow the candidate of the Democratic Alliance.
In an unannounced appearance at a campaign field office in Harris, Pennsylvania, he criticized male voters who “come up with all kinds of reasons and excuses” for not supporting a woman for president.
Obama later taunted Donald Trump with “cross-talk, two-hour speeches, word salad” as he kicked off the 2024 campaign.
Also on Thursday, the Republican nominee spoke at a rally in Michigan, warning of “chaos” across the country if Harris is nominated.
With just 25 days to go until election night in America, the presidential race is as tight as ever — and the winner will likely be decided by votes in several closely contested states in the midwest and southwest.
Harris was seeking support from black voters, but a survey conducted by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in September suggested that one in four black men under the age of 50 said they would support Trump over Harris in November.
Obama, the nation’s first black president, suggested that sexism was at play as to why the doubt “seems more prominent among the brothers”.
“I have a problem with that,” he said. “Because part of you makes me think – and I’m talking directly to men – part of you makes me think, you just don’t understand the idea of having a woman as president, and you come up with other ways and other reasons for that.”
Using Harris’s policy suggestions, Obama added that “he is someone who grew up like you, who knows, who went to college with you, who understands the struggle and the pain and the joy that comes from that experience”, while Trump “has shown indifference, no.” not only for communities, but for you as a person”.
The former president remains a popular figure in the Democratic Party and, leading a Harris campaign rally in Pittsburgh later, sought to energize his supporters with a sharp attack on Trump.
Comparing him at one point to Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, Obama said “Trump’s behavior, bullying and putting people down… is not what real power is and never has been”.
“Get off the sofa and vote. Put down your phone and vote. Take your friends and family and vote,” he said.
Harris himself campaigned Thursday in Nevada, where he is trying to drum up support from Latino voters who might give him a run there.
Meanwhile, Trump brought his own campaign message to Detroit, Michigan’s largest city and the center of US auto manufacturing.
Addressing an audience at the Detroit Economic Club, he spoke for more than an hour on a range of topics from voting laws to Chinese tariffs, with his main speech focusing on the failure of the domestic auto industry.
He accused the Biden-Harris administration of “destroying our country”, adding that several years of weak leadership had allowed big companies to “come in and rape our country”.
But these words were overshadowed by a moment when the three-time Republican candidate trashed the city he was in and sought support from his constituents.
“Our whole country will end up like Detroit if he is your president. You will have chaos on your hands,” he said.
State and local leaders criticized the comments, with Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer defending the city as “an example of ‘grit,’ defined by winners willing to get their hands dirty to build their city and build their communities – something Donald Trump would never understand.”.
“So keep Detroit in your mouth. And you better believe Detroiters won’t forget this in November,” said Whitmer, Harris’ partner.
Trump’s campaign later clarified to the American press that Trump was arguing that the city “suffered from the global racist policies promoted by Kamala Harris” and that “his policies will usher in a new era of economic success and stability for Detroit, helping the city reach its full potential”.
On Friday, Trump will address illegal immigration — a topic that polls suggest voters trust him to handle better than Harris — as he visits Aurora, Colorado — a city some Republicans say is overrun by Venezuelan gangs.
He will also speak in Nevada, while Harris plans to speak closer to Arizona.
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