Harris and Trump go beyond the base

On the Campaign Trail

U.S. Elections 2024

By Gabriella Borter, National Correspondent

With less than three weeks before Election Day, the presidential candidates are locked in a margin-of-error race. Now, Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican former President Donald Trump are stretching for the support of every last voter and looking beyond their bases. That has meant events outside of their comfort zones, with mixed success.

Latest election headlines

Going beyond the base

I'm Gabriella Borter, and I've been covering the Biden administration, the Harris campaign and abortion politics this 2024 election cycle. This week, both candidates tried something new.

On Wednesday, Harris sat for a combative interview with Fox News' Bret Baier. He grilled her on the Biden administration's efforts to quell a surge in illegal immigration, Biden's mental fitness and other sticking points for Fox's traditionally conservative viewers. Growing visibly frustrated at times, Harris repeatedly framed her answers around what she sees as Trump's shortcomings, including his threats against critics.

The Trump campaign called the 30-minute interview on the right-leaning news network "a train wreck," while Democrats say she showed toughness.

Harris and former Republican congressman Adam Kinzinger made their case to centrist and right-leaning voters who reject Trump's rancorous politics in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, on Wednesday and promised last Friday that she would create a bipartisan advisory council and appoint a Republican to her cabinet.

To sway Black men, where Harris lags Biden, Democratic former President Barack Obama headlined a campaign event, the campaign tailored a policy rollout, and Harris sat for an interview with Charlamagne tha God, in which she talked about her new loan policies and promised to legalize marijuana.

Next up, Harris' team is in talks to have her on Joe Rogan's podcast, the most popular podcast on Spotify, with 14.5 million followers and a majority audience of younger men, Reuters was first to report.

Trump, meanwhile, courted women and Latinos with targeted town halls on Fox and Univision, respectively, on Wednesday. To Latinos, he re-emphasized his false claim that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, are eating pets when an undecided Republican voter questioned him. At the Fox event for women, he called himself "the father of IVF."

Trump clashed with Bloomberg's editor-in-chief at a Chicago Economic Club event on Tuesday as he sought to defend his tariff plan and other economic policies. Trump said a president ought to weigh in but said he would not order Federal Reserve interest rate decisions. He declined to say outright whether he had stayed in touch with Russian President Vladimir Putin since leaving office but said doing so would be wise.

After the event, he said he had been under the impression he would be giving a speech, but then was told he was going to be interviewed by Bloomberg. "He was a Trump hater, and brilliantly my staff didn't tell me that," Trump complained on Tuesday night.

Poll of the week

Fact check of the week

Misinformation about disaster response continued in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton even as congressional Republicans condemned the conspiracy theories repeated by members of their own party.

Milton threatened Florida as the inland Southeast was still recovering from deadly Hurricane Helene's impact three weeks earlier, prompting more false claims online about weather manipulation targeting specific demographics, diverted disaster relief funds and Federal Emergency Management Agency officials blocking relief aid. Read more here.

In this section, the Reuters fact-checking team addresses misinformation connected to the U.S. elections. Find more fact-checks from around the world here.

The view from China, South Korea and Vietnam

The three powerhouse export economies could see a noticeable blow from a Trump presidency, ratings agency Fitch says. Trump's proposed blanket tariffs on imports could knock 1% off their real GDP.

Photo from the trail

Supporters of Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump hold signs and flags as they watch the motorcade of Democratic presidential nominee U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris pass by, on the day she attends a campaign event in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, U.S., October 16, 2024. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

What to watch for

Oct. 17: Early voting begins in North Carolina; Trump speaks at charity dinner in New York
Oct. 18: Harris campaigns in three Michigan communities: Grand Rapids, Lansing, and Oakland County; Trump holds rally in Detroit
Oct. 19: Trump holds rally in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. Harris will be in Detroit, then Atlanta. Early voting starts in Nevada
Oct 21: Trump holds rally in Greenville, North Carolina.
Oct. 22: Early voting begins in Wisconsin

The who, what and when

Find up-to-date elections coverage, interactive data and more on Reuters.com.

Sponsors are not involved in the creation of newsletters or other Reuters news content. Advertise in this newsletter or on Reuters.com

On the Campaign Trail is sent once a week. Think your friend or colleague should know about us? Forward this newsletter to them. They can also sign up here.

Want to stop receiving this email? Unsubscribe here. To manage which newsletters you're signed up for, click here.

Terms & Conditions and Privacy Statement