By Andrea Shalal and Steve Holland
ATLANTA/PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) -With the U.S. presidential election simply over two weeks away, Democrat Kamala Harris visited two church buildings on Sunday whereas her Republican rival, Donald Trump, visited one other form of American temple: a McDonald’s (NYSE:), the place he once more accused Harris of mendacity about having beforehand labored on the fast-food chain.
Each candidates have been scrambling for votes in probably the most aggressive states, with Harris, the U.S. vp, interesting to early voters in Georgia and Trump, the previous president, campaigning in Pennsylvania forward of the Nov. 5 election.
Harris highlighted the heroism of those that responded to Hurricane Helene, which precipitated deaths and destruction in Florida earlier this month. She drew a distinction between her imaginative and prescient for America and the tough rhetoric of the present political local weather, though she didn’t point out Trump by identify.
“At this point across our nation, what we do see are some trying to deepen division among us, spread hate, sow fear and cause chaos,” she instructed 1000’s of congregants on the New Delivery Missionary Baptist Church, in Stonecrest, Georgia.
Some measured the power of a frontrunner as “who you beat down” as an alternative of being guided by “kindness and love,” she stated, urging congregants to vote for a extra compassionate future.
Harris was extra direct in an interview with MSNBC when requested about Trump’s feedback at an earlier rally in Pennsylvania by which he known as her a “shit vice president,” telling civil rights chief Al Sharpton: “The American people deserve so much better.” At a McDonald’s in suburban Philadelphia, Trump eliminated his go well with jacket, placed on a black and yellow apron and cooked batches of french fries, one thing he stated he had needed to do “all my life.”
The previous president dipped wire baskets of potatoes in scorching oil earlier than salting them and handing them out to a few of his supporters via the drive-through window of the restaurant, which had been closed to most people. Hundreds of individuals lined the road reverse the restaurant to look at.
“I like this job,” stated Trump, whose adoration for quick meals has been nicely chronicled. “I’m having a lot of fun here.”
Trump has stated the McDonald’s go to was meant partly as a jab at Harris, who says she labored on the fast-food chain throughout her school years in California. Trump claims Harris by no means labored there however has offered no proof to again that up.
Harris spokesperson Ian Sams stated the stunt was an indication of the real-estate mogul’s desperation.
“All he knows how to do is lie,” he stated. “He can’t understand what it’s like to have a summer job because he was handed millions on a silver platter, only to blow it.”
The Harris marketing campaign stated Trump’s go to additionally belied his opposition to a rise within the federal minimal wage and his assist for a rule that might make it harder for employees to win authorized claims in opposition to the mum or dad firm if a franchise proprietor violated minimum-wage and time beyond regulation legal guidelines.
“HAPPY BIRTHDAY”
Harris, who was raised within the teachings of the Black church and sang in a church choir, marked her sixtieth birthday on Sunday whereas campaigning exterior of Atlanta.
At Divine Religion Ministries Worldwide in Jonesboro, Georgia, music icon Stevie Surprise carried out, singing his hit “Higher Ground” and a model of Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song.”
Requested about polls exhibiting an absence of enthusiasm for her candidacy amongst Black males who’ve been a dependable voting bloc for Democrats, Harris instructed Sharpton she was working to earn their votes as nicely.
“There’s this narrative about what kind of support we are receiving from Black men that is just not panning out in reality,” Harris stated. “Because why would Black men be any different than any other demographic of voter? They expect that you earn their vote.”
Harris will want robust ends in the bulk non-white cities of Detroit and Atlanta and their surrounding suburbs to repeat President Joe Biden’s 2020 wins in Michigan and Georgia.
At a marketing campaign occasion in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Trump prolonged birthday needs to Harris, drawing boos from his crowd.
“Happy birthday, and many more, and I mean it,” Trump stated, though he continued to criticize Harris’s insurance policies and speculating that his opponent could have “a cognitive problem.”
