Harris, Trump head out of key states for Texas detour

Photo: Patrick T. Fallon Agence France-Presse Donald Trump, during a campaign rally held Thursday in Las Vegas, Nevada

Moises Avila – Agence France-Presse, Sébastien Blanc – Agence France-Presse, Aurélia End – Agence France-Presse respectively in Houston and Washington

Published at 1:51 p.m.

• United States

Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are leaving the well-trodden campaign trails of key states on Friday to venture to Texas, the former to talk about abortion rights alongside superstar Beyoncé, the latter to discuss the migrant crisis, in an election that is dividing men and women like never before.

And which is causing quite a stir in the American press: the prestigious Washington Post, which had supported Democratic candidates in the last four elections, created a surprise by announcing on Friday that this time it would not take a position. The CEO of the newspaper owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos cited a concern for “independence”.

Kamala Harris will be at a rally in Houston. The 60-year-old Democrat is expected to be joined on stage by “Queen Bey,” the Crazy in Love singer and icon of pop feminism.

The vice president has no chance of winning the conservative southern state, which is expected to offer Donald Trump its 40 electoral votes on a platter, but she has chosen it to illustrate a strong theme of her campaign: defending abortion rights.

Alongside him in Houston, women will come to tell the impact, even in their flesh, of the ban on elective terminations of pregnancy decided in Texas, after the Supreme Court ended federal protection of this right in 2022.

The 78-year-old Republican regularly congratulates himself on being at the origin of this decision through his appointments of conservative judges.

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“Garbage”

He took up one of his most outrageous false accusations on his Truth Social network on Friday, writing: “Kamala wants late-term abortions at 7, 8, 9 months and even executions after birth. […] She's a crazy leftist!”

The former president plans to criticize the porosity of the southern border of the United States again on Thursday, from an airplane hangar in Austin, the capital of Texas.

“We are a dump. “We are like the world's trash can,” said Thursday in Arizona, another border state, the one that continues to toughen its rhetoric on immigration.

The septuagenarian will also record a podcast in Texas with Joe Rogan, a host particularly popular with men.

The former president will end his day with a campaign rally in Michigan.

According to polls, the extremely close November 5 election could reveal a wider divide than ever between women voters, who traditionally lean toward the Democratic side, and men, who are more conservative.

In 2023, for the fourth consecutive year, “The Joe Rogan Experience” was the most listened to podcast in the world on the Spotify platform, and each show attracts millions of listeners.

By inviting himself to it, Donald Trump is continuing his campaign offensive with men, particularly the youngest and those from the working classes, who are increasingly attracted by his macho rhetoric.

Watergate

The latest opinion polls still show the two contenders for the White House neck and neck in the seven swing states that will decide the victory. They are each at 48% of voting intentions, according to a poll New York Times/Siena College.

It is in this context of extreme uncertainty that the general director of the Washington Post, announced that the daily would not take sides for the November 5 election, and that the daily that revealed the Watergate scandal would also abstain from doing so for future elections.

“We are aware that this decision will give rise to many interpretations, that it will be seen as an implicit support for one of the candidates, or the rejection of another, or as an evasion of our responsibilities,” he wrote in a message posted on line.

Friday the New York Post, a conservative tabloid owned by tycoon Rupert Murdoch, called for a vote for Donald Trump.

On September 30, the editorial board of the prestigious New York Times had instead given its support to the Democratic candidate.