Trump on stage to counter Kamala Harris, who is doing well in the polls

Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are both campaigning in the key state Pennsylvania this weekend, just before the vice president, who continues to make valuable gains in the polls, flies to the Democratic Party's major convention .

The former president is scheduled to hold a rally Saturday afternoon in a small town in eastern Pennsylvania, while his rival will board a bus Sunday to crisscross several counties in the west of this state, crucial for the presidential election in November.

Kamala Harris will then travel to Chicago to celebrate her inauguration at the big rally of her party, which united around her after the explosion caused by Joe Biden's withdrawal of candidacy at the end of July.

Since then, the good polls have been piling up for the candidate, who would become the first female president of the United States if she were elected.

A new poll published Saturday by the New York Times and Siena College now shows Kamala Harris leading in the key states of Arizona and North Carolina. She has also closed in on her opponent in Georgia and Nevada.

Last week, a similar poll in the states of Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania showed that she had slightly overtaken Donald Trump.

And all of these states are likely to swing the outcome of the election, which is shaping up to be extremely close.

Faced with the momentum gained by the Democratic campaign, Donald Trump is struggling to find a way around it, despite a growing number of speeches — such as a last-minute press conference in New Jersey on Thursday, which was deemed particularly disjointed.

– Battle over the economy –

Donald Trump will therefore have to try to find a second wind in front of his supporters in Pennsylvania on Saturday, the state where an assassination attempt targeted him in early July.

In 2020, the 78-year-old billionaire narrowly lost to Joe Biden, but he still enjoys strong support in rural areas and small towns.

The Republican's campaign team would like him to focus more on his messages around immigration and inflation than on direct attacks targeting his rival, which do not necessarily have an impact on undecided voters.

“American workers are suffering because of the dangerously liberal policies of the Biden-Harris administration,” accused a press release from his team before the rally.

But Donald Trump said Thursday he felt “legitimate” in personally attacking the Democrat, whom he called a “communist” and whose “intelligence” he questioned.

The two candidates clashed over the economy this week, with the former president holding the Democrat responsible for “devastating” price increases, while she presented herself as a champion of the middle class.

The 59-year-old candidate put forward some concrete proposals during a trip to North Carolina on Friday, such as building three million new homes.

– Building enthusiasm –

On Sunday, Kamala Harris will be joined by her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, and their respective spouses for a bus tour that will begin in the city of Pittsburgh but will also pass through a county that is “historically conservative,” according to her campaign team.

The goal will be to strengthen or even “extend” Joe Biden's success in this state four years ago. And to continue to seek to distinguish herself from the dark vision painted by Donald Trump.

Then the former California prosecutor will travel to Chicago, where she will have to consolidate the enthusiasm generated by her entry into the race barely a month ago, giving her camp hope of being able to win at the polls.

She will receive the support of Joe Biden — reduced to the role of room warmer after being pushed to give up a second term because of concerns about his vitality — and former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, before speaking herself on Thursday evening.

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