The tone is getting harsher Harris warns ever more vehemently against Trump

A few weeks before the presidential election in the USA, Kamala Harris' election campaign is entering a new rhetorical phase: Frontal attacks against her opponent Trump are now the order of the day.

Joy Olson proudly wears a button with the inscription "Make America Joyful Again" while attending a Kamala Harris campaign event. But that doesn't mean the 70-year-old retiree is in favor of taking it easy on the Republican presidential candidate, whom she calls "nasty and scary." Sometimes she thinks Harris treats Donald Trump too nicely, Olson says: "I hope she puts him in his place." And that is exactly what the Democratic candidate and vice president is now doing in the final phase of the election campaign.

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Less than three weeks before the election, Harris paints a bleak vision for the country should Trump return to the White House. At her rallies, she shows video clips of the ex-president's aggressive rhetoric. "Donald Trump is increasingly unstable and unhinged and will stop at nothing to claim unfettered power," Harris said at an appearance in La Crosse, Wisconsin, on Thursday.

"Enough is enough!"

That's a far cry from the "glee" in the days following Harris' nomination this summer. Now that the enthusiasm of the first phase of the campaign is waning, the candidate is increasingly turning to sharp attacks against Trump in order to get her supporters to the polls and win over undecided voters in heavily contested states.

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Trump had just falsely claimed that January 6, 2021, with the violent storming of the US Capitol, was a "day of love", said Harris in La Crosse. But in reality, police officers were attacked and people were killed. "The people of America have had enough of his manipulation. Enough is enough! We are ready to turn over a new leaf!" In a radio program a few days ago, she agreed with the statement that Trump is threatening to bring fascism to the USA.

Harris sounds the alarm

After incumbent Joe Biden gave up his presidential candidacy in favor of Harris at the end of July, the vice president and her team were primarily concerned with making her known to the electorate. Her campaign focused on her biography, her professional background as a public prosecutor and her vision in the event of an election victory.

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At the same time, Harris and her team want to turn the election into a referendum on the former president and are also aligning their strategy in the final phase of the election campaign accordingly.

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Harris has also criticized Trump before. However, the urgency of her warnings against him has increased significantly in recent days. "He wants to sic the military on American citizens," said Harris in La Crosse. "He wants to prevent women from making decisions about their own bodies. He wants to challenge basic freedoms and rights, like the freedom to choose, the freedom to be safe from gun violence, to breathe clean air and drink clean water, and the freedom to love those you love openly and with pride."

"She needs to put Trump in his place"

Some of the attacks against Trump are aimed at Republican voters who reject the former president and whom Harris wants to win over. The Democrat is also shifting the political debate to areas where she is seen as stronger, such as the protection of American democracy, explains Biden's former communications director Kate Bedingfield. At the same time, the discussion is moving away from issues where Republicans are often seen as more competent, such as immigration and the economy. "Putting the importance of this election front and center in the final weeks may help motivate a portion of voters who are otherwise fed up with the process," Bedingfield says.

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Rally-goer Greg Swagel is also happy with Harris' harsher tone - at least as long as the candidate doesn't stoop to Trump's level. "She needs to put Trump in his place," says the 76-year-old pensioner at a campaign event in Green Bay, Wisconsin. "He lies. He insults people."

dpa