Fresh out of Barnard College with a degree in political science, Riley is learning the ropes as a writer and reporter for GZERO. When she isn’t writing about global politics, you can find her making GZERO’s crossword puzzles, conducting research on American politics, or persisting in her lifelong quest to learn French. Riley spends her time outside of work grilling, dancing, and wearing many hats (both literally and figuratively).
Donald Trump on Wednesday held a news conference from his home in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, where he hammered Joe Biden for calling Trump’s supporters “garbage” in response to racist comments made at the rally at Madison Square Garden on Sunday. Trump is latching on to the quote as evidence that Democrats demean and demonize his voters.
At his rally later in the day in North Carolina, he told the crowd, “You can’t be president if you hate the American people, and there’s a lot of hatred there.” Kamala Harris is trying to distance herself from Biden’s comment, saying “I strongly disagree with any criticism of people based on who they vote for.” Her campaign likely fears that a backlash to the comment could rally Trump supporters to the polls.
Meanwhile, one day after making the last major speech of her campaign in Washington, DC, Harris raced back to the campaign trail on Wednesday, hitting three swing states in a single day. She began in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and then visited Raleigh, North Carolina, before heading to the University of Wisconsin-Madison for a rally and concert with Mumford & Sons.
Trump finished his day with an interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News. He and Hannity were expected to focus on the border and the problems in the American economy. However, despite inflation continuing to keep prices high, the US economy increased at a 2.8% annual rate in the third quarter, down slightly from the 3% growth earlier this year, but still signaling that consumer spending remains strong ahead of next week’s election.
