Morning all, just a few days to go now. I’m writing this sitting in the passenger seat as we drive through North Carolina, one of the seven swing states up for grabs this election.
Biden back out in public after garbage-gate
President Joe Biden is back out on the campaign trail today in the crucial swing state of Pennsylvania, his first major appearance since the now infamous zoom call where he said, albeit accidentally, that Donald Trump’s supporters were “garbage”.
The gaffe has dominated political coverage here, and the Republicans have seized on the momentum.
Today, Biden is out in Philadelphia, attending an event focused on the states unions, where he’s expected to give a speech.
Sending out Joe Biden into public events now will be a calculated risk, I would think. Another garbage-gate would be a big problem
Trump accused of violent rhetoric against Liz Cheney
At an event overnight with former Fox News host, Tucker Carlson, Donald Trump, had a go at Republican Liz Cheney, one of the few high-profile Republicans who have spoken out against Trump, and has been campaigning for Kamala Harris.
“She’s a radical war hawk — let’s put her with a rifle standing there with nine barrels shooting at her, OK?” Trump said at the event. “And let’s see how she feels about it, you know, when the guns are trained on her face.”
Liz Cheney responded to the comments on X.
The Trump campaign put out statements today saying the “fake news” had taken their candidate’s comments out of context.
The language is getting ugly
We took a pitstop in Charlottesville yesterday, to meet up with one of the country’s top political scientists Larry Sabato. He works at the University of Virginia in a house designed by founding father Thomas Jeffereson, built by slaves, and visited by presidents. The first election he observed was in 1960.
“The most incredible thing about this [race] is that it's been a tie everywhere — in the swing states and the popular vote,” Sabato told us.
Check out our interview on TVNZ+, but part of the reason why we stopped there was because it’s a city that directly knows what happens when politics gets ugly.
In 2017, a rally called “Unite the Right” took place in the town, largely attended by young white men, bearing tiki torches and confederate flags. Larry Sabato was at the University when they marched through, and said it “chilled him to the bone”.
The following day a woman died and 35 others were injured when a car driven by a self described white supremist drive at speed into a group of protestors in downtown Charlottesville.
He’s concerned the language been used on the campaign trail this year could incite further unrest.
“If you can have that happen here, and have them run amok - then they can operate anywhere,” said Sabato.
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