US elections: Kamala Harris fends off 'garbage' fallout, Donald Trump pushes 'cheating' claims

WASHINGTON: White House rivals Donald Trump and Kamala Harris launched a frantic last week of election campaigning Wednesday, with the Democrat having to distance herself from comments by President Joe Biden that appeared to label Trump supporters "garbage."

Harris travelled to North Carolina and onward to Pennsylvania, focusing again on two of seven battleground states that could determine who wins the closest election in modern US history.

Republican Trump will also be in North Carolina on Wednesday - in the town of Rocky Mount, about an hour's drive from Harris's Raleigh rally - and will then head to Wisconsin, where he will appear alongside US sports star Brett Favre.

Trump is expected to reject the election result if he loses, with the Republican already seizing on isolated irregularities caught by election officials to amplify his claims of widespread "cheating."

On Wednesday, Harris had hoped to be basking in the afterglow of a speech attended by tens of thousands outside the White House, where she warned her rival was unstable and itching for unbridled power.

Instead, she was fending off questions about Biden's apparent gaffe when the president reacted to a warm-up speaker at a Trump rally referring to the island of Puerto Rico as "a floating island of garbage" in an off-colour joke that risked alienating Latino voters.

"The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters," Biden said, before the White House sought to clarify that he was referring to Trump's rhetoric, not to his supporters.

"Let me be clear, I strongly disagree with any criticism of people based on who they vote for," said Harris, Biden's vice president.

'Unstable, obsessed'

In Washington, Harris had given a powerful closing argument speech in a symbolic setting.

She spoke at the very spot where Trump stirred up a mob that went on to attack the US Capitol on January 6, 2021 in a violent attempt to keep him in power even though he lost the 2020 election to Biden.

"This is someone who is unstable, obsessed with revenge, consumed with grievance and out for unchecked power," Harris said.

But the vice president also gave an optimistic vision of the United States' future, with the White House lit up behind her.

"Each of you has the power to turn the page, and start writing the next chapter in the most extraordinary story ever told," Harris told flag-waving supporters.

'Cheating' claims

On Wednesday, Trump took to social media to repeat his claims of widespread voter fraud, appearing to set the stage for a repeat performance around the unfounded claim that his 2020 loss to Biden was rigged.

He denounced what he said was "cheating" at "large-scale levels never seen before" in the key battleground state of Pennsylvania, where he had made similar comments on Tuesday evening.

At that rally in Pennsylvania, Trump also took credit for driving down public trust in US news media.

"I'm very proud of it. I've exposed them as being fake. But with your help, one week from today, we're going to defeat Kamala Harris and the media," he said.

Trump also engaged in damage control on Puerto Rico, saying "nobody loves our Latino community and our Puerto Rico community more than I do."

He termed Biden's comments about his supporters "terrible," and on Wednesday made a fresh plea for campaign donations by referencing them.

"My patriotic supporters are the BEST PEOPLE in the country - I LOVE YOU!" he said.

One person who will not be voting for Trump on November 5 will be actor and former Republican governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger, who endorsed Harris and her running mate Tim Walz.

Inflation and the health of the US economy have been key issues this election, and on Wednesday new government data showed solid economic growth solid despite a slight slowdown.