Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump suggested that one of his most vociferous critics, Liz Cheney, would be less of a "war hawk" if she experienced combat conditions herself - employing violent imagery that the former Republican congresswoman cast as a threat and creating the latest flash point in a race with Vice President Kamala Harris.
During a discussion with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson on Thursday, the former president assailed Cheney "- a Republican who has endorsed Harris "- over her foreign policy views, accusing her of being eager to send Americans into war without understanding the consequences. Trump called Cheney "radical" and asked how she would feel with guns trained on her.
The comments drew instant blowback. Cheney responded in a post on X Friday, writing: "This is how dictators destroy free nations. They threaten those who speak against them with death. We cannot entrust our country and our freedom to a petty, vindictive, cruel, unstable man who wants to be a tyrant."
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In the final stretch of the election, Trump's rhetoric has increasingly come under scrutiny, particularly his comments for those who have opposed him politically.
Speaking in the context of war, Trump used graphic language to paint the picture of Cheney on a battlefield.
"She's a radical war hawk. Let's put her with a rifle standing there with nine barrels shooting at her, okay? Let's see how she feels about it. You know, when the guns are trained on her face," Trump said.
America deserves better than what Donald Trump is offering. America deserves a president who understands our role and responsibility to our people and to the rest of the world to see a model
Harris called Trump's remarks "disqualifying" on Friday.
"America deserves better than what Donald Trump is offering. America deserves a president who understands our role and responsibility to our people and to the rest of the world to see a model," the vice president told reporters in Madison, Wisconsin, ahead of a campaign stop.
Trump defended his comments about Cheney during a campaign stop in Dearborn, Michigan.
"I think that Liz Cheney is a disaster. All she wants to do is blow people up. She's a war hawk and a dumb one at that. And if you ever put her into the field of battle, she'd be the first one to chicken out," he told reporters.
Trump has a penchant for going off script at rallies and impromptu remarks, a tendency that was on full display Thursday night during his conversation with Carlson "- an event which saw the former president at times make profane remarks, lob insults at political rivals and disenchanted former aides.
The language has endeared the former president to much of his base, but recent events have also highlighted the danger of the approach for the candidate, who has made a point of telling audiences that his advisers have urged him to tamp down his rhetoric and that he has refused.
With only four days to Election Day, here's the latest on the presidential race:
Biden in Pennsylvania
Fresh off his own recent gaffe, Biden arrived in Pennsylvania to tout his administration's support for unions, aiming to bolster Harris in a crucial swing state. The president will announce that his administration has protected more than 1.2 million pensions through the American Rescue Plan's Butch Lewis Act, according to the White House.
Biden's own gaffe, where he appeared to call Trump supporters "garbage" undercut Harris' own efforts to put pressure on Trump over the off-colour remarks by a comedian at a recent rally and threatened to damage her push to broaden her electoral appeal by courting independents and disaffected Republicans.
The White House has sought to limit the damage by challenging the characterization of Biden's remarks, with a transcript that has the president saying "supporter's" instead of "supporters" to argue that he was focusing his "garbage" attack on the comedian.
The Associated Press late Thursday reported that White House press officials had altered the transcript, drawing criticism from the head of the stenographers' office, who in an email characterized it as a "breach of protocol." That report threatens to drag out the controversy over Biden's remarks.
Biden regularly calls himself the most pro-union president in US history, but broad frustration among voters with his economic record has helped Trump make inroads with members of organized labour. Harris has the support of most major unions and has ramped up her outreach to rank-and-file workers.
Wisconsin rallies
Harris held her own union-focused event in Wisconsin as both she and Trump hold duelling campaign stops in the swing state.
The vice president stopped at a union hall in Janesville as she competes with her Republican rival to court blue-collar workers in the state, vowing to bring manufacturing and high-paying jobs and lower the high costs buffeting households.
The vice president has two more events in the state on Friday, culminating in a rally in the Milwaukee area with A-list celebrities, the latest rally to draw on star power to help mobilize voters. She'll be joined at the event by rapper and songwriter Cardi B, who will encourage early voting. Musical guests GloRilla, Flo Milli, MC Lyte, The Isley Brothers, and DJ Gemini Gilly are set to perform.
Trump will also hold a rally Friday evening in Wisconsin, returning to the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, where he formally accepted his party's presidential nomination this summer.
Trump in Michigan
The Republican presidential nominee campaigned in another Blue Wall state on Friday - Michigan - where he visited a local restaurant in Dearborn, the nation's largest Arab-majority city.
The visit highlighted the deep divisions among Democrats and between the party and Arab- and Muslim-Americans over the Biden administration's support for Israel's war against Hamas "- a rift the Republican former president is eager to exploit.
"You're gonna have peace in the Middle East, you're not with the clowns that you have running the US right now," Trump said.
Harris has expressed more sympathy for the plight of Palestinian civilians and urged a cease-fire that would end hostilities and free hostages, but has also offered support for Israel. Her rallies are regularly interrupted by pro-Palestinian activists.
Michigan boasts a sizable number of Arab-American voters in a state where there are more than 300,000 people of Middle Eastern or North African descent - a bloc that offers to tip a key battleground in a razor-sharp election.
Trump in recent days has won the endorsements of Bill Bazzi, the first Muslim and Arab American mayor of Dearborn Heights, and a Detroit-area imam.
Harris told reporters Friday she was "very proud to have a significant amount of support" from Arab- and Muslim-Americans.
Hiring slowdown
Harris avoided a potentially major last-minute liability on Friday with a US jobs report that was positive - but only narrowly.
US hiring in October advanced at its slowest pace since 2020 with non-farm payrolls increasing by only 12,000 last month in a report that offers voters a final report card on the US economy ahead of Election Day in a presidential contest in which jobs and wages are paramount issues.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics said back-to-back hurricanes that battered the US southeast and a major strike at Boeing Co. likely affected payroll numbers - factors which Biden also pointed to in a statement on the report.
"The devastation from Hurricanes Helene and Milton, and new strike activity, lowered job growth. Job growth is expected to rebound in November as our hurricane recovery and rebuilding efforts continue," Biden said in a statement Friday.
Data from earlier in the week showed the US economy expanded at a robust pace in the third quarter as household purchases accelerated ahead of the election.
Despite the positive numbers, the Biden-Harris administration has struggled to translate positive economic data into gains with voters. Polls show that voters trust Trump more than Harris to handle the economy, sentiment fueled by high prices that have strained households budgets and worries about job growth and economic mobility.
Harris on Kennedy
Harris criticized comments from Trump suggesting a prominent role for Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whose vaccine scepticism and other unorthodox views on public health have sparked alarm among scientists and others worried about the influence he would have in a potential administration.
Kennedy is "the exact last person in America who should be setting health care policies," Harris told reporters Friday.
Trump during a rally on Thursday said he would have Kennedy work on "health and women's health issues" as well "look at the food and the food supply."
"We'll be talking about a lot of things, but he's gonna have a big role in health care, very big role," Trump said during a campaign stop in Dearborn, Michigan, where Kennedy joined him Friday. "He knows it better than anybody," Trump added. "He's got some views that I happen to agree with very strongly and I have for a long time."
Trump sidestepped direct questions about what Kennedy's specific role would be and whether the former independent presidential candidate, who exited the race to endorse him, would have a hand in setting vaccine policies.
The Republican nominee downplayed the criticism from Harris, attributing it to disappointment that Kennedy had left the Democratic party. "They've lost him," Trump said, "They're very unhappy about it."
Battleground voters
A senior Harris campaign official on Friday said internal figures show the vice president winning battleground voters who've made up their minds in the last week by double-digit margins. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss campaign matters on a call with reporters.
Officials on the call also pointed to focus groups they said demonstrated undecided voters are partly moving toward Harris due to rhetoric from the opposition, citing the recent Trump rally at Madison Square Garden. A campaign official also said they have observed progress in shoring up support among Black male voters, citing the impact of off-colour remarks at the rally and the endorsement of NBA superstar LeBron James.
With Election Day only four days away, energizing voters to get to the polls is a top priority for both campaigns. A Harris official said the campaign has already knocked on more than 13 million doors across the swing states. In Pennsylvania, the official said they were on track to have knocked on 5 million doors with 1 million engagements by Tuesday.
