Donald Trump has informed his supporters that he is “not a Nazi,” using a rally during the final week of a contentious White House race to address accusations of authoritarianism, including claims from a former top aide who labeled him a fascist.
As he and opponent Kamala Harris, the current vice president, enter the homestretch of one of the closest US elections in modern history, both candidates and their teams have intensified the political rhetoric, exacerbating an already charged campaign.
Democrat Harris, who has charged Mr. Trump with inciting divisions, campaigned across Michigan while the Republican candidate visited Georgia, another crucial swing state, where he stated that detractors are accusing him of being a contemporary “Hitler.”
“The latest narrative from Kamala and her campaign is that anyone who isn’t supporting her is a Nazi,” Mr. Trump told a lively crowd at a rally in Atlanta.
“I’m not a Nazi. I’m the exact opposite of a Nazi.”
These remarks followed Mr. Trump’s significant rally at New York’s iconic Madison Square Garden, which was heavily criticized due to racist comments made by his allies during that gathering.
Additionally, they came after a recent New York Times interview where Mr. Trump’s longest-serving White House chief of staff, retired General John Kelly, stated that the Republican fits the definition of a fascist—a sentiment Ms. Harris expressed agreement with last week.
Mr. Kelly also recounted that Mr. Trump had said “Hitler did some good things too” and expressed a desire for generals akin to those that Adolf Hitler had.
‘Dividing our country’
Tensions are escalating in a race that polls indicate is too close to call, driven by worries that former President Trump might again refuse to acknowledge a defeat, as he did in 2020, along with his aggressive rhetoric towards migrants and political rivals.
Donald Trump acknowledges the crowd at his rally in Georgia.
Mr. Trump faced renewed criticism after one of the opening speakers at his Sunday rally in New York referred to the US territory of Puerto Rico as “a floating island of garbage.”
Ms. Harris, who is seeking to become the first female president of the United States, condemned “that nonsense last night at Madison Square Garden” as she spoke to reporters prior to boarding Air Force Two on Monday.
“He is focused on his grievances, absorbed in himself, and intent on dividing our country. This behavior does not, in any way, contribute to strengthening the American family or worker.”
Later in Ann Arbor, Michigan, at a rally alongside her running mate Tim Walz and a crowd of around 20,000, she emphasized that “so much is at stake” on November 5.
“Donald Trump has become even more unstable and unhinged, seeking unchecked power.”
Kamala Harris accused Donald Trump of inciting hate and division.
His campaign stated that the comments about Puerto Rico did “not reflect the views of President Trump.”
While residents of the island cannot vote in presidential elections, those located within the contiguous United States—about 450,000 Puerto Ricans in critical battleground Pennsylvania—do have that right.
A prominent Harris supporter, former President Barack Obama, was in Philadelphia the previous day rallying her supporters and criticizing Mr. Trump’s allies for “propagating the most racist, sexist, bigoted stereotypes.”
He also reached out to Pennsylvania voters with ties to Puerto Rico, stating: “If someone does not regard you as fellow citizens with equal rights to opportunities, happiness, and the American dream, you should not support them.”
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‘Nasty’
Mr. Trump used Sunday’s event—compared by Democrats to a notorious 1939 rally of American fascists at the same venue—to attack familiar targets such as undocumented migrants and to label domestic adversaries as the “enemy from within.”
In Atlanta, he reiterated his attacks on Ms. Harris, calling her a “hater,” and criticized former First Lady Michelle Obama as “nasty” for her comments about him.
Read more: How could the US election affect business in Ireland? Criticism follows Trump rally speaker’s remarks on Puerto Rico.
Over 47 million Americans have already cast their ballots in early voting, including outgoing President Joe Biden, who voted yesterday near his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware.
As the time draws near, the challenge for both Ms. Harris and Mr. Trump is to energize their core supporters while also attracting the small number of undecided voters who could ultimately sway the outcome—particularly in the seven swing states where polls indicate a neck-and-neck race.
Ms. Harris will later make what her campaign describes as a “closing argument” from the same location near the White House where then-President Trump incited his supporters on January 6, 2021, leading to a violent attack on the US Capitol.
