Donald Trump labeled Vice President Kamala Harris a "crazy liberal," while she vowed to prevail over his "wild lies" as both laid out presidential campaign attack lines on Saturday with just 100 days left until election day.
After earlier addressing a bitcoin conference in Tennessee, Trump rallied supporters Saturday evening in Minnesota, seeking to make the historically Democratic midwest state into a battleground.
"This November, the American people are going to reject Kamala Harris's crazy liberal extremism in a massive landslide," the Republican told the crowd assembled in a hockey arena.
He quickly took aim at several positions Harris took during her 2020 Democratic primary campaign, some of which she has since walked back, such as a desire to ban fracking or majorly overhaul the criminal justice system.
Calling Harris a "radical left lunatic," Trump also hammered her and President Joe Biden's record on illegal immigration, inflation and crime -- all of which saw significant spikes during their term but have returned to historical averages in recent months.
In his 90-minute speech, the populist billionaire also repeated pledges to "have the largest deportation effort" in US history and end taxation of tips, while repeating unfounded allegations that his 2020 election loss had been "rigged."
Meanwhile, Harris on Saturday held a fundraising event in Massachusetts with celebrity guests including singer-songwriter James Taylor and cellist Yoyo Ma.
"We are the underdogs in this race, but this is a people-powered campaign," she told the crowd at the event, which her campaign said would net $1.4 million.
"Donald Trump has been resorting to some wild lies about my record. And some of what he and his running mate are saying, well, it's just plain weird," she said.
The Harris campaign has adopted "weird" as a new catch-all for describing Trump's aggressive rhetoric.
His attacks, repeated on Saturday, include allegations that Harris wants to legalize killing newborn babies -- a falsehood stemming from the vice president's fervent support of abortion rights.
Harris has made her advocacy on the issue central to her campaign against Trump, whose three conservative nominees to the Supreme Court helped overturn the national right to the procedure in 2022.
Trump on Saturday thanked all six conservative justices by name "for the wisdom and courage they showed on this long-term, very contentious issue."
Harris, a former California prosecutor, also challenged Trump to a debate, after his campaign said this week he would not agree to keeping a September 10 televised face-off previously scheduled with Biden.
"I hope he reconsiders because we have a lot to talk about," she said.
- 'Mined, minted, made' -
Trump, 78, is now the oldest major-party nominee in history and is scrambling to reorient an election against someone two decades his junior, having expected to face an 81-year-old incumbent Biden beset by concerns over infirmity.
On Saturday, he made his pitch to the cryptocurrency industry, one he previously called a "scam."
Saying China or others could seize the reins on the fast-growing field, Trump's appeal has been welcomed by crypto enthusiasts who feel they have been treated harshly by the Biden administration.
"If crypto is going to define the future, I want (it) to be mined, minted and made in the USA," he said to cheers, calling for the United States to be "the crypto capital of the planet."
Trump on Saturday also vowed a return to outdoor rallies two weeks after being wounded in an attempted assassination at a campaign event in Pennsylvania.
He has made the shooting a key part of his campaign pitch, telling supporters he "took a bullet for democracy."
Harris, seeking to become the first female president in US history, is tasked with rapidly assembling a campaign against an opponent who has been in near permanent re-election mode since he became president in 2016.
Her late-starting White House bid has enjoyed early momentum. Polls that had shown Biden steadily slipping against Trump now show Harris in a practical tie.
She's garnered support from Democratic heavyweights, including Biden himself and most recently Barack and Michelle Obama.
Torianna Parrish, 34, was among the crowd greeting Harris upon her arrival Saturday afternoon at the airport in Westfield, Massachusetts.
"I wanted to show there's power in numbers. I wanted to show my support," she said. "We're rooting for her and we want to see her make this country what it needs to be."
Alex Wroblewski
The writer is an independent photojournalist
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