[2024 선택의 날 D-3] Harris ‘gender issue’ vs Trump ‘illegal immigration’

▶ Targeting Trump’s statement, “Whether we like it or not, we protect women.”

▶ Harris launches ‘reproductive rights’
▶ Trump attacks illegal immigration again

U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Vice President <a href="https://www.world-today-news.com/donald-trump-whats-behind-the-us-presidents-baltimore-attack/" title="Donald Trump: What's behind the US President's Baltimore attack”>Kamala Harris, who was on the defensive in the final stages of the presidential race due to the so-called ‘garbage remarks’, raised the gender issue again as a turning point.

When former President Donald Trump, the Republican candidate, gave an excuse with a sexist remark saying, “I will protect women whether they want to or not,” they did not want to miss this and poured out a barrage of fire. It appears that they are making all-out efforts to change the situation by mentioning guaranteeing reproductive rights (the right to decide for themselves about childbirth), which is advantageous for gathering women’s votes.

According to the New York Times (NYT) on the 31st, Harris held a press conference in Madison, Wisconsin this morning and criticized Trump’s remarks about protecting women as “very insulting.” Targeting Trump, who mentioned the previous day’s sexual crimes against illegal immigrants and said, “Whether women like it or not, (I) will protect them,” he said, “I don’t understand women’s agency, rights, and ability to decide their own lives, including their bodies.” “I can’t do it,” he said fiercely.

Harris continued, saying, “This is just the latest example of how Trump thinks about women and their subjectivity.” At the same time, he added, “(Because of Trump), one-third of American women now live in states that ban abortion.” This serves as a reminder that Trump, who appointed three conservative Supreme Court justices during his term as president, was the person who ultimately led to the abolition of the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision (1973), which constitutionally guaranteed the right to abortion. At an afternoon rally in Arizona, he claimed, “If Trump is elected, he will ban abortion nationwide, limit access to contraception, and put in vitro fertilization (IVF) at risk.”

Harris’s running mate (vice presidential candidate) Minnesota Governor Tim Walz also helped. At a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, the biggest battleground, Governor Walz said, “‘Women do it whether they like it or not,’ this is the way this man (Trump) has lived. That’s why he appeared on ‘Access Hollywood’ and ended up standing in court.”

Harris, who was in trouble due to President Joe Biden’s slip of the tongue when he referred to Trump supporters as ‘trash’, aimed to rally female supporters by reemphasizing gender issues. The intention is to win the votes of voters who are not friendly to him but feel threatened by Trump’s extreme rhetoric. NYT analyzed, “It is a strategy to target the votes of moderate Republicans and independent women, especially ‘suburban women.’”

In response, Trump also took out his ‘main weapon’. Again, this is an issue of illegal immigration. He visited New Mexico that day and claimed, “During Kamala’s (Vice President) term, millions of people, including 10,000 convicted criminals and numerous illegal foreign gangs, crossed the border into New Mexico.” A video of an American woman who lost her child to a crime committed by illegal immigrants was also played. New Mexico is a strong Democratic state, and is also a border region sensitive to illegal immigration issues.

Even today, with the presidential election (November 5th) just five days away, the situation is still in a fog. A total of 63.65 million people were found to have exercised their right to vote in the early voting that has already been held, and the Washington Post (WP) reported on this day that “Harris is estimated to have won the vote by 19 to 29 percentage points ahead of Trump.” This is the result of a comprehensive analysis of the results of public opinion polls on early voting voters conducted by ABC News, Ipsos, NYT, Siena College, and CNN. However, considering that Democratic Party supporters are traditionally active in early voting, it is difficult to predict the outcome of the race based on this alone. WP pointed out, “While it has decreased from the gap between Biden and Trump four years ago, it has grown larger than the gap between Hillary Clinton (former Secretary of State) and Trump in 2016.”

Celebrities continued to declare support for each camp. On this day, NBA star LeBron James and former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, founder of financial information and media company Bloomberg, said, “Let’s vote for Harris.” In the film industry, he is a Republican in California.

Following ‘Terminator’ actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who also served as governor (2003-2011), ‘Avengers’ cast members including Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, and Mark Ruffalo joined the ‘Harris support’ procession. Among the ranks of ‘Trump supporters’ was Buzz Woldrin, a former astronaut who boarded Apollo 11 and walked on the surface of the moon with Neil Armstrong in 1969.

Reporter Wi Yong-seong>