Despite extremist statements, Trump remains tied

New York and Washington, With five weeks left until the election, Republican Donald Trump can make increasingly extreme statements – from that his opponent has mental problems to that perhaps the police should be allowed to commit brutalities – and remain tied with the Democratic candidate, making normal what would previously be considered madness and political suicide.

This past weekend, in a campaign speech in Erie, Pennsylvania, he dared to say that his idea for stopping crime is to “allow one really violent day… one hour of harsh treatment, and I mean really harsh…. Everyone will find out and [el crimen] It will come to an end immediately.” In other words, completely unleash the police forces, since “the liberal left” does not let the police do what is necessary because “they want to destroy them, and they want to destroy our country.”

Faced with the reaction to these statements, the Trump campaign decided that the best response – similar to the one he offered when he commented that he wanted to be a “dictator for a day” – was that “the president presented that as a joke.” Furthermore, his campaign manager assured that Trump only wanted to convey his credentials as “the president of law and order” (he did not mention that he is a convicted criminal who still faces multiple charges for federal crimes).

At the same time, and as he usually does, he employed the high school student tactic of mocking and insulting his opponents, this time declaring that Democratic presidential candidate and Vice President of the United States, Kamala Harris is “mentally disabled” and insinuating that she was crazy.

However, the problem for Trump is that his attacks are not having the impact he would like in national polls and in the key states that will determine the final result of the election where the candidates are in a technical tie. “None of the candidates enjoys a significant advantage,” reports the New York Timeswhile the Washington Post reports that Harris has only a 2-point lead nationally – that is, within the margin of error. Another survey for the newspaper Guardian that compared the economic proposals of both candidates recorded that voters preferred those offered by Harris over those of Trump, a notable change since for months polls showed that voters thought that Trump was the best for economic management.

The next national event for the campaigns is this Tuesday, when the vice presidential candidates, Republican JD Vance and Democrat Tim Walz, will face each other in a debate – the only one – that will be broadcast from New York. Since Trump rejected a second debate with Harris, this Tuesday’s could be the last national meeting between the contenders before the election on November 5. At the same time, unless something disastrous happens, this debate between the vice presidential hopefuls is not expected to have much of an effect on the competition.

Meanwhile, the effects of the anti-immigrant axis of the Trump and Vance campaign – where they repeat in almost all their actions that immigrants are the source of almost all national problems, that they are “poisoning the blood” of the United States and that if they win they will will carry out the largest mass deportations in history – continue to be expressed throughout the country, especially in rural areas and small towns. After weeks of attacking immigrants – authorized ones, too – in Springfield, Ohio, Trump has expanded his attacks to places like Charleroi, Pennsylvania south of Pittsburgh and other towns even though locals – both Democrats and Republicans – believe that immigrants /refugees who arrive legally bring something positive. But the former president’s rhetoric continues to generate new insecurities. “Immigrants in Charleroi are living in fear now,” Liberian immigrant Amos Yougar told the New York Times. And that is part of the goal of Trump’s strategy.

“As has long been said, the predicate of fascism is that one third of society watches while another third is brutalized and that the last third yawns and lets it happen. Donald Trump is mentally unstable and a fascist biding his time. And a third of this country is realizing that it is just as crazy and bloodthirsty as him,” comments the reporter and creator of the featured series on The Wire y Treme, David Simon.

At the same time, Trump’s approach to migration, and particularly the border, has made the issue one of the main ones in the electoral debate, and has kept Democrats on the defensive on the issue. Harris was forced to visit the border last week to announce that she will apply greater control measures there and today the White House announced that it will further limit access to asylum – all in response to the offensive on this issue by Trump and the Republicans.

And despite his racist anti-immigrant stance, Trump continues to enjoy significant support among Latino voters. Although Harris leads Trump 54 to 40 percent among registered Latinos, according to an NBC News/Telemundo poll, that 14-point margin is the lowest level for Democrats in the last four presidential elections. And Trump is enjoying greater support among this sector than he did four years ago.

Where the Democrats, with Harris at the helm, are winning is in fundraising to finance the election. The Democratic Party, in direct contributions alone, has raised $200 million more than the Republicans. Trump, as he always has, is raising funds for himself, offering everything from “Trump-endorsed” Bibles ($60), commemorative coins ($100), and now diamond-encrusted gold watches (for just $100,000 each). ). “If this man makes it back to the White House, he will take all the chandeliers, put them in the yard and sell them at a garage sale,” said conservative journalist Nellie Bowles in the Free Press.