Kamala Harris and Donald Trump leave the well-trodden campaign trails of key states on Friday to venture to Texas, the first to talk about the right to abortion in the company of superstar Beyoncé, the second to discuss the migration crisis , in an election that divides men and women like never before.
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And which is causing quite a stir in the American press: the prestigious Washington Postwho had supported Democratic candidates in the last four elections, created a surprise by announcing on Friday that this time he would not vote. The general director of the newspaper owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos cited a concern for “independence”.
Kamala Harris will be meeting in Houston. The 60-year-old Democrat should be joined on stage by “Queen Bey”, singer of Crazy in Love and icon of pop feminism.
The vice-president has no chance of winning in the conservative southern state, which should offer Donald Trump its 40 electors on a platter, but she chose it to illustrate a strong theme of her campaign, defending the right to abortion.
Alongside him in Houston, women will come to tell the impact, even in their flesh, of the ban on voluntary terminations of pregnancy decided in Texas, after the Supreme Court ended federal protection of this right in 2022.
The 78-year-old Republican regularly congratulates himself on being at the origin of this decision through his appointments of conservative judges.
“Garbage can”
He took up one of his most outrageous false accusations on Friday on his Truth Social network, writing: “Kamala wants late abortions at 7, 8, 9 months and even executions after birth. (…) She’s a crazy leftist!”
The ex-president planned Thursday to once again criticize the porosity of the southern border of the United States, from an airplane hangar in Austin, capital of Texas.
“We are a dump. We are like the trash of the world,” said Thursday in Arizona (southwest), another border state, one which continues to toughen its rhetoric on immigration.
The septuagenarian will also record a podcast in Texas with Joe Rogan, a host particularly popular among men.
The former president will end his day with a campaign meeting in Michigan.
According to polls, the November 5 vote, extremely close, could reveal a gaping divide more than ever between female voters, who traditionally lean to the Democratic side, and men, who are more conservative.
The Joe Rogan Experience was in 2023, for the fourth consecutive year, the most listened to podcast in the world on the Spotify platform, and each show attracts millions of listeners.
By inviting himself there, Donald Trump continues his campaign offensive among men, particularly the youngest and those from the working classes, whom his macho speech increasingly attracts.
Watergate
The latest opinion polls still show the two contenders for the White House in a tight spot in the seven pivotal states which will decide victory. They are each at 48% of voting intentions, according to a poll New York Times/Siena College.
It is in this context of extreme uncertainty that the general director of the Washington Post announced that the daily would not take sides in the November 5 election, and that the daily which revealed the Watergate scandal would also refrain from do so for future elections.
“We are aware that this decision will give rise to numerous interpretations, that it will be seen as implicit support for one of the candidates, or the rejection of another, or as an avoidance of our responsibilities,” he wrote in a message posted online.
Friday the New York Post, a conservative tabloid owned by tycoon Rupert Murdoch, called on people to vote for Donald Trump.
On September 30, the editorial board of the prestigious New York Times had on the contrary supported the Democratic candidate.
