PHILADELPHIA -Donald Trump delivered a dark speech to a rally Saturday in the US swing state of Wisconsin, while Democrat Kamala Harris hunkered down in another crucial battleground, Pennsylvania, preparing for next week's televised presidential debate.
Trump and Harris are now essentially tied in the polls, with the Republican again shrugging off a mountain of scandals that would have sunk candidates of the past.
At the rally in Mosinee, Wisconsin, the former president delivered his characteristic stream of insults, exaggerations and outright falsehoods, painting a picture of an apocalyptic America run by a leftist dictatorship -- a "rogue regime."
Under President Joe Biden and Vice President Harris, "your government imported murderers, child predators and serial rapists from all over the planet, while weaponizing law enforcement to jail political opponents," Trump told several thousand supporters at an airport in the heartland of Trump's mostly white, conservative base.
He denounced the string of criminal cases he faces over everything from attempting to overturn his 2020 election loss to Biden to dozens of felony convictions in New York.
Trump also dismissed government revelations this week of a large-scale Russian influence campaign to distort the 2024 election.
Later on his Truth Social platform, he again falsely asserted that his 2020 loss to Biden involved "cheating" by the Democrats and warned that this time, "WHEN I WIN," he would ensure "long prison sentences so that this Depravity of Justice does not happen again."
Meanwhile Harris, taking a break from days of debate preparation in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, visited a spice store where she drew a contrast to Trump's grim tone.
Asked what message she would most like to get across in their debate Tuesday, she replied: "It's time to turn the page on the divisiveness. It's time to bring our country together -- chart a new way forward."
Harris said she was "honored" by the recent endorsements of two prominent conservatives, former vice president Dick Cheney and his daughter, former representative Liz Cheney, adding, "It's important to put country above party."
Asked if she was ready to face Trump, Harris said simply, "Yes, I am."
Crowds outside cheered as she left the shop, and the Harris campaign released video of the vice president hugging emotional supporters there, including a young girl.
- Police union for Trump -
Trump got a boost Friday when the country's largest police union, the Fraternal Order of Police, endorsed him despite his historic status as a convicted felon.
And he enjoyed a legal victory earlier in the day when a New York judge delayed his sentencing over falsifying business records -- which involved hush money to a porn star -- until after the November election.
Trump also appeared before reporters to rail against the women who have accused him of sexual impropriety.
Harris, a former California prosecutor, is leaning heavily on her message that she represents law and order in a contest against a convicted criminal who tried to overturn his 2020 election loss.
- Harris's policies -
The vice president jumped into the 2024 race at the last minute after Biden abruptly dropped out on July 21, amid fears over his stamina and mental acuity.
Despite a burst of initial enthusiasm from Democrats, Harris has had to race to introduce and define herself.
The debate on Tuesday offers her a prime opportunity to present clear policy proposals -- she has been criticized for a lack of detail -- while sharpening her attack lines against Trump.
The former president, perhaps seeking to set expectations for the debate, said Saturday that the "crooked system" would not acknowledge if he won on Tuesday.
"They'll say, 'Trump suffered a humiliating defeat'," he asserted.
Pennsylvania, where Harris is preparing, is closely divided between Republican and Democratic voters, and may be the deciding piece in the puzzle of the state-by-state Electoral College battle that decides US presidential elections.
The debate will be the first-ever meeting between Harris and Trump.
bbk/dw/nro/acb
By Alex Wroblewski