The Japan Times - 'Fascist' row overshadows glitzy night on US campaign trail

The staunchly Republican Lone Star State isn't one of the handful of battlegrounds that decides US elections, or where the Democratic vice president and her rival would normally be campaigning in the home stretch.

But Harris is banking on her star-studded show -- also featuring country legend Willie Nelson -- to energize her campaign ahead of the final week and give her a national stage to highlight Republican restrictions on abortion.

Beyonce will appear alongside Harris in Houston, while Trump was in Austin, taping an interview with "The Joe Rogan Experience," the United States' most popular podcast.

The two camps traded barbs during the day over claims by Trump's longest-serving White House chief of staff, echoed by Harris, that Trump is a "fascist" who cannot be trusted with power again.

Republican leaders in Congress attacked her over that characterization, in a statement revealing they had been briefed on "ongoing and persistent" threats to Trump, and accused Harris of encouraging "another would-be assassin" after he survived an attempt on his life in July.

House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell did not acknowledge Trump's long history of demonizing political opponents and the media as "vermin," "communists, Marxists and fascists" and "enemies" of America.

- 'Garbage can' -

Half the country agrees with Harris that Trump is a fascist, according to a new ABC News/Ipsos poll of registered voters, and she hit back at an impromptu news conference.

"The truth is that some of the people closest to Donald Trump, when he was president... have been very clear about the danger and the threat that (he) poses to America, and the fact that he is unfit to serve," Harris said.

"The American people deserve to hear that, and know about that, so they can make a decision."

Trump described the United States as a "garbage can for the world" for a second time this week while giving remarks in Austin -- the latest in a string of inflammatory comments on immigration.

The race is too close to call, according to polls. A New York Times/Siena College survey released Friday showed Trump and Harris tied at 48 percent each.

Both candidates have sought to broaden their support by sidestepping newspapers and the big TV networks in favor of podcasts and YouTube shows consumed by uncommitted young voters who could make the difference in a tight vote.

Trump hopes to woo Rogan's massive audience, part of his hunt for viral moments that tap into his everyman appeal -- similar to a recent photo-op at a Pennsylvania McDonald's.

"The Joe Rogan Experience" was the world's most listened-to podcast on streaming giant Spotify in 2023 and has 17.5 million subscribers on YouTube.

- 'Bad things happen' -

Trump's latest remarks ahead of the recording aimed at undermining trust in US elections and alarming Americans about crime committed by illegal immigrants, who are statistically more law-abiding than the native population.

He complained that elections "go on forever, and bad things happen," before described his 74 million vote total in 2020 as "the highest number in history" -- despite the fact that he lost to President Joe Biden by seven million votes.

"Kamala is here in Texas to rub shoulders with woke celebrities. Isn't that exciting? But she's not going to meet with any of the victims of migrant crime while she's here," he said.

Harris is banking on the issue of abortion to help sell her message that Trump is a threat to Americans' freedoms.

November's presidential election will be the first held after a 2022 Supreme Court ruling overturned nationwide protection of abortion.

Harris has repeatedly linked Trump -- who took credit for the abortion ruling after reshaping the court -- to shocking stories of women who have been denied vital reproductive health care.

Trump was given a boost Friday, as the New York Post endorsed him, two years after ridiculing him as "Trumpty Dumpty" on its front page, and the liberal Washington Post declined to endorse a candidate for the first time in decades.

K.Abe--JT