Harris, Trump return to trail as debate looms

Kamala Harris and Donald Trump return to the US campaign trail Wednesday (Sep 3) with new polls showing the White House race remains on a knife-edge less than a week before their crucial first debate.Vice President Harris, who has revived Democratic hopes with just over two months until the Nov 5 vote, will be unveiling proposed tax breaks for small businesses as she fleshes out her economic policy during a visit to New Hampshire.
Trump meanwhile takes part in a pre-recorded town hall event on conservative Fox News in the battleground state of Pennsylvania, after a notable absence by the Republican from the trail over the US Labor Day weekend, traditionally seen as the start of the final sprint.
The rivals are getting in some last-minute campaigning ahead of the presidential debate on Tuesday when millions of American voters will finally get to see them do battle in person on primetime television.
“She’s had her honeymoon period. People are learning who she is,” Trump told a local New Hampshire radio station on Wednesday ahead of Harris’s visit.
But the race is essentially tied in three other states – and most critically in Pennsylvania, the biggest prize in terms of votes in the US electoral college system.
Harris and Trump are tied at 47 per cent in up-for-grabs Pennsylvania, while in Georgia and Nevada 48 per cent of voters back Harris to 47 per cent for Trump.
Biden won all six states when he defeated Trump in 2020.
The findings come a day after a USA Today/Suffolk University poll found Harris leading Trump by 48 per cent to 43 per cent — with double-digit gains with crucial groups including Hispanic and Black voters and younger people, it found.
In her campaign event in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Harris is set to propose a tenfold increase in tax breaks and cutting red tape for smaller firms.