Donald Trump is due to give a rare press conference on Thursday in an attempt to reposition himself at the centre of the presidential campaign, at a time when his rival Kamala Harris is riding a wave of enthusiasm by crisscrossing several key states.
The former president announced on his social network Truth that he would address the press from his luxurious Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida at 2 p.m.
Donald Trump has been struggling to respond to the Democratic momentum generated by the entry into the race of Kamala Harris, since the shock withdrawal of President Joe Biden from the race for the White House on July 21.
The Republican did not hold a rally earlier this week and has not appeared in public since Kamala Harris announced her running mate on Tuesday.
But the billionaire’s intervention in front of journalists must contrast with the absence of interviews or press conferences given by Kamala Harris since she became the Democratic candidate, singled out every day by the former president’s team.
Donald Trump claimed Thursday morning that the vice president was refusing “to do interviews” because she was “unable to answer questions.”
He also said he would allow Americans to “find her out” in a debate – although the two candidates disagree on where and when it will take place in September.
Kamala Harris wants to maintain the debate that was initially scheduled between Mr. Trump and Mr. Biden on September 10 on ABC, while Donald Trump now wants it to be held on September 4 on Fox News.
State Tour
After his speech in Florida, Mr. Trump will return to the crowds at a campaign rally on Friday in Montana.
This state, which is committed to the Republican cause, is not one of the pivotal states likely to swing the election in November, on which Kamala Harris is concentrating her travels.
After Pennsylvania on Tuesday, she and her newly appointed running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, held two more rallies in Wisconsin and Michigan on Wednesday.
The vice president, in front of large crowds illustrating the renewed fervor of the Democratic camp, warned against a victory by her opponent, who would be “a dictator from day one.”
A new event awaits the Democratic duo in Michigan on Thursday, before continuing with Arizona and Nevada on Friday and Saturday.
A new campaign clip targeting the Hispanic population, which is large in these two southern states, was released Thursday. It emphasizes that Kamala Harris, born to an Indian mother, was “raised by a migrant mother.”
Good polls for Harris
For Kamala Harris, the challenge is to sustain the good momentum gained by her campaign. In the polls, she has managed in just over two weeks to close the gap that existed between the former Republican president and Joe Biden.
A new opinion poll published by Marquette Law School even puts the vice president in the lead, garnering 52% of voting intentions against 48% for Donald Trump.
The latter’s campaign, on the contrary, seems to be getting bogged down, despite a major show of force in mid-July at the Republican convention. The former president left as the absolute master of his party, just days after having narrowly escaped death in an assassination attempt.
But the task has become more complicated for his campaign since the withdrawal of Joe Biden, 81, in favor of his 59-year-old vice president, who is younger and more dynamic.
This week, the former president sent his running mate JD Vance to carry the Trump message in some of the same states as the Democratic duo.
But the 40-year-old senator is struggling to help him regain the upper hand, having seen his popularity rating plummet in recent weeks due to several controversies.