Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump told an audience of Black journalists that Kamala Harris had 'turned Black' out of political expediency
AFP

Despite several polls showing Democrat Kamala Harris gaining ground in the race for the November 5 presidential election, Republican Donald Trump says he thinks she will be easier to defeat than President Joe Biden.

Trump called her "radical" and a "lunatic," saying, "I think she will be easier to beat than him." reported Reuters.

The former president, Trump, gave a speech at a rally in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, which is in northeastern region and is significant to the campaign.

On many policies, Trump has attempted to paint Harris as being extremely left-leaning. He emphasised her earlier proposal for a ban on fracking, a sector significant to the state, at the event.

"Have you heard her laugh? That is the laugh of a crazy person," Trump remarked, expressing his displeasure with the picture of Harris that appeared on the cover of the most recent issue of Time magazine. "I'm much better looking than her."

In a speech that went off course, Trump restated his deceptive claims that he was the victim of fraud in the 2020 election, downplayed the impact of climate change, and claimed his proposal to slap universal tariffs on imports would not be seen as a burden on American consumers—a position that most economists disagree with.

Trump claimed that when Harris and Biden took office, they ought to have taken more action to address inflation and other problems. He pledged to issue an executive order instructing cabinet secretaries and agency heads to take steps to reduce costs if reelected.

Together with Wisconsin and Michigan, Pennsylvania was one of the three Rust Belt states that fuelled Trump's unexpected win in 2016. In 2020, Biden—a native of Scranton, Pennsylvania—moved the three back to the Democratic Party.

New polls published on Saturday by the New York Times found Harris leading Trump among likely voters in Arizona, 50% to 45%, and in North Carolina, 49% to 47%, and narrowing the former president's leads in Nevada, 47% to 49%, and in Georgia, 46% to 50%. A pollster from the Trump campaign said the poll results underestimated the Republican candidate's support.

With 19 electoral votes out of the 270 required to win the presidency, Pennsylvania has more than any other state in the election—15 in Michigan and 10 in Wisconsin—and might swing the election in either candidate's favour.

Trump will give remarks on the economy at a campaign event in York, Pennsylvania, on Monday. His running mate, U.S. Senator JD Vance, will hold an event in Philadelphia that day as well.