By WILL WEISSERT
WASHINGTON (AP) — Both major presidential candidates are making appearances Thursday meant to fire up their core supporters, with Vice President Kamala Harris participating in a livestream with Oprah Winfrey and Donald Trump attending an event with prominent Jewish donors before addressing a gathering of the Israeli-American Council.
Winfrey, who has endorsed Harris and spoke at the Democratic convention in August, is set to host a two-hour “Unite for America” nighttime streaming session in Michigan with Harris that organizers say aims to highlight dozens of grassroots groups backing the vice president.
Oprah Winfrey speaks during the Democratic National Convention Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
Trump will be in Washington to address a “Fighting Anti-Semitism in America” evening event with Miriam Adelson, a co-owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks and widow of billionaire casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, who founded the Las Vegas Sands casino and was one of the Republican Party’s largest donors.
Trump will also speak before the Israeli-American Council, a nonprofit long backed by Sheldon Adelson as well as Haim Saban, a major donor to President Joe Biden and Democratic causes. The council is holding its national convention in the weeks before the first anniversary of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, which sparked the war in Gaza.
On Friday, Harris has campaign stops planned in swing states Wisconsin and Georgia as she calls attention to the case of a young mother who died after waiting 20 hours for a hospital to treat her complications from an abortion pill. Harris contends that outcome shows the consequences of Trump’s actions.
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI) leadership conference, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Amber Thurman’s death, first reported Monday by ProPublica, came two weeks after Georgia’s strict abortion ban was enacted in 2022 after the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn nationwide abortion rights. Trump nominated three of the justices who made that decision.
Trump has a Saturday rally set in battleground North Carolina.
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Thursday’s campaign stops follow the Federal Reserve cutting its benchmark interest rate by an unusually large half-point. That marked a dramatic shift after more than two years of high rates that helped tame inflation but also made borrowing painfully expensive for American consumers.
With the presidential election less than seven weeks away, the move has the potential to scramble the economic landscape just as Americans prepare to vote. Campaigning in New York on Wednesday, Trump said, “I guess it shows the economy is very bad to cut it by that much, assuming they’re not just playing politics.”
Asked about potential political influence of a rate cut so close to Election Day, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the Biden administration has been “very clear about this and very respectful of the independence of the Federal Reserve.”
“Unlike other administrations, we’ve been, I think, pretty steadfast about that, and have been continuous in making that clear,” she added, without naming Trump and his past public criticism of the Fed or his suggestions during the campaign that presidents should have more authority over the central bank.