The upcoming televised debates between US presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump and the latest speeches and performance trends of opponents from the Democratic and Republican parties are a leading topic in the Western press, writes BTA.
Kamala Harris took away Trump's concentration, her rise in the polls shook him, and now he is struggling to focus, writes Sean McCreesh in the US in the "New York Times", recalling that the debates on ABC television on September 10 were slated to feature Joe Biden.
Associates of the former US president want him to talk about the issues, but he seems distracted by Harris's explosive momentum, the author notes. The Republican view is that it shouldn't be difficult for Trump to switch from President Biden to the new Democratic front-runner. All he has to do is hit Harris and her running mate Tim Waltz for what they've said or done to paint them as out of step with the views of most Americans, including on police policy. immigration and transsexuality, McCreesh believes.
"Lately, however, Trump has continued to entangle himself and stray from his focus -- continuing to talk about Harris' biracial identity and even picking fights with fellow party members. He goes so far as to fantasize that Biden can win back the nomination, notes the New York Times article.
Many in his party find all this counterproductive to say the least, the publication points out. "The Harris-Waltz tandem is the most left-wing political option possible. They represent a wide range of targets. What Trump needs to do is focus his attack and forget" the plans already prepared, notes the conservative American journalist Ben Shapiro, quoted by the "New York Times".
"He is more comfortable with personality attacks than issue attacks. He also spent four years preparing for a battle with Biden. In his case, it's hard to get the soil back under your feet,”, Neil Newhouse, a Republican pollster, told the newspaper.
According to the outlet, Trump's scattershot tactics made a strong impression at a campaign rally in Atlanta, Georgia, on Saturday, when he repeatedly attacked the state's popular Republican governor, Brian Kemp. The reason is that Kemp does not agree with Trump's opinion about the results of the lost election in 2020.
"I was saddened to see two brothers fighting," said Jack Kingston, a former congressman from Georgia and Trump ally, quoted by the "New York Times". "At times, it seems that he has not yet accepted the new political reality - that he is no longer competing with Biden," the Republican added.
Another American newspaper - "Washington Post" draws attention to the fact that at last night's press conference at his residence in Mar a Lago, Florida, Trump hinted that he was ready to restrict access to abortion pills through federal regulations , refusing to rule out sweeping action that some abortion opponents advocate.
At the same time, the publication points out that Trump previously welcomed the Supreme Court's decision to preserve access to mifepristone, a pill that was used in nearly two-thirds of all abortions in the United States last year. "In Mar a Lago, Trump confused his position and did not rule out the option of supporting the idea of banning mifepristone," the "Washington Post" points out.
The newspaper also noted that during the Mar a Lago press conference, Trump questioned Harris' intelligence, disagreed with the proposition that she energizes voters more than he does, and compared the multitude of one of his campaign events with the large crowd gathered for Martin Luther King's iconic "I Have a Dream" speech; in Washington in 1963
"Wall Street Journal" highlights the former US president's statement that his Democratic opponent shuns the media. On the other hand, he admitted that he may be losing support among black women in the US, the American newspaper said. The press conference at his Florida mansion was aimed at putting Trump back in the spotlight after Kamala Harris gained momentum, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The British "Guardian" brings to the fore Trump lashing out at Harris for falsely claiming that no one was killed during the January 6, 2021 storming of Capotoria he instigated.
"Battled by a lag in the polls and accusations that his campaign was weak, Donald Trump faced reporters yesterday for an hour-long news conference that quickly devolved into a familiar jumble of reckless insults, outlandish claims and outright lies." ;, writes "Guardian".
The British edition points out that the former president's statement "No one was killed on January 6” contrasted with the fact that nine deaths were linked to the assault, including the fatal police shooting of Ashley Babbitt, who is being hailed as a martyr by the mass of Trump supporters, and subsequent suicides of law enforcement officers.