United States – U.S. President Joe Biden is set to campaign alongside Vice President Kamala Harris for the first time since she moved to the top of the Democratic Party ticket on Friday. Still, a report of hostage deaths in Gaza over the weekend will likely dominate the news.
Key Campaign Events in Swing States
This week is the first post-Labor Day week, which is crucial for any campaign, and so is the remaining time before the November 5 election. Harris and her GOP rival, ex-President Donald Trump, are expected to step up campaign activities and largely engage in more canvassing in some swing states such as Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Nevada, as reported by Reuters.
Hostage Crisis Dominates Headlines
This weekend, Israel brought back the remains of six hostages from a Gaza tunnel where it claimed Hamas recently executed them, leading to anti-Biden ceasefire condemnation and fresh demands for Netanyahu to rescue the remaining hostages.
For several months, the U. S. government and even Biden himself have been trying to negotiate a truce between Hamas and Israel, which, in response to the Oct. 7 attacks that claimed the lives of 1,200 Palestinians, has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians. The issue is looming large over the U.S. election after pro-Palestinian activists vowed to escalate protests of Harris on the campaign trail, and Republicans accuse Biden and Harris of being responsible for the hostage deaths.
On Monday, Biden will join Harris on the campaign trail in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania which is one of the swing states this year. Harris will also go to Detroit, Michigan, and vice presidential nominee Minnesota Governor Tim Walz will go to Milwaukee Wisconsin.
U.S. Efforts for Ceasefire and Hostage Negotiation
However, before they campaign, Biden and Harris will join the US Hostage Deal Negotiating Team at the White House in a briefing on the efforts for a deal with an intention of free of the remaining hostages as per the White House.
On the same day, Trump will feature The People’s Town Hall Today at 7 PM ET, hosted by Sean Hannity at GEN First, and on Thursday, he will speak to the Fraternal Order of Police at their fall conference in Charlotte, North Carolina, and will hold a rally in Wisconsin.
According to the latest Reuters/Ipsos survey, Harris holds a 45%-41% advantage over Trump.
Harris and Walz are hoping to sustain the passion that was ignited by Ellison’s entry into the race on July 21 democrats are giving record amounts of money to the campaign and volunteering in the tens of thousands. They have centered on a cheerful and optimistic message about the future of America before the economic measures that targeted middle-class Americans and appealed to the Republicans who Trump repulsed.
Trump’s Campaign Strategy and Public Response
At the same time, Trump, together with his running mate JD Vance, failed to clearly define their negative view of Harris, on the one hand describing her as a typical representative of the liberal left and, on the other, blaming her for pursuing Biden’s moderate policies while simultaneously attacking her intelligence and sharing slang memes.
A source outside the campaign who speaks to Trump said several advisers have informed the president that Trump should drop insults and focus on policies if he wants to have a chance in November.
Moreover, Harris’ campaign seems to mobilize more funds compared to Trump’s – last week, the Harris campaign disclosed to the Federal Election Commission that it had raised $ 204 million in July, while Trump’s main fundraising group declared to the body $ 48 million. The two campaigns are saturating the choice states with TV commercials.
HOSTAGE BODIES COMPLICATE CEASEFIRE TALKS
President Biden, Vice President Harris, as well as ex-president Trump, have all made statements over the weekend after six hostages’ bodies were discovered. Biden launched a clear-cut threat toward Hamas leaders, declaring, “I am devastated and outraged. And Hamas leaders will pay for these crimes. And we will keep working around the clock with a deal to secure the release of the remaining hostages.
Harris stated that she and her husband had met with the parents of the hostage whose body was found and identified as Hersh Goldberg-Polin. “As they grieve this horrific tragedy, they do not grieve alone. America grieves with them. ”
Trump added that “Hostage Crisis in Israel is only taking place because Comrade Kamala Harris is weak and ineffective, and has no idea what she’s doing.”
Leat Corinne Unger, the relation of 21-year-old Israeli hostage Omer Shem Tov who was not among the hostages released over the weekend commented to Reuters saying “everyone has failed”.
Hostage Deaths Complicate Ceasefire Talks
“Everyone has blood on their hands,” she said. “The international community failed, the administration, on both sides, bipartisan, they failed.”
“It’s time for the suffering of innocents to end on all sides of the spectrum and the international community must hold Hamas accountable,” she added. “They have said a lot of things, but they haven’t done anything to force their hand.”
Biden and Harris are likely to get more interrogations on what the administration is doing to negotiate a hostage deal, according to Jeremi, Suri history and public affair lecturer at the University of Texas at Austin, as reported by Reuters.
Suri said, “The best scenario for Biden and Harris would be a ceasefire this week,” Suri said. “Israeli public is pushing and Hamas seems open, but it is very hard to predict.”