Kamala Harris has said she has no doubt that the US is ready for a female president, insisting that Americans are more concerned about what the candidates can do for them rather than the gender of the presidential contenders, US media reported.
The vice president’s statement came during an interview with NBC News’ Hallie Jackson, who asked if she thought the country was ready for a woman, and a woman of colour, in the Oval Office. Harris said:
Absolutely. In terms of every walk of life of our country, part of what is important in this election is really, not really turning the page – closing a chapter, on an era that suggests that Americans are divided. The vast majority of us have so much more in common than what separates us and what the American people want in their president is a president for all Americans.
She was asked why she doesn’t emphasise the historic nature of her candidacy – the fact that she is a woman of colour running for president. Harris said with a laugh:
I’m clearly a woman. I don’t need to point that out to anyone. The point that most people really care about is: can you do the job and, do you have a plan to actually focus on them That is why I spend the majority of my time listening and then addressing the concerns, the challenges, the dreams, the ambitions and the aspirations of the American people.
Harris also said she was aware of Trump’s possible attempts to disrupt the presidential election, noting that her team “will address issues on election night and in the days following as they arise.”
She said her focus for the next two weeks will be on the campaign, noting that “we have the resources, expertise and attention” to any potential threats to the election results. Jackson noted that in 2020, Trump declared victory before all the votes were counted.
Trump files complaint claiming US election meddling by UK Labour party
Donald Trump’s campaign has filed an unusual complaint against the UK Labour Party for what it claims was “meddling” in the US presidential election.
Trump’s campaign alleges that in recent weeks Labour has recruited and sent party members to campaign for his opponent Kamala Harris in crucial battleground states in an attempt to influence the election, which will be held on November 5. Trump’s legal team said in a letter to the Federal Election Commission in Washington:
When representatives of the British government previously sought to go door-to-door in America, it did not end well for them. This past week marked the 243 anniversary of the surrender of British forces at the Battle of Yorktown, a military victory that ensured that the United States would be politically independent of Great Britian – an incorrect rendering of “Britain”.
In response, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said party officials volunteering to help Harris ahead of the November 5 US presidential election were “doing it in their spare time” rather than working for Labour. Speaking to reporters travelling with him to the Commonwealth summit in Samoa, Starmer said:
The Labour party … volunteers, have gone over pretty much every election. They’re doing it in their spare time, they’re doing it as volunteers, they’re staying I think with other volunteers over there. That’s what they’ve done in previous elections, that’s what they’re doing in this election and that’s really straightforward.
He insisted he has a “good relationship” with Trump that will not be jeopardised by the complaint.
The letter goes on to demand an immediate investigation into the “blatant foreign interference” in the election in the form of “apparent illegal foreign contributions made by the United Kingdom Labour Party” and accepted by Harris’ campaign committee.
The letter also refers to a report in the Washington Post claiming that consultations had been offered between Labour and the Harris campaign, as well as other reports of meetings between senior Labour Party staff and the Democrats’ campaign.
Among those named in the letter are Matthew Doyle, Downing Street’s director of communications, and Morgan McSweeney, the Prime Minister’s chief of staff.
The complaint refers to a deleted social media post in which Sofia Patel, the Labour Party’s head of operations, wrote on LinkedIn last week that 100 current and former party staff were travelling to the US to campaign for Harris.
The letter refers to a “volunteer exemption” for US elections, which means foreign nationals can volunteer, but the letter says “they cannot receive compensation, foreign nationals cannot make expenditures, or direct or control the activities of US campaigns.”
Reaction from Republicans
The announcement, released last week, prompted a swift reaction from Republicans, with spokeswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene writing on website X that “foreign nationals are not allowed to participate in any way in US elections.”
And Elon Musk, a billionaire entrepreneur who supports Trump, wrote on X, a social media platform he owns: “This is illegal” – and deleted the post after the community noted that there is no law prohibiting foreigners from participating in unpaid door-knocking.
Trump’s campaign filed a court complaint on Tuesday. Susie Wiles, one of the campaign managers, said:
In two weeks, Americans will once again reject the oppression of big government that we rejected in 1776. The flailing Harris-Walz campaign is seeking foreign influence to boost its radical message – because they know they can’t win the American people. President Trump will return strength to the White House and put America, and our people, first. The Harris campaign’s acceptance and use of this illegal foreign assistance is just another feeble attempt in a long line of anti-American election interference.
Starmer, the British PM, met Trump, the former US president, during a trip to New York last month. Starmer visited Trump Tower, saying he wanted to meet Trump face-to-face because “I’m a great believer in personal relationships on the world stage.”
