Trump campaigns in western states, Harris focuses on the important Pennsylvania

LOS ANGELES – Former President Donald Trump will campaign in western states on Friday, while his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, turns her focus to one of the key battleground areas in the east: Pennsylvania.

A press conference is planned for the morning at his golf club near Los Angeles. Trump will then travel to northern California for a fundraiser. This will be followed by a rally in Las Vegas, the largest city in the swing state of Nevada.

Harris, meanwhile, is traveling to Johnstown and Wilkes-Barre on Friday to capitalize on her momentum following Tuesday night’s debate. It’s her second day of back-to-back rallies after holding two events in North Carolina, another swing state, on Thursday.

During her speech in Charlotte, Harris took a victory lap for her debate performance, poking fun at Trump and putting him on the defensive. She recalled a moment during her campaign in North Carolina when she mocked Trump for saying he had “concepts for a plan” to replace the Affordable Care Act.

“Concepts. Concepts. No real plan. Concepts,” she said as the crowd roared with laughter.

Her campaign said she raised $47 million from 600,000 donors in the 24 hours following her debate with Trump.

Harris said the candidates “owe it to the voters to have another debate.” Trump, however, said he would not agree to another confrontation with her.

Trump’s morning appearance is the second Friday in a row that the Republican has scheduled a press conference. At his last appearance in New York, however, the former president did not answer any questions. Instead, the Republican spent nearly an hour ranting about women who had accused him of sexual misconduct over the years. The allegations flared up again in public just days before his debate with Harris.

It’s unclear if Trump plans to speak on any specific topic at Friday’s press conference, but his campaign has been adding more to its schedule since early August to differentiate itself from Harris. She hasn’t held a press conference since running for president and the Democrat has only given one wide-ranging interview.

Her campaign team has announced that she will be giving more interviews with local media in the swing states.

After his appearance at his golf club in upscale Rancho Palos Verdes, Trump will head to a fundraiser in the Bay Area town of Woodside in the afternoon, hosted by billionaire software developer Tom Siebel and his wife, Stacey Siebel. Tom Siebel is the second cousin of Jennifer Siebel Newsom, the wife of California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat and Harris’ surrogate.

Attendees must pay at least $3,300 per person or raise $10,000 for the campaign, an invitation says. The biggest donors will receive a photo, reception and panel discussion. They will pay $500,000 per person for a couple who sits on the host committee, and $150,000 per person for a co-host couple.

For Trump, this is already the second fundraising appearance in California within a few days, where he tries to catch up with Harris.

Even before she raked in money after the debate, the vice president reported raising $361 million from nearly 3 million donors in August, her first full month as a candidate after unseating President Joe Biden. Trump raised $130 million during the same period. Harris’ campaign reported it had $109 million more on hand than Trump’s at the start of September.

On Friday night, he’s heading to Las Vegas, where he’ll hold a rally downtown. Trump was in town for a brief stop last month to promote his proposal to eliminate the federal tax on workers’ tips. He expects that proposal to resonate especially in the tourist city, since much of the service economy includes workers who rely on tips. On Thursday, he announced a new proposal to eliminate taxes on overtime.

This swing state was narrowly lost by Trump in 2016 and 2020 and is one of about half a dozen that both campaigns are focusing on.

Republican presidential candidates have visited Clark County, Nevada, four times since June. Trump has held campaign rallies in Las Vegas three times, while his running mate, Senator JD Vance, held a rally in suburban Henderson in July.

Democrats have also visited the city four times, with President Joe Biden attending two of those campaign events before dropping out of the race. Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, held a joint rally in Las Vegas last month, and Walz visited the city again on Tuesday.

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Long reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Michael R. Blood in Los Angeles, Chris Megerian in Washington and Tom Verdin in Sacramento contributed to this report.