MADISON, Wisconsin- - Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris warned voters on Thursday that Republican Donald Trump and his allies would scale back healthcare programs if he wins the White House and said his comments at a Wednesday rally were offensive to women. In a brief press conference, Vice President Harris reminded voters that former President Trump had tried unsuccessfully to repeal the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, during his 2017-2021 presidency.
"Healthcare for all Americans is on the line in this election," she told reporters in Madison, Wisconsin. In response, Trump said he never wanted to get rid of the program. "I never mentioned doing that, never even thought about such a thing," he posted on his Truth Social platform after she made the remark. The 2010 Affordable Care Act provides coverage to roughly 40 million Americans as part of the country's patchwork of health insurance programs. A political liability for Democrats when it was signed into law in 2010, the law is now broadly popular with the public. Opinion polls show a historically close contest between Harris and Trump, with the outcome of Tuesday's U.S. presidential election likely to be decided in seven battleground states. Reuters/Ipsos polling in October found the race to be sharply divided along gender lines, with Harris leading among women by 12 percentage points and Trump leading among men by seven percentage points. Harris has made abortion rights a cornerstone of her campaign, while Trump has vowedto dramatically scale back immigration.
"Whether the women like it or not, I've got to protect them. I'm going to protect them from migrants coming in. I'm going to protect them from foreign countries that want to hit us with missiles and lots of other things," he said at a Wednesday rally in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Harris told reporters she found the "like it or not" comment to be offensive. "It actually is, I think, very offensive to women in terms of not understanding their agency, their authority, their right and their ability to make decisions about their own lives, including their own bodies," she said. TRUMP CAMPAIGNS IN NEW MEXICO Trump flew to Albuquerque, New Mexico, for a campaign stop in a state he lost by 10 percentage points in 2020. Strategists from both parties say it is not competitive this year either.
"They all said, 'Don't come,'" he said. "'You can't win New Mexico.' I said, ‘Look, your votes are rigged. We can win New Mexico.'” Trump has said without providing evidence that he expects fraudulent voting in Tuesday's election, echoing his false claims of fraud in 2020. The Harris campaign said he is laying the groundwork for another stolen-election claim if he loses. Harris flew to Phoenix for a rally with stops in Las Vegas and Reno, Nevada, expected later in the day. Trump was due next to campaign in Henderson, a suburb of Las Vegas. Nearly 63 million Americans have already voted, according to the Election Lab at the University of Florida. Nevada's early voting results show promising results for Republicans so far, according to political commentator Jon Ralston.
