SCRANTON, Pa. (AP) — Former President Donald Trump offered his prayers to those in the path of Hurricane Milton as it began to lash Florida while continuing to insult his rival, Vice President Kamala Harris, and other women — saying he had no interest in stopping even if it turned off female voters.
“I don’t want to be nice,” Trump said at his first of two rallies of the day in the pivotal battleground state of Pennsylvania. “You know, somebody said, ‘You should be nicer. Women won’t like it.’ I said, ’I don’t care.”
Trump kept up his campaign schedule even as the storm threatened to overshadow the presidential race with fears that it would cause catastrophic damage in Tampa and other parts of Florida’s Gulf Coast. Harris flew to Nevada for a Western campaign swing, but first attended a briefing on the storm and the federal response with President Joe Biden at the White House.
Speaking in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Trump lobbed personal insults at Harris — calling her “grossly incompetent” and “totally ill-equipped to do the job of being President of the United States” — and went after one of the hosts of ABC’s “The View,” which Harris appeared on Tuesday.
He called Sunny Hostin, who is Black and Latina, “dumber than Kamala.”
”That is one dumb woman. Sorry. I’m sorry, women, she’s a dummy,” he said of Hostin, who had asked Harris if there was anything she would have done differently than Biden over the last four years. Harris replied that “not a thing comes to mind” — a line the Trump campaign has seized on as it tries to paint her as nothing more than a continuation of Biden’s unpopular presidency.
He later appeared in Reading where he called her answer “disqualifying” and listed a series of tragedies that happened on Biden’s watch, including Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
He also went after the Biden administration for its response to Hurricane Helene as Milton made landfall.
“This administration has not done a proper job at all. Terrible, terrible,” he told the crowd. “We just pray for everybody,” he went on. “We hope that God will keep them safe.”
At both stops, he urged the crowd to vote early, and said that if he wins the state, “we win the whole thing.”
“When the polls open tomorrow, don’t wait. Go immediately. Go as soon as you can,” he said. Pennsylvanians can fill out mail ballots at their county elections offices but the state does not have the type of early voting that exists in other places. Each county determines when its mail ballots are available.
Milton scrambles campaigns
Hurricane Milton has already disrupted the campaign, just two weeks after Hurricane Helene devastated large swaths of the Southeast. Trump, who moved to Florida after he left the White House, postponed a virtual event Tuesday night focused on health care and postponed a Univision town hall that was supposed to happen in Miami.
Harris has her own Univision town hall planned for Thursday in Las Vegas before returning to Arizona, making her second visit to both states in less than two weeks.
Trump, at his rally in Scranton — Biden’s birthplace — said he was praying for those in the hurricane’s path and wanted to “send our love to everyone in Florida. They’re going through a big one tonight.”
“We’re praying for them and asking God to keep them all safe, all those people. I’ve never seen a hurricane like that,” he went on. “So often you know, they talk about it and they talk talk talk because they want you to watch. This is the real deal. This is a bad one.”
Campaigning in Arizona, where early voting kicked off Wednesday, Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz called on the country to come together to support those who will be impacted.
“Those are Americans. Those are our neighbors. Those are our family members. Those are our friends,” he said, calling unity across party lines in the face of natural disasters “critical.”
“It’s not about politics. It’s about basic human decency,” Walz said. “It’s about leadership and character.”
Milton is approaching just days after Hurricane Helene killed more than 220 people in six Southeastern states and left behind a swath of destruction that federal, state and local authorities are trying to alleviate even as they brace for the new storm.
‘Reckless’ hurricane misinformation
Both Biden, who postponed a trip to Germany and Angola due to the storm, and Harris denounced the misinformation and disinformation surrounding the federal response to Helene, including the false assertion that there is a cap on assistance funding families can receive.
They also denounced the false notion that funding is being diverted away from Republican-heavy areas and to people in the country illegally, as well as the claim that federal authorities offering aid could eventually steal property from its owners. Both singled out Trump as driving much of the falsehoods.
“I want to be clear about something. Over the last few weeks, there’s been a reckless, irresponsible and relentless promotion of disinformation and outright lies that are disturbing people,” Biden said during the Milton briefing. “It’s undermining confidence in the incredible rescue and recovery work that has already been taken and will continue to be taken. And it’s harmful to those who need help the most.”
“What a ridiculous thing to say,” Biden said of the false rumors that funding is being diverted to migrants in the country illegally. Biden also referenced Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene ‘s false suggestion that “I control the weather,” he said, calling her comments like something “out of a comic book.”
“It’s beyond ridiculous,” Biden said. “It’s got to stop.”
He also told Deanne Criswell, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, “You’re doing a hell of a job.”
Harris said that once the hurricane passes, “We will be there to help folks rebuild.”
Addressing Florida residents, Harris added: “Many of you, I know are tough, and you’ve ridden out these hurricanes before. This one is going to be different.”
Outside the arena in Reading before Trump spoke, financial consultant Zimri Rivera said he didn’t have an issue with candidates holding events as the hurricane approached Florida.
“I feel like both politicians are politicking,” said Rivera, 30, who lives a few blocks from the Santander Arena. “I do hope that the government in general does respond and provides relief to those affected.”
“I’m sure he’s going to mention it. It’s scary,” said Nicole Englehart, 47, a real estate agent from Kutztown. “He’s doing what he can while he’s trying to become president again.”
Trump has faced numerous other distractions to his campaign, including the criminal cases against him, said Joey Inmon, 63, of Reading.
“As far as the hurricane goes, and managing that — that’s not Trump’s job,” Inmon said.
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Weissert reported from Washington and Colvin from New York. Associated Press journalists Mark Scolforo, Anna Johnson and Nancy Benac in Reading contributed to this report.
