A series of domestic and international crises a month before the US presidential election have shaken up an already fiery campaign, as the rival camps scramble to contain or exploit them to their advantage.
Soaring tensions in the Middle East; a deadly hurricane on US soil; and a historic strike by American dockworkers: Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican candidate Donald Trump have plenty to get their teeth into.
“Today, big news comes hurtling at us like a meteor shower. Naturally, a presidential election is affected profoundly,” Larry Sabato, a political scientist at the University of Virginia, told AFP.
With Iran firing around 180 missiles at Israel, Trump on Tuesday placed the blame for a rapidly escalating conflict wholly at the feet of Harris and Democratic US President Joe Biden.
“You wouldn’t trust Joe or Kamala to run a lemonade stand, let alone lead the free world,” said the former president, who promised to deliver “peace in the world” if he is reelected in November.
Sabato said that Trump’s vow to solve the crisis was “simple as always.”
“He can fix anything, often in a single day! He has a magic wand, you know,” he said.
“Meanwhile the incumbent party has to deal with reality. Intractable problems cannot be solved quickly and cleanly.”
Harris and Biden strived to show they were working together on the tensions in the Middle East, in the hopes of elevating the 59-year-old Democratic nominee’s leadership credentials.
The White House on Tuesday published a photograph of the pair in the Situation Room — reserved for sensitive military operations — and noted that both had followed, in real-time, Iran’s missile attacks on Israel.
Harris later pledged “unwavering” support for key US ally Israel’s security.
The United States has also faced two crises at home, starting with the devastating passage of Hurricane Helene, which killed at least 155 people.
The storm caused massive destruction and may have a political impact as well, with two of the worst-hit states, Georgia and North Carolina, among the seven critical swing states likely to decide the US election result.
Trump on Monday visited an affected community in Georgia where he criticized the federal government’s response.
“We’re not talking about politics now,” Trump said, even as he wore his presidential campaign’s emblematic “Make America Great Again” red cap while speaking to reporters at the disaster site.
A visibly annoyed Biden, who will visit North Carolina on Wednesday, accused the Republican of “lying” about his administration’s response to the hurricane.
Asked by a reporter if he regretted spending the weekend at his beachside home in Delaware, the president snapped: “Come on, stop that game, will you? Why I was in Delaware — it’s 90 miles from here, okay? And I was on the phone the whole time working on that.”
Harris will visit a community in Georgia hit by Helene on Wednesday.
The White House says Harris has been paying close attention to another crisis — a mass strike by some 45,000 US dockworkers that started Tuesday, impacting 36 ports nationwide.
The walkout presents a dire risk for the Democrat as it could create a drag on the world’s largest economy just weeks ahead of voters going to the polls, allowing Trump to exploit what is already a weak area for Harris.
Inflation and the cost of living are among the biggest worries for US voters who, according to polls, trust Trump more than Harris to handle the issues.
“Americans who thrived under President Trump can’t even get by because of Kamala Harris — this strike is a direct result of her actions,” Trump said on Tuesday, as he sought to turn the crisis to his advantage.
