By Jeff Mason and Jarrett Renshaw
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said on Friday he will return to the Pennsylvania town where he narrowly survived an assassination attempt, while Vice President Kamala Harris capped her week-long bid to become the Democratic presidential nominee with former President Barack Obama’s endorsement.
“I WILL BE GOING BACK TO BUTLER, PENNSYLVANIA, FOR A BIG AND BEAUTIFUL RALLY,” former President Trump wrote on his Truth Social site, without providing details on when or where the rally would take place.
Harris, the first Black woman and first Asian American to serve as vice president, swiftly consolidated Democratic support after President Joe Biden tapped her to succeed him on Sunday. A handful of public opinion polls this week have shown her beginning to narrow Trump’s lead.
A Friday Wall Street Journal poll showed Trump holding 49% support to Harris’s 47% support, with a margin of error of three percentage points. A poll by the newspaper earlier this month had shown Trump leading Biden 48% to 42%.
Obama and his wife Michelle endorsed Harris on Friday, adding their names to a parade of prominent Democrats who coalesced behind Harris’ White House bid after Biden, 81, ended his reelection campaign under pressure from the party.
“We called to say Michelle and I couldn’t be prouder to endorse you and to do everything we can to get you through this election and into the Oval Office,” Obama told Harris in a phone call posted in an online video by the campaign.
Smiling as she spoke into a cellphone, Harris expressed her gratitude for the endorsement and their long friendship.
“Thank you both. It means so much. And we’re gonna have some fun with this too,” said Harris, who would also be the nation’s first female president if she prevails in the Nov. 5 election.
Barack Obama, the first Black U.S. president, and Michelle remain among the most popular figures in the Democratic Party, almost eight years after he left office. A Reuters/Ipsos poll early this month showed that 55% of Americans – and 94% of Democrats – viewed Michelle Obama favorably, higher approval than Harris’ 37% nationally and 81% within the party.
The endorsement could help boost support and fundraising for Harris’ campaign, and it signals Obama is likely to get on the campaign trail for Harris.
TRUMP MEETS NETANYAHU
Trump met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the former president’s Florida resort on Friday, a day after Netanyahu sat down with Biden and Harris in separate meetings in Washington.
Trump greeted Netanyahu warmly and told reporters they have a “very good relationship,” dismissing any suggestion of tensions between them.
Harris struck a more forceful tone than Biden in her public remarks on Thursday, pushing Netanyahu to help reach a ceasefire in Gaza. In a televised statement after their talks, Harris said, “It is time for this war to end,” and expressed concern about the conflict’s toll on Palestinian civilians.
Trump called her remarks “disrespectful” on Friday.
The conflict began on Oct. 7 when Hamas militants attacked southern Israel from Gaza, killing 1,200 and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israel.
Israel’s retaliatory assault on Gaza has killed more than 39,000, according to Gazan health authorities, and leveled much of the enclave. The response has displaced most of Gaza’s 2.3 million people and created a humanitarian crisis.
The Biden administration has drawn criticism from some Democrats for not pressing Netanyahu more to protect Palestinian civilians.
Trump has also called for a swift end to the war, telling Fox News on Thursday that Israel was getting “decimated with this publicity.”
(Reporting by Jeff Mason in Washington and Jarrett Renshaw in Philadelphia; Additional reporting by Joseph Ax; Editing by Scott Malone, Daniel Wallis and Rod Nickel)
