Trump sounds dark tone at rally, Harris 'ready' for debate

MONSINEE, United States — Donald Trump delivered a dark speech to a rally Saturday in the US swing state of Wisconsin, while Democrat Kamala Harris hunkered down in another crucial battleground, Pennsylvania, preparing for next week's televised presidential debate.

Trump and Harris are now essentially tied in the polls, with the Republican again shrugging off a mountain of scandals that would have sunk candidates of the past.

At the rally in Mosinee, Wisconsin, the former president delivered his characteristic stream of insults, exaggerations and outright falsehoods, painting a picture of an apocalyptic America run by a leftist dictatorship -- a "rogue regime."

Under President Joe Biden and Vice President Harris, "your government imported murderers, child predators and serial rapists from all over the planet, while weaponizing law enforcement to jail political opponents," Trump told several thousand supporters at an airport in the heartland of Trump's mostly white, conservative base.

"With your vote this election, their lying, cheating, thieving, hoaxing and plotting will come to an end."

He denounced the string of criminal cases he faces over everything from attempting to overthrow his 2020 election loss to Biden, to dozens of felony fraud convictions in New York.

Harris, taking a break from days of debate preparation in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, visited a spice store where she drew a contrast to Trump's grim tone.

Asked what message she would most like to get across in their debate Tuesday, she replied: "It's time to turn the page on the divisiveness. It's time to bring our country together -- chart a new way forward."

Harris said she was "honored" by the recent endorsements of two prominent conservatives, former vice president Dick Cheney and his daughter, former representative Liz Cheney, adding, "It's important to put country above party."

Asked if she was ready to face Trump, Harris said simply, "Yes, I am."

Crowds outside cheered as she left the shop, and the Harris campaign released video of the vice president hugging emotional supporters there, including a young girl.

Trump got a boost Friday when the country's largest police union, the Fraternal Order