Kamala Harris arrives in Pennsylvania for crucial Trump clash

 

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump dancing as he leaves the stage after a town hall meeting in La Crosse, Wisconsin and US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris arriving onstage to speak on the fourth and last day of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois, on August 22, 2024. [AFP]

Kamala Harris touched down in Philadelphia on Monday on the eve of her first -- and possibly only -- presidential debate with Donald Trump before the knife-edge 2024 US election.

With less than two months until polling day, the face-off could be a turning point in a bitter contest between the Democratic vice president and Republican former president.

Harris's Air Force 2 landed in Pennsylvania's largest city and she will spend the night here, while Trump is not due to arrive until hours before Tuesday evening's primetime clash on ABC News.

The two candidates have never even met before, and the debate is set to be a contrast in styles between a former prosecutor and a convicted felon who has targeted Harris with racist and sexist insults.

"There's no floor for him in terms of how low he will go and we should be prepared for that," Harris told radio host Rickey Smiley in an interview broadcast Monday when asked how she planned to handle Trump's attacks.

"And we should be prepared for the fact that he is probably going to speak a lot of untruths."

With scandals dogging her rival, who has not committed to accepting the result of November's election if he loses, Harris also has much to prove.

The 59-year-old's honeymoon after replacing an ageing Joe Biden at the top of the ticket appears to be fading, with polls showing she needs to reach out to voters who do not know much about her policies.

She addressed the growing pressure late Sunday when her campaign put out a policy page, touching on subjects from unions and cost-of-living issues to health care.

Trump, 78, will be under pressure to rein in his insults and aggression as he goes up against a mixed-race candidate vying to be the first female president in US history.

'Not fit to be president'

But he has experience on his side, with six prior presidential debates under his belt -- and his restrained approach against an imploding Biden in their debate in June proved brutally effective.

Biden was forced to drop out of the White House race less than a month later.

Trump struck a typically dark tone in rallies and social media posts over the weekend as he reached out to his right-wing base, at one point warning of "long prison sentences" for all those he said were planning on "cheating" in November.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre responded on Monday by saying: "That kind of rhetoric coming from a former president is dangerous."

The Harris campaign also targeted Trump in an ad Monday featuring former Vice President Mike Pence and other ex-cabinet members saying he was "not fit to be president again."

Pence fell out with Trump after refusing to endorse the then-president's bid to overturn his 2020 election loss to Joe Biden.

The contrast in styles between Trump and Harris is also reflected in their debate prep.

Harris has been holed up for most of the last five days in a hotel in Pittsburgh -- also in the crucial swing state of Pennsylvania -- doing intense debate practice sessions with her staff.

One of her aides even dressed up in a Trump-style boxy suit and long tie, the New York Times reported.

Trump, who survived an assassination attempt in July, has reportedly taken a more relaxed approach involving a handful of sessions.

The most recent polls show the race remains neck and neck, particularly in the six or seven battleground states likely to determine the election winner. A New York Times/Siena poll on Sunday found that Trump is leading Harris nationally by 48 to 47 per cent, well within the margin of error.

An ABC News/Ipsos poll on Monday showed Harris leading Trump 50 to 46 per cent.