Business

With less than two weeks left to Election Day, former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are focusing their campaigns on Latino voters, highlighting their economic policies while engaging in personal attacks.At a roundtable in Miami, Trump exchanged praise with business leaders while claiming that Latinos “did best” under his administration.Later, at a rally in North Carolina, Trump called Harris “lazy” and warned that the state would turn into an “economic wasteland” if she were elected.”I think she’s grossly incompetent, and I don’t want to be nice about it because we can’t take a chance,” Trump said. “We have 14 days to the most important election in the history of our country. But you know what she did? She took a day off. How do you take a day off?”Despite her opponent’s attacks, Harris made campaign appearances Tuesday, sitting down for TV interviews while attending her vice presidential duties in Washington D.C.In one interview with NBC News’ Hallie Jackson, she responded to Trump’s attacks.”I spend the majority of my time listening and then addressing the concerns, the challenges, the dreams, the ambitions, and aspirations of the American people,” she said. “That’s part of why people are exhausted with Donald Trump and his approach, because it’s all about himself and his personal grievances, and not about the American people.”Harris also expanded on her economic policies to help home and small business owners as a recent Associated Press poll shows her closing the gap on economic issues, like jobs and groceries, in a matchup against Trump.”Part of my plan includes what we need to do to bring down the price of groceries, including the work I will do dealing with price gouging,” Harris said. “Doing what we must do to bring down the cost of living, but also to help people not just get by, but get ahead.”In a Telemundo interview, Harris outlined more specific plans for Latino voters, promising to secure more forgivable business loans, increase the number of apprenticeships, and eliminate barriers for federal jobs. She called herself a “pragmatic capitalist” to resonate with voters who have fled authoritarian regimes and refute claims by Trump that she is a socialist.Latino voters have historically voted for Democrats, but Harris’ advantage over Trump among Latinos has declined to its lowest level yet.The Harris and Trump campaigns are leaning into star power in the final days of the campaign. Trump will record a podcast with Joe Rogan on Friday. Former President Obama and Bruce Springsteen will campaign with Harris in Georgia on Thursday. Obama and Springsteen will appear in Pennsylvania on Monday.Harris will participate in a town hall with CNN Wednesday night.