US: Both Presidential Campaigns Struggle To Contain Negative News Cycles

With little to separate Kamala Harris and Donald Trump in the polls, there has been increased scrutiny over public comments made by the two presidential candidates. Particularly regarding Latino voters and women, two demographics expected to be consequential on Tuesday, and have been subject to aggressive campaign outreach in the final days of the cycle.

• Trump’s campaign was in damage control early in the week for a rally at Madison Square Garden rally on Sunday, with Trump stressingthat he was unfamiliar with comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, whose remarks provoked backlash amongst some Puerto Rican voters – an important demographic in the key swing state of Pennsylvania.   
• President Biden’s subsequent effort to highlight the comments, appearing to call Trump's supporters "garbage", complicated Harris’ messaging and prompted the White House press office to amend an official transcript of the remarks. 
• A government official describedthe White House press office’s actions as “a breach of protocol and spoliation of transcript integrity between the Stenography and Press Offices.”
• Rhetoric between the two campaigns escalated further overnight, with the Harris campaign amplifying commentsTrump made at a rally in Wisconsin on Wednesday that he “would protect women whether the women like it or not.”
• Trump surrogates argued that the comments were “grossly inaccurate” and taken out of context, with Rep Byron Donalds telling CNN, "[Trump] was talking about the tragedy at our southern border that led to the death of Jocelyn Nungaray."
• Fox News notes: “…during the actual speech Trump went on to say, "I'm gonna protect them from migrants coming in. I'm gonna protect them from foreign countries that wanna… hit us with missiles…"”

Figure 1: Choice for President by Gender, Likely Voters