By Steve Holland and Jeff Mason
GREEN BAY, Wisconsin (Reuters) -Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and his Democratic rival Kamala Harris accused each other of deepening the discord of a deeply polarized nation as the U.S. presidential campaign entered its final week on Wednesday.
The Republican former president donned an orange reflective safety vest and climbed into the passenger seat of a garbage truck in Green Bay, Wisconsin, to call attention to a Tuesday comment by Democratic President Joe Biden that he said revealed the disdain Democratic leaders feel towards Trump's supporters.
Taking questions as he sat in the truck, Trump said Biden "should be ashamed of himself" and that Harris was guilty by association. Trump supporters "are not garbage," the former president said.
Trump, however, distanced himself from the comedian at his Madison Square Garden rally on Sunday, Tony Hinchcliffe, who triggered this week's political firestorm by saying Puerto Rico is "a floating island of garbage."
"I don't know who he is...I know nothing about him," said Trump, adding, "I love Puerto Rico and Puerto Rico loves me."
Vice President Harris, meanwhile, urged voters in North Carolina to "turn the page" on Trump, who she said was focused on his own grievances, rather than Americans' needs.
"If he is elected, on Day One Donald Trump will walk into that office with an enemies list. When I am elected, I will walk in with a to-do list," she said.
The race has tightened in its final weeks, and a Tuesday Reuters/Ipsos poll showed Harris leading Trump by just 44% to 43% among registered voters nationally, well within the poll's margin of error. Other opinion polls show tight margins in the seven battleground states that will decide the Nov. 5 election.
Tensions are running high. Election workers in competitive states are bracing for violence, and authorities in Florida arrested a man for menacing voters with a machete.
Polarization in America has fostered distrust. According to a March Reuters/Ipsos poll, some 38% of Republicans said they viewed the Democratic Party as an "imminent threat" to the U.S., while 41% of Democrats said that of Republicans.
Trump continues to falsely claim that his 2020 loss to Biden was the result of widespread fraud and has signaled that he will challenge a 2024 defeat if he deems it unfair, having filed along with supporters a wave of lawsuits this year objecting to various election rules around the country.
Much of the legal effort has focused on the risk of voting by noncitizens, though private and state reviews have repeatedly shown that the illegal practice is very rare. The campaign to focus on the issue won a victory on Wednesday when the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated Virginia's decision to purge from its voter rolls 1,600 people who state officials concluded may not be citizens, a claim that Biden's administration disputed.
BIDEN'S 'GARBAGE' GAFFE
Biden's Tuesday comment, in which he appeared to describe one or some Trump supporters as "garbage," undercut Harris' pitch to work with those who disagree with her and move past the bitter divisions that define U.S. politics.
Biden, an 81-year-old incumbent who ended his reelection bid in July after a disastrous debate performance against Trump, has a history of misspeaking. He said he was referring to racist comments made by a single speaker at a Sunday Trump rally, while Trump accused Biden of referring to all those who support him.
"We're 'garbage.' And I call you the heart and soul of America," Trump said.
Since his 2016 presidential campaign, Trump has built broad appeal with working-class white Americans, while Democrats have consolidated their support among more affluent, college-educated voters. Control of the White House and Congress has flipped back and forth in recent elections, allowing neither party to claim control over both branches of government for long.
A SOUTHERN BATTLEGROUND
The dueling rallies in North Carolina highlighted the crucial role the southern state might play in the election. It was the only battleground state to back Trump in 2020. It last voted for a Democratic presidential candidate in 2008 though it has had a Democratic governor, Roy Cooper, since 2017.
Trump leads Harris by just one percentage point in the state, according to a polling average by FiveThirtyEight.
Last month's hurricane damage has made North Carolina's results especially difficult to predict.
The hard-hit western region leans Republican and accounted for about 9% of the vote in 2020, according to an analysis by Republican pollster Patrick Ruffini.
While some state officials - including some Republicans - have praised federal cleanup efforts, Trump has falsely claimed that disaster aid intended for the state was diverted to help immigrants.
Some 43% of North Carolina's registered voters have already cast ballots, and they are more likely to be white, suburban and female than the overall electorate, according to Catawba College political science professor Michael Blitzer.
The outcome may not be known for some time, as absentee ballots can be counted for up to 10 days after the election.