Harris says she is 'underdog,' Trump goes on offense

By Stephanie Kelly, Jeff Mason and Tim Reid

(Reuters) -Vice President Kamala Harris cast herself as the "underdog" in the presidential race and called her Republican opponent Donald Trump "just plain weird," while Trump painted Harris as "evil," "sick" and "unhinged" as the rivals exchanged barbs from afar on Saturday.

The dueling appearances capped a whirlwind week that saw Harris ascend to the top of the Democratic ticket after President Joe Biden, 81, dropped his reelection bid under mounting pressure from his fellow Democrats. A series of polls indicate that Harris' entry erased the lead Trump had enjoyed over Biden in a matter of days.

Harris, speaking at a private fundraiser headlined by singer-songwriter James Taylor in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, said much of the rhetoric coming from Trump and his running mate, U.S. Senator JD Vance, was "just plain weird."

Her use of the word "weird" to describe her opponents was part of a new strategy from Democrats. The Harris campaign called Trump "old and quite weird" following his appearance on Fox News on Thursday, and at least one supporter showed up outside Saturday's event holding a sign proclaiming "Trump is weird."

As she did during a blitz of campaign stops this week, Harris, 59, again contrasted her background as a prosecutor with Trump's record as a convicted felon and said her bid was about the future, while Trump, 78, wanted to return the country to a "dark past."

Hours later, Trump unleashed a barrage of hyperbolic attacks at a rally in St. Cloud, Minnesota, asserting that Harris would "destroy the country" and criticizing her on issues ranging from public safety to immigration.

"If a crazy liberal like Kamala Harris gets in, the American dream is dead," Trump said, adding that Harris is "even worse" than Biden.

The former president's speech - suffused with familiar grievances and false claims about election fraud - made clear that his short-lived call for unity following the attempt on his life two weeks ago had dissipated altogether.

"I want to be nice. They all say, 'I think he's changed,' Trump said. "No, I haven't changed. Maybe I've gotten worse."

The former president's event at an 8,000-seat ice hockey arena complied with the U.S. Secret Service's recommendation that he avoid large outdoor events following the assassination attempt at a Pennsylvania rally.

Trump said on Saturday on his Truth Social site that he would continue to hold outdoor rallies and that the Secret Service had "agreed to substantially step up their operation" to protect him.

Minnesota has not chosen a Republican presidential candidate in 52 years, but the Trump campaign had viewed it as increasingly within reach after Biden's poll numbers dipped following his disastrous June 27 debate performance.

Harris' takeover, however, has reenergized a campaign that had faltered badly amid Democrats' doubts about Biden's chances of defeating Trump or his ability to continue to govern should he succeed.

Harris, the first Black woman and first Asian American to serve as vice president, raised more than $100 million in the 36 hours after Biden decided to drop out of the race. Saturday's fundraiser brought in more than $1.4 million from some 800 attendees, her campaign said.

Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action, a gun safety group with about 10 million members, told MSNBC on Saturday that more than 200,000 people joined a Zoom call on Thursday to build support for Harris among white women, raising over $11 million.

Earlier on Saturday, Trump addressed a cryptocurrency conference in Nashville, part of a broader Republican effort to court crypto enthusiasts ahead of the Nov. 5 election.

He vowed to make the U.S. the "crypto capital of the world," a far cry from his stance in 2021, when he called bitcoin a "scam." Trump warned that China and other countries would embrace crypto if the U.S. did not and promised industry-friendly regulations if elected. China currently bans cryptocurrency.

Trump's rally on Saturday follows his speech at a conservative gathering on Friday, when he told Christians that if they vote for him in November, "in four years, you don't have to vote again. We'll have it fixed so good, you're not gonna have to vote."

It was not clear what the former president meant, but Democrats immediately seized on his words as evidence that he remains a threat to democracy four years after his efforts to overturn his 2020 defeat led to the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

(Reporting by Tim Reid, Stephanie Kelly and Jeff Mason; Additional reporting by Andrea Shalal; Writing by Joseph Ax; Editing by Scott Malone, Stephen Coates, Frances Kerry and Daniel Wallis)