“I shouldn’t have left the White House,” Donald Trump declared at a rally in Pennsylvania on Sunday, expressing regret over his departure in 2021 and signalling his disappointment with how his first term ended. As the 2024 campaign draws to a close, Trump appears to be ending it like he began—with combative rhetoric, disparaging attacks, and a refusal to acknowledge the legitimacy of a potential loss. The rally in the critical battleground state showcased Trump’s characteristic messaging and underscored his enduring grievances since losing the 2020 election.
Speaking before his supporters, Trump lamented that he “shouldn’t have left” office after the 2020 defeat. He criticised Democrats as “demonic” and railed against a new poll that shows him no longer leading in Iowa, a state he previously carried twice. At one point, Trump even suggested he wouldn’t mind if a gunman targeting him also “shot through the fake news.” These incendiary comments continued his pattern of sowing distrust in the election process and vilifying his opponents and the media.
Throughout much of his speech, Trump made repeated, unsubstantiated claims about voter fraud, accusing Democrats of cheating in the upcoming election. As the polls indicate a close race between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris nationally, Trump’s tone has become increasingly dire and confrontational. He expressed frustration with what he described as attempts to interfere with the election, voicing regret over leaving office after his defeat by Joe Biden four years ago.
“I shouldn’t have left. I mean, honestly, because we did so, we did so well,” Trump said during his rally in Lititz, Pennsylvania, as he touted his administration’s achievements, including securing the US-Mexico border. This public admission of regret over peacefully transferring power was a rare moment for Trump, who faced intense criticism for inciting the violent storming of the U.S. Capitol by his supporters in January 2021. The insurrection was a last-ditch attempt to subvert the election results that Trump had refused to concede, actions that have led to ongoing federal charges against him.
Trump’s voice, sounding notably hoarse throughout the rally, became especially agitated when discussing a recent poll released by the Des Moines Register and Mediacom. The survey revealed that the race between him and Harris in Iowa was too close to call. “We got all this crap going on with the press and with fake stuff and fake polls,” Trump told the crowd, claiming the poll was orchestrated by “one of my enemies.”
According to sources close to the campaign, the poll release sent shockwaves through Trump’s inner circle. The former president was said to be privately furious about the numbers, contending that the poll should have never been made public. His advisers tried to placate him by assuring him that the survey was not reflective of reality. They characterised the poll as an “outlier,” and Trump’s long-time pollster issued a memo that dismissed it as an anomaly. However, the gender breakdown of the poll—showing that women were leaning heavily toward Harris—raised concerns within Trump’s camp. Notably, the poll indicated that 56% of women in Iowa favoured Harris compared to only 36% for Trump.
At another point during his rally, Trump made a disturbing comment regarding his security and the media present at the event. Referring to the bulletproof glass protecting him, he said, “I have this piece of glass here. But all we have really over here is the fake news, right? And to get me, somebody would have to shoot through the fake news,” Trump said. “And I don’t mind that so much. I don’t mind.” This comment drew immediate backlash, given its implications for the safety of journalists, who are frequently the target of Trump’s rhetoric.
In an attempt to mitigate the fallout, Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung issued a statement claiming that Trump’s comments were intended to highlight the danger faced by members of the media due to their proximity to him. “President Trump was stating that the media was in danger, in that they were protecting him and, therefore, were in great danger themselves,” Cheung said, adding that Trump was “looking out for their welfare, far more than his own.” However, the statement did little to quell concerns about the impact of Trump’s rhetoric.
Responding to Trump’s comments, a senior official from the Harris campaign said that the former president’s focus remained squarely on his own grievances rather than on the needs of the American people. “For Trump, this election really is all about his own grievances,” the official said, emphasizing that Trump’s campaign was fixated on retribution and relitigating the past rather than offering a vision for the future.
During his speech, Trump also continued to push baseless conspiracy theories about election fraud. He accused Democrats of “fighting so hard to steal this damn thing” and suggested that voting machines would be tampered with. He expressed disdain for the idea that it might take longer to determine the election results, suggesting that any delay was a cover for fraud. “These elections have to be decided by 9 o’clock, 10 o’clock, 11 o’clock on Tuesday night,” Trump said, drawing cheers from the crowd. He then referred to election officials as “crooked people.”
Trump’s remarks reflect the increasingly dark and menacing tone of his campaign as it comes to a close. He has repeatedly made ominous statements about using the military to combat perceived enemies within the country. Recently, he mused about how former Republican congresswoman Liz Cheney would fare with “guns trained on her face” in a war zone, highlighting his willingness to use violent imagery against his critics. Cheney, a vocal critic of Trump, was one of the few Republican lawmakers who supported his impeachment after the January 6 Capitol riot.
The weekend was also marked by other bizarre moments. On Sunday, Trump responded to a post by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. regarding removing fluoride from public water if he were elected to a second term. “Sounds OK to me,” Trump said in an interview with NBC News. He added, “I haven’t talked to him about it yet, but it sounds OK to me. You know, it’s possible.”
In North Carolina, at another rally, Trump chuckled approvingly when a supporter shouted a derogatory comment about Vice President Kamala Harris. After Trump dismissed the notion that Harris had worked at a McDonald’s in her younger years, a person in the audience yelled, “She worked on a corner!” Trump laughed, paused, and responded, “This place is amazing.” He added, “Just remember it’s other people saying it, it’s not me,” as the crowd laughed. This moment, highlighting his willingness to indulge in sexist commentary, stood in stark contrast to the way political discourse was handled by past Republican leaders.
Trump’s use of divisive rhetoric and crude humour has further degraded American political discourse, which took a dramatic turn for the worse after he entered politics in 2015. In one instance, he invoked Barack Obama’s full name, “Barack Hussein Obama,” as a means of demonizing the former president, playing into baseless fears and xenophobic sentiments. Trump’s use of derogatory names did not stop there; he frequently mispronounced Kamala Harris’s name and referred to her as a “sh*t vice president.”
At other times, Trump’s rallies descended into farce. During a rally in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, last month, he inexplicably spent several minutes talking about the late golfer Arnold Palmer’s naked body. “Arnold Palmer was all man, and I say that in all due respect to women, I love women,” Trump said. “This man was strong and tough, and I refused to say it, but when he took showers with the other pros, they came out of there, they said, ‘Oh, my God. That’s unbelievable.’” These comments, often bizarre and irrelevant, have become increasingly common at Trump’s rallies.
Trump’s rhetoric toward women has also become stranger and more disconcerting. At a rally in Green Bay, Wisconsin, last week, Trump told his audience that his aides had asked him to stop calling himself the “protector” of American women. “‘Sir, please don’t say that,’” Trump said, recounting his aides’ advice. “Why? I’m president. I want to protect the women of our country. Well, I’m going to do it, whether the women like it or not.”
Polls have shown that Trump’s standing with female voters has declined significantly, with Harris enjoying a substantial lead among women across demographic lines. Rather than attempting to appeal to women, Trump and his allies have instead focused on mobilizing more male voters. Charlie Kirk, the leader of a prominent right-wing group tasked with managing much of Trump’s ground campaign, recently said, “Early vote has been disproportionately female. If men stay at home, Kamala is president. It’s that simple.”
Vice President Kamala Harris, in contrast, has positioned herself as a candidate committed to healing the divisions that have plagued American society in recent years. “Our democracy doesn’t require us to agree on everything. That’s not the American way,” Harris said in a speech from the Ellipse in Washington, D.C., last week. “We like a good debate. And the fact that someone disagrees with us does not make them ‘the enemy from within.’ They are family, neighbours, classmates, coworkers.” Harris emphasized that the bitter polarization of American society did not have to continue, calling for an end to the tribalism that has defined much of the past decade.
Harris has also starkly contrasted herself and Trump on the governance issue. While Trump has frequently hinted at his desire to use the power of the federal government to punish his rivals, Harris has focused her campaign on policy—including the restoration of federal abortion rights in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in 2022. “On day one, if elected, Donald Trump would walk into that office with an enemies list,” Harris said. “When elected, I will walk in with a to-do list of priorities on what I will do for the American people.”
As the 2024 campaign enters its final days, Trump continues to rely on the same tactics that have defined his political career: disparaging rhetoric, fearmongering, and attacks on perceived enemies. His comments in Pennsylvania, ranging from regret over leaving office to disturbing remarks about violence against the media, highlight the deeply polarizing nature of his campaign. For Trump, the focus remains on his grievances, and he needs to show more interest in pivoting toward a unifying message.
In contrast, Harris has sought to offer voters an alternative path—one that emphasizes unity, respect for democratic norms, and a commitment to addressing the country’s challenges. While the election outcome remains uncertain, the choice before voters is stark: between a candidate who views his opponents as enemies to be crushed and one who sees them as fellow Americans with differing viewpoints. The final decision will determine the direction of American democracy in the years to come.