WASHINGTON: Kamala Harris and Donald Trump return to the campaign trail on Thursday, with the Democrat hoping her dominant performance in their first presidential debate will boost her chances in the closely contested US election.
The rivals head into key states that will decide November's vote, two days after Harris forced Republican Trump onto the defensive in a fierce showdown that drew 67 million viewers across the United States.
But it remains unclear whether the vice president's forceful performance will turn the tide less than two months before the end of a nerve-racking race that will be decided by a handful of undecided voters across the country.
Harris, 59, will look to build on her debate momentum when she heads to North Carolina on Thursday, where she will hold back-to-back rallies in the cities of Charlotte and Greensboro pledging a “new way forward.”
Harris has erased a six-point lead held by Trump over the past month to tie in North Carolina, where she is seeking to enthuse crucial black and young voters to back her bid to become America's first female commander in chief.
Amid media reports of unrest in his camp over the way Harris managed to provoke him in the debate, the 78-year-old former president is due to take the stage in Tucson, Arizona, to focus on “our struggling economy.”
Arizona was one of the most hotly contested states in the 2020 election, with Joe Biden winning by around 10,000 votes over Trump, and promises to be a hotly contested state again.
Their return to key election states came a day after a brief respite when they attended the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks in New York on Wednesday.
