Former President Donald Trump held a town hall event in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where he took questions from voters on a range of topics, including abortion, education, and border control. The event, which was hosted by Fox News, comes as both campaigns focus on Pennsylvania ahead of the debate in Philadelphia in just five days.
During the town hall, Trump questioned the fairness of the upcoming debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, which is set to be hosted by ABC News. He insisted, without evidence, that Harris was “going to get the questions in advance.” The network has released agreed-upon rules stating that no topics or questions would be provided to either candidate or campaign. Trump's comments echo similar sentiments he expressed before his consequential debate with President Biden in June, where he cast the network, moderators, and rules as biased.
Trump also used the town hall to criticize Harris's stance on fracking, a significant issue in Pennsylvania, a large producer of natural gas. Despite Harris stating she no longer supports a ban on hydraulic fracturing, Trump insisted that Pennsylvania “can’t take the chance.”
The former president also addressed immigration, claiming without evidence that other countries were deliberately sending violent criminals and mentally ill people across the border. He criticized Harris for failing to curb the number of migrants crossing illegally, referring to her as the "border czar," a term Republicans have used to describe Harris's role in addressing the root causes of migration.
The town hall event was part of a larger attempt by the Trump campaign to attack Harris for avoiding media scrutiny. Trump and his allies have criticized her commitment to only one debate, her not holding a news conference since becoming the Democratic presidential nominee, and her decision to wait a month before giving a mainstream media interview.