Who's weird here?

Trump finds himself and his running mate “extremely normal”

Donald Trump is currently touring contested states.(Bild: Getty Images/Tierney L. Cross)

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has rejected accusations of being "weird". During his appearance at a mechanical engineering company in the town of York in embattled Pennsylvania, he said of himself and his running mate J.D. Vance: "I think we're extremely normal people."

Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz is the inventor of the "weird" label for former President Trump. Walz started using it in an interview, and gradually all the prominent figures in the party took up the slogan.

Alluding to Walz, Trump now said: "He's weird." Trump also made fun of the laughter of Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris.

Trump wants to make the US capital "beautiful" again
In his speech, the Republican also promised to make the US capital Washington the most beautiful "capital in the world" if he is re-elected. Washington is "terribly run-down, covered in graffiti", he said. He would fix up the capital "very quickly" and make it safe.

Trump finds himself and his vice president "extremely normal": 

Washington was once known in the USA as the "murder capital" because of its high crime rate. In the 1990s, the murder rate in the US capital began to fall, but in recent years the number has risen again significantly.

Trump repeats his favorite lie
In the rest of his speech, Trump - as is so often the case - repeatedly lost the red thread. He spread his favorite lie about the supposedly stolen election in 2020. The Republican attributed a "regulatory jihad" to his rival when it came to energy policy. Harris wanted to shut down nuclear power plants. 

"Germany tried that a few years ago and got rid of their political leaders very quickly," Trump said, apparently referring to the nuclear phase-out in Germany. He then falsely claimed: "And now they're probably building 50 or 60 power plants, and they want to build a lot more."

Close race expected
The Democratic Party convention begins in Chicago on Monday evening (local time) - US President Joe Biden will speak on Tuesday night Central European Time. Other big names in the party such as former President Barack Obama will give speeches in the coming days. Harris will give the closing speech on Friday night. She is likely to be in the spotlight in the coming days.

Trump is therefore focusing on a counter-program and touring the politically hotly contested swing states. Further events are planned in Michigan, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Arizona, Georgia and Nevada. In Arizona, Trump wants to visit the US southern border with Mexico. The swing states are decisive for the outcome of the election - it is not clear in advance whether the Republican or Democratic candidate will win based on tradition.