A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
In the final days of the presidential campaign, both candidates are filling their calendars with interviews and events.
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
For former President Donald Trump, the grueling schedule is one he's handled twice before. But amid headlines about unusual campaign antics, there's a question - is Trump veering off course?
MARTÍNEZ: For more, we're joined by NPR's political correspondent, Danielle Kurtzleben. So, Danielle, you've been following Donald Trump this week. What are you hearing?
DANIELLE KURTZLEBEN, BYLINE: Well, I'm hearing a candidate who's making zero attempt to be less inflammatory as a really close race comes to a close. At a rally in Greensboro, North Carolina, last night, he delivered his usual rally speech in many ways, but also parts of it were ratcheted up. There were insults, for example. He said former President Barack Obama is a jerk. He also falsely suggested Vice President Harris is on drugs. He also, as he almost always does, demonized undocumented immigrants. But in this instance, he specifically framed them as taking jobs from nonwhite citizens.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
DONALD TRUMP: Kamala is importing millions of illegals across our borders and giving them taxpayer benefits at your expense while taking the jobs...
(BOOING)
TRUMP: ...From African Americans and from Hispanic Americans.
KURTZLEBEN: And he tells that lie as he is also pursuing specifically Black and Hispanic voters and especially targeting men in those groups.
MARTÍNEZ: Now, there's been a bit of a run lately about Trump being outrageous or acting strangely even. He's always had a different approach to politics. Danielle, what do you make of this?
KURTZLEBEN: To put it mildly, yeah. I mean, there was him playing music for his audience for half an hour roughly at a town hall recently while he just stood on stage. There was him in another rally, where he had this lengthy riff about golfer Arnold Palmer, including alluding to the size of his genitals. And that's all on top of the many lies, for example, about - saying that FEMA funds are being misspent. Again, no evidence of that. Now, yes, Trump is 78. There are questions about what of this is due to age. Now, I've watched him for years. A lot of us have. He is slowing down, for sure. You could argue he rambles more. But also, he has always been circuitous in how he talks.
Now, to me, what's really interesting - and that we can say for sure - is that he isn't acting the way a candidate usually acts as a really close race is drawing to a close. I mean, look at Kamala Harris right now. She's out with Liz Cheney. She's emphasizing that she owns a gun. She's talking about being tough on crime. Trump is not reaching out to moderates in that same way, in any way.
MARTÍNEZ: So what does that say about his strategy?
KURTZLEBEN: Well, I mean, we always say that it's all about turnout, right? But he in particular is leaning into that instead of persuasion. He does not seem concerned with that middle segment of voters. He's just trying to turn out anyone who might be sympathetic to him. And when he has guest speakers at his rallies, you hear them really getting at this, telling people, hey, get 10 of your friends to the polls. You hear that all the time. And this is something that his campaign has been saying a lot. They told me this a couple of months ago - about his strategy of going on all these podcasts. They say they just want Trump to get his message out to everyone, to leave no stone unturned. Well, we now know he's doing that more. He's doing an interview with Joe Rogan this week, who regularly tops the podcast charts.
To bring all of this back full circle, though, to how he's acting - when Trump is being a loose cannon, he's doing the thing that makes his followers like him most. Now, is that a winning strategy? We don't know yet. But that authenticity has gotten him this loyal movement. He seems to think it'll carry him to a win.
MARTÍNEZ: That's NPR's political correspondent, Danielle Kurtzleben. Thank you very much, Danielle.
KURTZLEBEN: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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