Battle of the campaigns… Harris v Trump!

It’s been a tricky week for Donald Trump. With his presumed opponent, Kamala Harris, enjoying a wave of momentum after Joe Biden stood down from the 2024 race, Trump has been defending his VP pick - JD Vance - after criticism of his “childless cat lady” comments.

Harris meanwhile has been campaigning in Georgia, challenging Donald Trump to a debate and pledging to solve the crisis at the US southern border. Harris has previously been criticised for not doing enough to come up with solutions. Can she convince voters that she now has the answers?

HOSTS:* Anthony Zurcher, North America Correspondent* Sumi Somaskanda, BBC Chief Presenter

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This episode was made by George Dabby. The technical producer was Mike Regaard. The series producer is Purvee Pattni. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.

Americast is the authoritative US news and politics podcast from the BBC. Each week we provide audiences with the best analysis from across the BBC, with on-the-ground observations and big picture insights about the stories which are defining America right now. The podcast is hosted by trusted BBC journalists including the BBC’s North America editor, Sarah Smith, BBC Radio 4 presenter, Justin Webb, the BBC’s disinformation and social media correspondent, Marianna Spring, and BBC North America correspondent, Anthony Zurcher. As well as political analysis, we also specialise in social media. Each week Marianna Spring brings listeners the latest updates from the BBC’s Undercover Voters, our award-winning investigation into the content that is recommended to US voters on social media. The team is also joined by special guests each week, like CNN anchor, Christiane Amanpour, Emmy Award-winning TV host, Rachel Maddow, and Succession actress, J Smith-Cameron. Podcasts are published every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. As well as being a podcast, we are also available every Friday on the World Service. Oh, and by the way, you can now listen to Americast on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say ‘”Ask BBC Sounds to play Americast”. It works on most smart speakers. Every Monday we answer your questions on Americanswers, with some help from special guests, including Miles Taylor, who was chief of staff at the Department for Homeland Security during the Trump presidency before becoming a whistleblower. Got a question or a comment? Get in touch with us on email at [email protected] or WhatsApp on +44 330 123 9480.

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