US election update: Trump calls Kamala ‘slur’ as health report released

Former US President Donald Trump reportedly called Kamala Harris a slur as his frustration boiled over about campaign funds.

A frustrated Donald Trump exploded in a furious rant as he dined with billionaires at a private dinner.

The Republican candidate for the US presidential election, which is now only 22 days away, erupted with a slur of Kamala Harris as he complained about a lack of financial support for his campaign.

The New York Times reports that Mr Trump called Ms Harris “retarded” at a Trump Tower dinner on the last Sunday of September.

He was hosting billionaires including hedge fund manager Paul Singer, investment banker Warren Stephens, Amway baron Betsy DeVos and investor Joe Ricketts.

During the rant, Mr Trump also complained about the number of Jewish-Americans backing Ms Harris and called for more financial support.

Ms Harris recently apologised after a supporter called Mr Trump “mentally retarded” and she responded “well said”.

She later claimed not to have heard that remark and added the comment was “incredibly offensive”.

Republican presidential nominee, former US President Donald Trump. Picture: AFP

Mr Trump is lagging behind Ms Harris in terms of fundraising after Ms Harris reaped in a staggering $1.48 billion ($US1 billion) in less than three months.

The election continues to tighten, with the latest 538 forecast giving Ms Harris a 53 per cent chance of winning the race.

Polls show that Ms Harris maintains a +2.5 lead in national polling while the seven key swing states remain incredibly close.

Ms Harris’ medical report

Meanwhile, doctors declared Ms Harris is in “excellent health” and fit for the presidency, according to a medical report published by the White House Saturday, as she challenged rival Donald Trump to publish his own health records.

“Vice President Harris remains in excellent health,” her physician Joshua Simmons said in the report, adding that she “possesses the physical and mental resiliency required to successfully execute the duties of the presidency.”

US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris. Picture: AFP

Speaking to reporters on Saturday ahead of a trip to North Carolina, Ms Harris called Trump’s unwillingness to publish his records “a further example of his lack of transparency”.

Mr Trump became the oldest presidential nominee from a major political party in US history after 81-year-old President Joe Biden withdrew from the White House race in July. Harris is 59.

Mr Trump’s campaign said he had maintained “an extremely busy and active campaign schedule unlike any other in political history”, and asserted that Harris’s campaign schedule showed her to be “wholly unqualified to be President of the United States”.

Mr Trump’s personal and White House doctors have at times made seemingly exaggerated claims about his health.

If Mr Trump wins the election in November, he would be 82 at the end of his second term.

Trump rallies in blue states

Mr Trump has shifted his campaign into deep blue states that he will almost certainly lose, but which pundits say could help down-ballot candidates.

He held a rally in Southern California on Saturday and his campaign also announced this week that he will hold a rally in New York City’s Madison Square Garden later this month.

On Friday, Trump stopped in Colorado, and on Tuesday he’s scheduled to parachute into Illinois, Fox News reports.

It’s been 40 years since a Republican carried New York in a presidential election, 36 years since California and Illinois went red in a White House race, and two decades since the GOP captured Colorado.

“We just rented Madison Square Garden. We’re going to make a play. We’re going to make a play for New York. Hasn’t been done in a long time. It hasn’t been done in many decades,” Mr Trump said at a rally in Pennsylvania this week, hours after his campaign announced the New York City date.

- with AFP and Fox News

Originally published as US election update: Trump calls Kamala ‘slur’ as health report released