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Democrats focus on Trump's past comments about Detroit

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Trump pledges peace in Middle East, without giving details

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Both Harris and Trump to visit suburban Oakland County

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Harris, Trump essentially tied in battleground states

(Recasts with comments about stamina for office; adds Trump

complaint about negative ads, paragraphs 1-9)

By Andrea Shalal and Steve Holland

GRAND RAPIDS/DETROIT, Michigan, Oct 18 (Reuters) -

Democrat Kamala Harris raised questions about Republican

Donald Trump's physical stamina to serve effectively as

president as the two rivals tore through the deadlocked

battleground state of Michigan on Friday, with Trump lashing

back about the energy he's shown on the campaign trail.

Harris, who turns 60 on Sunday, pressed the case to

raise doubts about the 78-year-old Trump. Age had been an issue

when President Joe Biden, 81, was still in the race, but had

faded after he dropped his election bid.

Harris on Friday said news reports that former president

Trump was skipping interviews because he was tired and had

passed on the chance of a second debate with her raised

questions about his fitness for office.

"It should be a concern. If he can't handle the rigors

of the campaign trail, is he fit to do the job?" she told

reporters before a rally in Grand Rapids. "That's a legitimate

question."

Trump has skipped some appearances, but his campaign has

not provided reasons.

'I'M NOT EVEN TIRED'

Trump, talking to reporters as he arrived in Detroit,

rejected such talk.

"I've gone 48 days now without a rest," he said.

"I'm not even tired. I'm really exhilarated. You know

why? We're killing her in the polls, because the American people

don't want her."

Polls in the election's most competitive states are

effectively tied.

In a Fox & Friends interview, Trump also griped about

negative television ads on Fox about him and said he would ask

Rupert Murdoch, the founder of Fox News parent company News Corp ( NWSA )

, to ensure that such ads are not broadcast until

Election Day on Nov. 5.

"I'm going to say, 'Rupert, please do it this way and

then we're going to have a victory, cause everyone wants that,'"

Trump said.

Trump visited a campaign office in Hamtramck, where he heard

praise from the Detroit suburb's first Muslim mayor, Amer

Ghalib. Trump was seeking support from Arab Americans in

Michigan disenchanted with Democrats, Vice President Harris and

Biden over U.S. support for Israel in the Gaza conflict.

"We all ultimately want one thing. We want peace in the

Middle East. We're going to get peace in the Middle East. It's

going to happen very fast. It can happen with the right

leadership in Washington," Trump said, without elaborating.

In the evening, Trump returned to Detroit. Michigan's

largest city, for a rally after saying on Oct. 10 that the rest

of the U.S. would turn into Detroit if Harris won.

Harris after speaking in Grand Rapids, the heart of more

conservative western Michigan, was heading east to Lansing and

then Oakland County, encompassing suburbs northwest of Detroit,

on Friday night.

The Midwestern state has about 8.4 million voters and would

bring the winner 15 Electoral College votes out of the 270

needed to win, which could be a decisive number. Harris and

Trump are battling fiercely for the state's Arab American,

senior, union and working-class voters.

On Thursday, Harris said Trump was "gaslighting" the

American public about the deadly attack by his loyalists on the

U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Trump recently called the assault

a "day of love."

Public and internal campaign polls show razor-thin margins

for either Harris or Trump in Michigan and other battleground

states. That's worrying Democrats.

Trump won Michigan by 11,000 votes in 2016. In 2020, Biden

beat Trump by 155,000 votes.

Harris is shifting the strategy of her whirlwind campaign to

win over more Republicans and men of all races. She's also

enlisting popular former first lady Michelle Obama, who will

campaign for Harris in Michigan on Oct. 26.

Nationally, Harris' edge has narrowed from a late September

lead of 7 percentage points over Trump to just 3 points,

Reuters/Ipsos polling shows, with high food and rent prices

still worrying Americans and Trump amplifying fears related to

migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border with increasingly

extreme rhetoric.