バイデン氏「復帰」にトランプ氏の髪の話 米大統領選こぼれ話

【ワシントンＡＦＰ＝時事】米大統領選は先週、ジョー・バイデン大統領がほんの一瞬「復帰」したり、民主党候補のカマラ・ハリス副大統領が深夜のテレビ番組で冷えたビールを飲んだり、共和党候補のドナルド・トランプ前大統領が髪の話をしたりと、いつもより明るいニュースに事欠かなかった。（写真はジョー・バイデン米大統領）
　■「復帰」
　バイデン氏はホワイトハウスの記者会見室に突然現れ、大統領選復帰をほのめかす爆弾発言を行った。
　バイデン氏は「やあ皆さん、私の名前はジョー・バイデンです」と言って演壇に上がり、好調な雇用統計など一連の成功について語った。
　快活な様子から、記者の一人が大統領選からの撤退を再考するつもりはないかと尋ねると、バイデン氏は「私は復帰する」とジョークを飛ばし、満面の笑みで手を振りながら打ち消して記者団の笑いを誘った。
　■「乾杯！」
　バイデン氏とトランプ氏は一切アルコールを飲まないことから、ハリス氏が大統領選で勝利すれば、米国のビール業界は祝杯を挙げるかもしれない。
　ハリス氏はスティーブン・コルベア（Ｓｔｅｐｈｅｎ Ｃｏｌｂｅｒｔ）氏との深夜のインタビュー番組で、冷えたビールを飲みたくなることがあると明かし、実証してみせた。
　ハリス氏は「ビールのシャンパン」のキャッチコピーで知られる米国産ビール「ミラー・ハイライフ」の缶を開け、「乾杯！」とコルベア氏と缶を合わせた。
　■風になびく髪
　自動車産業の中心地デトロイトでのイベントで、トランプ氏は珍しく思い出にふける様子で、ニューヨークの不動産王の息子として育った青春時代の車を回想した。
　「ポンティアックＧＴＯ。実は２台所有していた。あのＧＴＯを持っていたんだ。ああ、自分が一番いけてる男だと思っていたよ」とクラシックなアメ車について語った。
　「オープンカースタイルだ。あの頃は髪がなびいても気にしなかった。スピードを出すと髪がなびくんだ。ブロンドの髪が」
　トランプ氏は自身のトレードマークとなっている髪について、「今は少し気を付けている」と認めた。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2024/10/15-19:26）

Joe Biden upended the White House race -- again -- but just for a millisecond, Kamala Harris sipped a cold one on late night TV, and two of her supporters unveiled politically themed nail polish. Here's a look at the lighter side of American politics over the past week.
- 'I'm back in' -

At a surprise appearance in the White House briefing room, President Joe Biden dropped a bombshell by suggesting he was again running for another term -- only to erase it with a smile. He was joking.
Hey folks, my name is Joe Biden, the president said as he stepped to the lectern to talk about a string of successes, like a strong jobs report.
He looked so buoyant a reporter asked if he wanted to reconsider dropping out of the race, as he did to make Kamala Harris the Democratic candidate to take on Donald Trump in November.
I'm back in, Biden quipped, then grinned broadly and waved as he got a laugh from the press corps.
- 'Cheers!' -
Biden and Trump are teetotalers so if Kamala Harris wins the White House, the US brewing industry might pop a cork.
She revealed -- and demonstrated -- during a late-night TV interview with Stephen Colbert that she likes a cold one now and then.
Cheers! Harris said as she cracked open a can of Miller High Life, which the venerable US brewer bills as the champagne of beers.
- 'Colors for Kamala' -
Two Harris supporters have unveiled politically themed nail polish based on viral moments from the presidential campaign.
Amy Rosenthal and partner Kate Friedman came up with one line called Neutralizing Name-Calling.
Neutral shades called Bitch, Nasty, and Have You Heard Her Laugh are designed to poke fun at the ways Trump has derided the vice president.
The Prosecutor is a tone of orange that recalls US prison uniforms and Harris's former career as a prosecutor in California.
Also for sale is classic red Cat Lady -- a term used by Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance to describe childless women.
- Just not the jet fighters -
Citing an attempted assassination and a second plot that was foiled, Trump is requesting military vehicles and aircraft for his campaign trips, The Washington Post reported.
The unprecedented request by a candidate to travel with military escorts drew a wry response from Biden, saying the one thing the Republican wouldn't get is fighter jets.
As long as he doesn't ask for F-15s. I've told the department to give him every single thing he needs... as he were a sitting president, Biden said.
- Wind in the hair -
At an event in US auto industry capital Detroit, Trump got unusually nostalgic, reminiscing about what he said was the car of his youth, growing up as the scion of a New York real estate fortune.
The Pontiac GTO. I had two of them, actually. I had that GTO, oh I thought I was the hottest guy around, he said of the classic muscle car.
I'd put that top down. See, in those days, I didn't mind when the hair waved. I'd go fast and that hair would be waving, that blond hair, Trump said.
But the 78-year-old acknowledged about his trademark locks: Today I'm a little more careful.