Eleven days before voters head to the polls, Vice President Kamala Harris appealed to America’s middle class at a rally in Georgia that drew about 20,000 people.
Harris wasn’t the only thing the audience wanted. Iconic musician Bruce Springsteen, former President Barack Obama, film director Spike Lee, actor and director Tyler Perry, and others turned out to support Harris.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump held rallies in Arizona and Nevada. In Arizona, he said he watched Kamala Harris’ town hall on CNN this week and described her performance as “pathetic,” the latest in a series of personal tirades between the candidates in recent days. It’s just a thing.
More than 30 million voters had already cast their ballots as of Thursday night, according to tracking data from the University of Florida’s Election Research Laboratory. While this broke early voting records in some states, so far that number has fallen from 2020, when more than 100 million voters cast their ballots by Election Day amid the COVID-19 pandemic. far below the age.
What’s the latest from the polls?
A new Financial Times poll released Thursday found Trump narrowly ahead of Harris as the candidate Americans trust most on the economy.
The poll, conducted by the FT and the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, found that 44% of respondents trust Trump to lead the economy, compared to 43% for Harris.
The results suggest that Ms. Harris’ economic message is stalling in the final stages of an increasingly close race with Mr. Trump.
Meanwhile, a separate analysis of FiveThirtyEight’s daily election poll shows Ms. Harris has a slight lead in national polls as of Wednesday, leading Mr. Trump by 1.7 points. However, the long-term trend is that the gap has narrowed from 1.8 points earlier this week, indicating a close race.
While national polls provide valuable insight into voter sentiment, the ultimate winner will be determined by the Electoral College, which reflects each state’s results.
There are seven key battleground states that could determine the outcome of the election: Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia, Michigan, Arizona, Wisconsin, and Nevada. Together, these states have 93 votes in the Electoral College.
Harris’ approval rating in Michigan increased slightly from less than 0.5 percent to 0.7 percent, according to FiveThirtyEight’s daily poll tracker. The vice president has a narrow lead in Wisconsin. Meanwhile, Trump holds a slight edge over Harris in Pennsylvania and slightly larger leads in North Carolina, Arizona and Georgia. Trump and Harris are in a close race in Nevada.
However, the results in each state were within the poll’s margin of error, indicating that the race remains extremely close and that these battleground states could swing in favor of one candidate or another.
What was Kamala Harris doing on Thursday?
Ms. Harris campaigned with Mr. Obama, and there were also performances by Mr. Springsteen, the film director Mr. Perry, and others.
The vice president was the last speaker, praising Obama at the beginning of his speech.
“Thank you, Mr. President,” she said. Harris expressed confidence in her victory, adding, “As one former president would say, ‘Yes, we can.'”
Harris highlighted her proposals on health care and the economy, stressing the need to cut costs and outlining plans for small businesses while labeling abortion bans “immoral.”
“I’m here today to support Kamala Harris and Tim Walz,” Bruce Springsteen said after performing his ballad “A Promised Land.”
“Trump is about to become the tyrant of America,” he added, before performing Land of Hope and Dreams and Dancing in the Dark.
thank you, @Springsteen. Our democracy depends on our willingness to fight for it. Thank you for joining us in this fight. pic.twitter.com/tqB3nH0mBy
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) October 24, 2024
Perry appeared to the tune of Aretha Franklin’s Respect and talked about living in Georgia for 30 years.
“This is where I found my American dream,” he said. “I know what it’s like to be homeless here in Georgia,” he continued. “And I know, listen, how expensive it is to be poor.” He urged people to vote for Harris before introducing Obama.
“Today I voted for Kamala Harris,” Tyler Perry said. “And in Georgia, about 11,400 votes separated Trump and Biden[in 2020]. So every vote counts.
“Please, please, let’s go out and make Kamala Harris our 47th president,” he added before introducing Obama.
Director Spike Lee (EPA) speaking at an election rally
President Obama began his speech by mocking President Trump, saying he resembled an older family member in need of intervention.
“Hey, Grandpa, have you noticed you’re acting a little strange?” Obama said. He also said he understands why people would try to find someone to “shake things up.”
“What I don’t understand is why anyone would think that Donald Trump would shake things up in their favor. Why would anyone think this guy is thinking about anyone other than himself?” “There is no evidence that that is the case,” he added.
Obama Presidential Campaign (EPA) with Democratic presidential candidate Harris
What was Donald Trump doing on Thursday?
On Thursday, President Trump held rallies in Las Vegas, Nevada, and Tempe, Arizona.
At a rally in Arizona, he promised to launch the largest deportation operation in history. He blamed violent gangs and said: “We have to get these animals out of here quickly.”
In Las Vegas, he attended a large rally organized by the conservative group Turning Point Action.
During the speech, he mocked Harris and tried to reach out to minority communities. “Under the Trump Administration, we will uplift all Americans, including African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and members of our great Asian American and Pacific Islander communities gathered here today. We’re going to build an economy.”
President Trump attends a campaign event hosted by the conservative group Turning Point Action in Las Vegas, Nevada (Ronda Churchill/Reuters)
Al Jazeera’s John Holman reported from the rally in Las Vegas and said those he spoke to expressed concerns about “the cost of living, the lack of jobs and inflation.”
“People are saying they want Donald Trump to fix the economy and bring down inflation and prices. That’s a group of people,” Holman said. Another group was talking about borders, he said.
“We were listening to President Trump’s previous rally in Arizona, a border state, where he really focused on immigration,” Holman said.
“He said the United States has become a dumpster for people to come from other countries. He talked about invasions, about ‘immigrant gangs’ coming to the United States and their armies coming.” added.
In the final stages of the campaign, Trump ramped up his already inflammatory rhetoric, accusing Harris of committing an “evil betrayal of America.”
Trump in Las Vegas, Nevada (Eloisa López/Reuters)
What will happen to the Harris campaign and the Trump campaign?
Mr. Harris heads to Texas.
Harris is scheduled to hold a rally in Houston, Texas, on Friday afternoon.
According to the Democratic Party’s website, the rally will include country music legend Willie Nelson.
Multiple news outlets have reported that Beyoncé will also perform at the event, but it is unclear whether she will appear.
Beyoncé’s long-awaited endorsement follows that of other superstars who have supported Harris, including Taylor Swift, Eminem and Springsteen. Beyoncé’s song “Freedom” has become the Harris campaign’s unofficial anthem, often played when the vice president arrives at rallies.
Harris is speaking in Houston to highlight Texas’ extreme abortion regulations.
Trump to appear on Joe Rogan’s podcast
President Trump will appear in an interview with popular podcaster Joe Rogan on “The Joe Rogan Experience” on Friday.
The interview will take place at Logan’s studio in Austin, Texas. This host has a loyal fan base of millions of listeners. He has over 14 million followers on Spotify, over 19 million followers on Instagram, and over 17 million followers on YouTube.
A YouGov poll conducted last year revealed that 81% of his listeners were male, and 56% of them were under 35. This group supports Trump more than Harris.
It is not yet known when the interview will be made available to the public.
Logan has criticized Trump before, calling him an “existential threat to democracy” in July 2022. But he has recently expressed admiration for Trump, saying last month that the economy had prospered under Trump’s presidency. Trump is also expected to hold a rally in Michigan, a key battleground state where he trails Harris by a narrow margin. Trump won Michigan in 2016 but lost in 2020.
