Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump have zeroed in on the Sun Belt as they embarked on a final weekend of campaigning to sway undecided voters in battleground states ahead of an extremely tight presidential race.
Both candidates pitched rival agendas on the economy and other issues that each insisted is what Americans want.
“We have overcome every attack, every abuse and even two assassination attempts,” Trump said at a rally in Gastonia, North Carolina.
Trump pledged to bring back the ‘American Dream’ and claimed that suburban Americans are “under attack” by criminals, vowing to deport millions of immigrants if he is elected.
He warned that if Harris wins, “every town in America would be turned into a squalid, dangerous refugee camp.”
Later, Trump headed to Virginia, which isn’t considered a battleground state, but offered a similar message, telling supporters that there is no way he can lose and is on the cusp of “the greatest political victory in the history of our country.”
Trump predicted he would win not just the Electoral College count but a majority of votes cast across the country, which he failed to do in two previous tries.
“We’re going to win the popular vote,” Trump told the crowd. “I think we have a really good chance to win the popular vote.”
Harris, meanwhile, has been urging her supporters to vote early so she can be elected and provide the “new generation of leadership” that she argues she represents.
“I am ready to offer that leadership as the next president of the United States of America,” she said during remarks at a rally at the Atlanta Civic Center parking lot.
Harris warned her support base that if returned to the White House, Trump would abuse his power.
“This is someone who is increasingly unstable, obsessed with revenge, consumed with grievance, and the man is out for unchecked power,” she said.
She also pledged affordable housing and healthcare and promised to protect women’s reproductive rights.
The flurry of rallies at the weekend is part of a final, frenzied push by Harris, Trump, their running mates and their high-profile stand-ins to encourage people to vote early or in person on Election Day.
With the race on a knife edge, enthusiasm among Americans is reflected by the numbers who have turned out to vote early.
The University of Florida’s Election Lab puts the figure in excess of 70 million, well in excess of the number of early ballots cast in 2016 and 2012.
Harris’ campaign hoped for a “high-impact” moment with a two-minute spot to air Sunday during NFL games on CBS and FOX, including the Green Bay Packers against the Detroit Lions, two swing state teams.
It shows Harris interacting with people during the campaign and talking directly to viewers.
“Now I’m asking for your vote because as president I will get up every day and fight for the American people,” she says at the end.
Harris also called her campaign and supporters “the promise of America.”
President Joe Biden, who dropped out of the race in summer when it became clear he could not win, was doing his part for the Democrats by making what could be his final 2024 campaign stop.
Biden, who turns 82 this month, struck a nostalgic tone as he tried to help get out the vote for Harris and running mate Tim Walz during an event at the carpenters’ local in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
Biden went off script to offer some especially blunt statements. After slamming Trump and his supporters on policy issues, the president added, “I know some of you guys are tempted to think he’s this macho guy. But, I’m serious, these are the kind of guys you’d like to smack in the ass.”
Trump, meanwhile, spoke wistfully, as he has at some of his recent rallies, about how after nearly a decade of campaigning, his final race is nearing its end.
“We’re going to meet again many times I hope,” said the former president, who also was stopping in Salem, Virginia — not a battleground state — before returning to North Carolina for a late-night rally in Greensboro.
“This has been the thrill of a lifetime for me and for you.”
Tracking the polls
Like many other pollsters, 538, which Euronews is using for its election data, predicts an incredibly close race with Harris currently polling at 48% and Trump at just under 47%.
The final days of campaigning have focussed mainly on the crucial swing states, widely expected to decide the results of the election.
This year there are seven and they are Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
