Donald Trump and Kamala Harris held competing rallies across Pennsylvania, drawing contrasts in the final hours before voting opened in an election that both candidates have cast as an existential battle for America’s future. He concluded the turbulent 2024 election campaign by presenting his vision and mood.
In Philadelphia, Harris ended her frenzied cross-state dash on the steps of the museum made famous by the movie Rocky. It was a “tribute to those who started from the underdog and rose to victory” and attracted tens of thousands of supporters for the star. Interspersed events. Since taking office abruptly 107 days ago, Harris has told Democrats that polls suggest she and her running mate, Tim Walz, are “clear underdogs” in a very close race against Trump.
“Momentum is on our side,” she declared, eliciting a roar from the crowd.
Earlier in the day, Harris held rallies in Allentown, Scranton and Pittsburgh. She also stopped by Redding to visit a Puerto Rican restaurant with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and canvass her presidential campaign. “I wanted to knock on the door!” Harris told a family member who came to the door and was stunned to see the vice president on the porch.
Mr. Trump, by contrast, has raced through battleground states, holding rallies in Raleigh, North Carolina, two rallies in Pennsylvania, and a late-night event in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he ended his last two presidential campaigns, and occasionally His voice was hoarse and he looked exhausted. . President Trump exited the stage at the finale event at 2:10 a.m., as Village People’s YMCA played and the audience glazed over.
His rhetoric was dark and dystopian, full of warnings about immigrants as dangerous criminals and personal attacks on a number of prominent Democratic women. Although he has continued to boast about his large crowds, some of his last events reportedly suffered from empty seats and early exits from the audience during long, meandering speeches.
Harris, who was introduced by Oprah Winfrey in Philadelphia, said: “We’re going to end tonight as optimistically as we started, with energy and joy.” Behind her, the stairs were lit up in blue and a large banner read “President for All.” It was all in keeping with the tone of Ms. Harris’ upbeat closing argument, an attempt to shift the focus away from the threat posed by the former president, who was not named in Ms. Harris’ remarks or in her final ad.
Lady Gaga and Ricky Martin performed at the event, and Oprah Winfrey invited 10 first-time voters to the stage to tell them why they support Harris. Ms. Winfrey issued perhaps the starkest warning of the night, suggesting that Mr. Trump’s second term in office would mean the end of free and fair elections in the United States.
“If you don’t show up tomorrow, there’s a good chance you’ll never have the chance to vote again.”
As the Harris campaign and its surrogates continue to appeal to female voters, Trump has revived familiar insults against prominent women, sometimes using violent language.
In North Carolina, he attacked former first lady Michelle Obama, saying, “She hit me the other day. I was going to tell my guys, can I hit her now? They said, ‘Calm down. Please, sir,” he said. He also suggested that Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi should have gone to jail for tearing up a copy of the 2020 State of the Union address, saying, “She’s a bad, sick woman. She’s sick like a bed bug.” It’s crazy,” he said.
Trump then repeatedly said that Harris has a “low IQ,” before continuing to speak incoherently, as if imagining her having trouble sleeping. I was sleeping, tossing and turning, sleeping, sweating…” he said without finishing his sentence.
President Trump’s provocation comes as former Republican congresswoman and Harris supporter Liz Cheney remains under scrutiny over recent comments suggesting she should face “shooting” with a rifle. Ta. Appearing on ABC’s The View on Monday, Cheney said Tuesday that “women will save the day.”
In North Carolina, President Trump also threatened Mexico’s newly elected president, Claudia Sheinbaum, by threatening to impose tariffs on all Mexican goods “if we don’t stop the criminal and drug onslaught.” It’s part of his trade proposal that economists are warning about. Costs for U.S. consumers could rise significantly.
Around the same time, Harris held a rally in Allentown, about 40 miles away, where she criticized Trumpism without directly naming her opponent, saying: We are ready for a president who understands that the true measure of a leader’s strength is not determined by who he defeats. It’s based on who you lift. ”
Later, at a rally in Georgia, President Trump’s running mate, J.D. Vance, brought up Joe Biden’s recent gaffe and attacked Harris, appearing to call Trump supporters “trash.” It received a huge ovation.
The Ohio senator was criticized by Democrats and critics for saying, “In two days, we’re going to clear out the garbage in Washington, D.C., and the name of that garbage is Kamala Harris.”
The back-and-forth trash talk began with a comedian’s racist joke at President Trump’s recent New York rally, calling Puerto Rico a “floating island of trash,” and many Harris surrogates on Monday calling Puerto Rico a “floating island of trash” in Pennsylvania. He quoted this comment while appealing to voters. “When is enough enough?” Puerto Rican rapper Fat Joe said in Philadelphia, imploring his fellow Latinos to support the vice president.
By the evening rally in Pittsburgh, Trump had returned to his obsession with crowd size, falsely claiming turnout was low at a nearby Harris rally that had not yet begun. He also mocked Beyoncé, who rallied for Harris in Texas. “Everyone was expecting a few songs and there wasn’t one. I wasn’t happy.” He added, “I don’t need a star. I didn’t have a star.”
According to tradition, the first Election Day vote took place just after midnight on Tuesday in New Hampshire’s tiny Dixville Notch. The town’s six voters split their votes evenly between Trump and Harris, a tie that appears to reflect a razor-thin race.
Eleventh-hour scramble for voters begins as President Trump continues to make false claims about voter fraud and worries grow over how Harris will challenge the results if she wins Ta. The Harris campaign said in a call with reporters Monday that it stands ready to counter any efforts by President Trump to discredit the results.
“We have hundreds of lawyers across the country working to protect the election results from any challenges that President Trump may pose,” said Dana Remus, senior campaign advisor and outside counsel. “This will not be the quickest process, but the law and the facts are on our side.”
The legal challenges are aimed at undermining confidence in the electoral process, she added. “Please note that the number of lawsuits does not match the number of legitimate concerns. In fact, it only shows how desperate they are becoming.”
Additionally, misinformation and conspiracy theories are expected to spread during the vote counting process, raising concerns that political violence could escalate after Election Day. Election officials in one Nevada county announced Monday that the threat has become so serious that they have installed “panic buttons” at polling places that automatically call 911 in the event of an emergency.
At President Trump’s Pittsburgh rally, 55-year-old coal miner Michael Ballinger expressed his disdain for illegal immigrants as he explained his support for the president. they don’t speak english. They don’t say they pledge allegiance to the flag. They are freeloaders from us. I’m all for legal immigration, but I’m not for illegally crossing the border and taking American jobs. ”
Elizabeth Slavy, 81, was first in line for Harris’ Allentown rally, arriving around 6 a.m., hours before it began. Slavy, who has been a registered Republican for more than 50 years, said he changed his registration after the Jan. 6 attack and said, “I never thought I would meet a female president, so I’m very excited right now.” spoke.
Sam Levine contributed reporting from Allentown.
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