Washington: The US presidential contenders spent Saturday campaigning in North Carolina, a crucial swing state, to increase the votes they would receive in the election on Tuesday, November 5.
Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris visited the same state on the same day for the fourth consecutive day, underscoring the fact that the results of the elections would be decided by the votes cast in a few crucial states.
As of Saturday, the University of Florida’s Election Lab reports that over 73 million Americans have already cast ballots.
Along with R&B singer-songwriter Khalid and rock musician Jon Bon Jovi, Harris held a rally in Charlotte before surprising appearance on the wildly popular Saturday Night Live show in New York.
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Before traveling to Gastonia and Greensboro, North Carolina, Trump stopped in Virginia.
What are the most recent poll updates?
Within the margin of error, Harris was up nationally by a very narrow 1 point, according to FiveThirtyEight’s most recent poll tracker. The top two candidates failed to meet the 50 percent threshold. Compared to Trump’s 46.9 percent average, Harris’ is 47.9 percent.
In Pennsylvania, Trump leads Harris by a slim margin (47.9 percent) to Harris’s 47.6 percent. Harris leads by 1 percent in Michigan and Wisconsin, the so-called Blue Wall states, which are swing states this year but usually lean Democratic.
In Nevada, Georgia, and North Carolina, Trump leads Harris by 1%, while in Arizona, he leads by 3%.
However, a reliable pollster revealed that Harris is three percentage points ahead of Trump at 47-44, marking a potentially significant political change in Iowa, a state that Trump won in 2016 and 2020.
According to the survey, co-published by Mediacom and the Des Moines Register newspaper, Harris gained support from women, especially among older and independent voters who were not party members.
However, Trump has experienced problems retaining his base, as polls revealed that just 89% of Republicans backed him.
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According to other state polls, Trump continued to lead Harris.
On Saturday, what was Harris up to?
Harris strongly urged young people, a Democrat-leaning population, to cast their ballots while campaigning in Charlotte, North Carolina. However, previous elections have revealed that their turnout was lower than older.
She said, “I see the promise of America every day in the young leaders who are voting for the first time. You are determined to live free from gun violence, to take on the climate crisis and to shape the world that you will inherit.”
She further sharpened her criticism of Trump, claiming that the former president has no long-term vision and considers his interests.
She stated, “If he is elected, Donald Trump, on day one, would be in that office stewing over his enemies’ list. But when I am elected, I will walk in on your behalf, working on my to-do list.”
The same statement Harris had made at earlier rallies, “We all want that war in the Middle East to end,” was repeated when pro-Palestinian demonstrators interrupted her address.
“We want the hostages’ home. And when I am president, I will do everything in my power to make it so.”
At a rally earlier in the day in Atlanta, Harris similarly referred to Trump as “unstable” and “out for unchecked power.”
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Harris appeared on Saturday Night Live, a sketch comedy show, in New York City with Maya Rudolph, who plays her on the show, following her campaign in North Carolina.
Rudolph told Harris, “I’m going to vote for us.”
On Saturday, what was Trump up to?
Trump managed to fit a rally in Virginia, which leans blue, between two events in neighboring North Carolina. He will be campaigning in North Carolina until Election Day, which was the beginning of a run for him.
During his Greensboro, North Carolina, event that evening, Trump claimed responsibility for the declining public confidence in American media.
He said, “The fake news back there, they were at 92 percent approval rating when we started this journey in 2015. And now they are less than Congress, which is in the low 12s. I’m very proud of that because I’ve exposed them as being fake.”
The concerns about undocumented immigration to the United States were his next favorite talking point.
Trump reaffirmed his nativist rhetoric, which has been a staple of his “America First” program, “I will keep American communities for American citizens. We’re gonna have American people in our communities.”
He also tried to address non-white voters in the US with his anti-immigrant rhetoric, stating, for example, that unrestricted immigration might worsen Black neighborhoods.
Trump said, “If this continues, there will have been no political power left for them. Their communities will be majority migrant.”
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Trump reiterated the untrue assertion regarding the influx of Congolese migrants into the United States.
Harris, he said, “has violated her oath, eradicated our sovereign border and unleashed an army of gangs and criminal migrants from prisons and jails, insane asylums and mental institutions from all around the world, from Venezuela to the Congo.”
“Oh, the Congo. The Congo is sending a lot of people. They’re sending their people in jail. Think of the money they save and the danger, the danger of it all.”
No proof exists that the Congolese government is transporting inmates to the United States.
What will happen to the Trump and Harris campaigns next?
Harris plans to travel to Pennsylvania and Michigan
In the last two days of the election season, the Democratic presidential candidate will travel to Lansing, Michigan, on Sunday.
Harris will wrap up her run of campaign rallies on Monday in Pennsylvania, another crucial battleground and fellow Rust Belt state.
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On election eve, she intends to appear in large cities like Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, along with Allentown, a Latino stronghold.
Trump Plans to Pennsylvania and North Carolina
Trump will return to the southern state on Sunday, stopping in Kinston, North Carolina, after swinging through Pennsylvania.
Trump will then visit Raleigh, North Carolina, the state capitol, on Monday, the eve of the election.
In a state that has become more competitive in recent decades, it represents a substantial investment.
According to recent surveys, Trump is marginally ahead of Harris in North Carolina.
