CNN
Trump describes US as an occupied country in dark closing message focused on immigration
By Eric Bradner and Kate Sullivan, CNN
4 minute read
Updated 2:10 AM EST, Tue November 5, 2024
Former President Donald Trump gestures during a campaign rally in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on Monday, November 4. Charly Triballeau/AFP/Getty ImagesCNN —
Donald Trump described the United States as an “occupied country,” pointing to both undocumented and legal migrants as he pledged Monday to “rescue every city and town that has been invaded and conquered.”
The former president’s comments, at his election eve rally in the critical battleground state of Pennsylvania, underscore the dark and dystopian image he is portraying as he and Vice President Kamala Harris make their final arguments to voters ahead of Tuesday’s election.
Trump made little distinction between undocumented immigrants he said had overrun an apartment complex in Colorado and thousands of Haitian migrants who entered the United States legally and live in Springfield, Ohio.
“These are military invasions without the uniforms. That’s all it is,” Trump said, as he vowed to launch a massive deportation effort.
Trump was closing his third presidential campaign Monday with the same anti-immigration rhetoric that he used to launch his first White House bid. He described a nation in decline, overrun by migrant crime, much as he did in his first inaugural address, when he vowed to stop the “American carnage.”
The former president said he would target migrant gangs, ban sanctuary cities and seek the death penalty for any migrant that kills a US citizen. He invited conservative commentator Megyn Kelly on stage. Kelly listed several people killed by undocumented immigrants. Her appearance was particularly notable after Trump ripped Kelly for the way she asked him tough questions while moderating a Republican presidential primary debate in 2015, starting off months of sparring over social media and in subsequent interviews.
Trump also said he would rejuvenate US manufacturing by imposing steep tariffs on automotive products manufactured in Mexico, steel made in China and more – a proposal that economists have said would increase inflation, because the businesses charged those tariffs for importing foreign-made goods would pass the additional costs on to American consumers.
“Four years of Kamala have delivered nothing but economic hell for the American workers,” Trump said.
And Trump railed against the length of time it takes for votes to be counted and the usage of electronic voting machines, calling for single-day voting that would all be done on paper. It was a long discussion that is contrary to previous messaging from Trump and his campaign, which has encouraged people to vote early.
“I do believe it is too big to rig. I think it’s too big to rig. They’ll try. And they are trying, you know, but it’s too big to rig. This is a big movement. This is, you know, we did great in 2016, we did much better in 2020 but a lot of bad things happened,” Trump said. “This is that big, powerful, vicious party, though. No, it’s a vicious machine. I mean, they can take all these bad ideas and win elections. It’s like, there’s only a way you can do that. One way, there’s only one way.”
He added, “We have to win the old fashioned way and then fix it. But we have to fix it. We can’t allow this to happen. And remember, the states are essentially an agent, if I can use that term, but they’re an agent of the federal government. The states are doing the collecting, so to speak, and they have to take their orders from the federal government. And how can they do this when they say it’s going to take days long.”
The former president’s closing message of the 2024 race was a familiar one, as he delivered a lengthy speech in Pittsburgh – his third of four rallies scheduled for Monday after visits to North Carolina and eastern Pennsylvania with one more stop in Michigan. In a nod to the city’s sporting history, Trump discussed Pittsburgh Pirates’ star Roberto Clemente for an extended period near the end of his speech and brought the late Puerto Rican star’s son on stage for a few words.
Harris also ended her campaign with a blitz across Pennsylvania. The two candidates’ time spent in the Keystone State underscores the importance of its 19 electoral college votes — without which both candidates’ paths to the 270 necessary to win the presidency would be much more daunting.
Both campaigns have largely focused on seven battlegrounds: the “blue wall” of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, which Trump won in 2016 but President Joe Biden reclaimed in 2020, and four Sun Belt states: Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and North Carolina.
By Alayna Treene and Kate Sullivan, CNN
2 minute read
Published 9:43 PM EST, Mon November 4, 2024
Joe Rogan is seen at the ceremonial weigh-in for the UFC 292 mixed martial arts event, Friday, Aug. 18, 2023, in Boston. Gregory Payan/AP/FileCNN —
Popular podcast host Joe Rogan officially endorsed Donald Trump on the eve of the election, a move Trump’s team swiftly touted as a major win in the final hours of their campaign.
Rogan on Monday released his latest podcast featuring a two-and-a-half-hour interview with billionaire X owner and top Trump surrogate Elon Musk. Rogan then posted on X: “The great and powerful @elonmusk. If it wasn’t for him we’d be f**ked. He makes what I think is the most compelling case for Trump you’ll hear, and I agree with him every step of the way.”
“For the record, yes, that’s an endorsement of Trump. Enjoy the podcast,” he added.
The endorsement comes just weeks after Rogan interviewed Trump on “The Joe Rogan Experience,” an interview that was months in the making for the Trump campaign and viewed widely by the former president’s advisers as the crowning achievement of their media strategy to target young men and low-propensity voters by having Trump appear on podcasts catering to the demographic.
Trump, who was onstage in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, for his penultimate rally when Rogan made the endorsement, swiftly touted the development.
“It just came over the wires that Joe Rogan just endorsed me, is that great. Thank you, Joe. That’s so nice. And he doesn’t do that, he doesn’t do that stuff,” Trump said.
Trump said, “And he tends to be a little bit more liberal than some of the people in this room.”
Last week, Rogan posted on X that he had declined an offer from Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign to do an interview.
“Also, for the record the Harris campaign has not passed on doing the podcast. They offered a date for Tuesday, but I would have had to travel to her and they only wanted to do an hour. I strongly feel the best way to do it is in the studio in Austin,” Rogan said. “My sincere wish is to just have a nice conversation and get to know her as a human being. I really hope we can make it happen.”
The Harris campaign declined to comment on Rogan’s post.
CNN
Trump argues he’s really running against “an evil Democrat system,” not Harris, during his final rally
From CNN’s Kate Sullivan
Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Michigan on November 5. Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP/Getty Images
Former President Donald Trump argued during the final rally of his campaign that his real opponent this election was not Vice President Kamala Harris but instead “an evil Democrat system.”
“We will defeat the corrupt system in Washington. Because I’m not running against Kamala, I’m running against an evil Democrat system. These are evil people,” Trump said during his rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, that started well after midnight.
“The silent majority is back and tomorrow you need to get out and vote,” Trump said.
“This has been an incredible journey. And it’s very sad in a way, because, you know, we’ve done all these, and this is the last one, but here’s the good news, all we were doing is putting ourselves in a position to win, which we can do tomorrow very easily if we show up,” he added.
It’s decision day in America. Here’s what to watch for
From CNN’s Eric Bradner and Gregory Krieg
Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump. AP
It’s decision day for voters in America’s battle for the White House and control of Congress — even if the results could take days or weeks to sort through.
Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are hoping to win over seven swing states: Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, the three Great Lakes states that make up the “blue wall” that Trump cracked in 2016 but President Joe Biden carried in 2020, and Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and North Carolina, the four Sun Belt battlegrounds.
While the election of either candidate would be historic, there’s much more being decided Tuesday, including five states — Arizona, Florida, Missouri, Nebraska and South Dakota — voting on whether to turn back abortion bans with constitutional amendments.
Republicans hope to take advantage of a favorable Senate map, with Democrats defending seats in the red-leaning states of Montana, Ohio and West Virginia. The party’s hopes of holding onto its narrow House majority winds from the coast of Maine through New York’s Hudson Valley, the rolling hills of Virginia’s Piedmont, a “blue dot” in Nebraska and into California’s Orange County, where the political ebbs and flows of the Trump era have been on vivid display.
The initial results in the hours after polls close might not be determinative. States decide their own election procedures, and the order in which states count early, mail-in and Election Day votes varies across the map — as does how quickly certain cities, counties and regions report their results.
Read more about what to expect from the day.
Trump finishes final campaign rally after speaking for nearly 2 hours
From CNN’s Jessie Yeung
Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan on Tuesday. Paul Sancya/AP
Former President Donald Trump has ended his final campaign rally after speaking for nearly two hours in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
He repeated many of his campaign promises, such as vowing to impose hefty tariffs and to crack down on illegal immigration.
At one point he also brought several of his children and their spouses to the stage, who delivered brief remarks, including Tiffany, Eric and Donald Jr.
His marathon address ends a long campaign trail — with Trump saying he had attended more than 900 rallies this year.
Walz says he’s disappointed but not surprised the race is so closely contested
From CNN’s Aaron Pellish
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz participates in an interview with Stephen Colbert. The Late Show with Stephen Colbert/CBS
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said he’s disappointed the race between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump is so closely contested.
In an interview on CBS’ “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” taped in Bucks County, Pennsylvania last Thursday, Walz laid out the contrast between the two candidates to show that the difference is “stark.”
He said of the election being so closely contested: “It disappoints me, I think, because I think that the choice is so stark, but it’s not surprising.”
“The country’s really divided. There’s been a group of people out there who figured that out, and I think they’ve done a wonderful job of making people think it doesn’t matter, everybody’s the same,” Walz said.
Walz then laid out how he saw the differences between Harris and Trump, particularly noting insults directed toward Puerto Rico made by a speaker at a Trump rally in October.
“In this case, you’ve got the Constitution versus not the Constitution. You’ve got reproductive rights versus I don’t care if you like it or not. I’ll tell you what to do, from Donald Trump in closing with insulting people. I know we’re sitting in Pennsylvania, there’s — there’s 500,000 Puerto Ricans here, and Puerto Ricans, as all Americans, are very proud of where they come from,” he said.
In the past, Walz has expressed some disbelief at the competitiveness of the presidential election. He has regularly mused at private fundraisers and campaign stops that “I’ll go to my grave not understanding” how the election is so close.
Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake says “silent majority” will back her and Trump
From CNN’s Veronica Stracqualursi
Kari Lake speaks at a campaign rally, Monday, November 4, in Prescott, Arizona. Julio Cortez/AP
Arizona Republican Senate candidate Kari Lake has held her final campaign rally, telling supporters that on Tuesday they have “a chance to change the trajectory of this country and save this Republic.”
Campaigning on the steps of the Yavapai County Courthouse in Prescott, Arizona on Monday — where US Sen. Barry Goldwater of Arizona launched his presidential campaign — Lake, a former TV newscaster up against Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego in a key Senate race, argued that the “Make America Great Again” movement “is not dead,” and claimed that a “silent majority” will back her and former President Donald Trump tomorrow.
Lake and Gallego, a Marine veteran who represents Arizona’s 3rd congressional district, are vying for the pivotal Senate seat held by independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema.
Lake, who did not concede her 2022 election loss and promoted Trump’s false theories about the 2020 election, said she believes in “fair and honest elections” and argued “I really believe that our Founding Fathers never envisioned we’d have elections that are run so horribly.”
“That’s why they never put in term limits because they figured we’d be able to vote the people that we didn’t respect out of office. And unfortunately, we haven’t been able to do that. And we’re going to change that after January. But the only way to change that is to show up in such a massive movement that we have their heads spinning,” she said, pointing to the media.
She also thanked GOP congressional candidate Abe Hamadeh and said: “When they did to us what they did to us in 2022, and everyone else ran and hid, guess who stood with me and said, damn it, we’re going to fight — Abe Hamadeh.”
She argued the election is not “Republican-Democrat anymore” but “Americanism versus communism.”
Trump teases using sexist language to refer to Nancy Pelosi
From CNN’s Jessie Yeung
Former President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan on Tuesday, November 5. Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP/Getty Images
Former President Donald Trump slammed US Rep. Nancy Pelosi during his final rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, verging on using a profanity to describe the former House Speaker.
“She’s a crooked person, she’s a bad person. Evil, she’s an evil, sick, crazy bi— It starts with a ‘B’ but I won’t say it. I wanna say it,” Trump said to cheers from the crowd.
“I don’t use much (foul language), you know, every once in a while, and it’s never a real bad word, it’s never bad … But it is a little better when you use foul language. These are bad people,” he said.
Trump constantly rails against Pelosi and recently called the California Democrat “an enemy from within.”
Throughout the end of his campaign trail, Trump’s message has gotten increasingly dark and often offensive. At an event in North Carolina last week, Trump chuckled approvingly at an audience member’s suggestion that Vice President Kamala Harris worked as a sex worker.
Harris will spend Election Day doing radio interviews
From CNN’s Brian Rokus
Vice President Kamala Harris will spend Election Day in Washington, DC and participate in radio interviews, according to her office.
Trump has held his final campaign rally in Grand Rapids in 3 presidential races
From CNN’s Jessie Yeung
Former President Donald Trump has taken the stage in Grand Rapids, Michigan — giving the city a special shout-out for being the location of his final rallies in past presidential campaigns.
“I want to say a very special hello to Grand Rapids, it’s been a special place, remember 2016?” he said to a cheering crowd that chanted his name.
Trump previously also finished his campaign trail in the city in 2016 and 2020.
NOW: Trump is speaking at his final rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan
From CNN staff
Former President Donald Trump walks on stage for his final campaign rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan on Monday, November 4. Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP/Getty Images
Former President Donald Trump is speaking at his final rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he ended both his 2016 and 2020 campaigns. His remarks were originally slated for 10:30 p.m. ET.
Grand Rapids is a Western Michigan city in Kent County, which swung from Trump in 2016 to Joe Biden in 2020.
Harris and Trump tie in Dixville Notch midnight vote to kick off Election Day
From CNN’s Gary Tuchman
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00:52 – Source: CNN
Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump have tied with three votes each in the tiny New Hampshire township of Dixville Notch, kicking off Election Day in one of the first places in the country to report its presidential preference.
Four Republicans and two undeclared voters participated.
The unincorporated township, located along the US-Canada border in New Hampshire’s northern tip, opened and closed its poll just after midnight ET in a tradition that dates back to 1960.
Read more about how Dixville Notch voted.
Harris calls on Pennsylvania voters to turn out, saying “the race ain’t over yet”
From CNN’s Jessie Yeung
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign rally in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Monday, November 4. Hannah McKay/Reutes
Speaking at her final campaign rally in Philadelphia before Election Day on Monday night, Vice President Kamala Harris said her team was “optimistic and excited” — but urged voters to make their voices heard, saying Pennsylvania could “decide the outcome” of the election.
“The race ain’t over yet, and we must finish strong. This could be one of the closest races in history. Every single vote matters,” she said.
“With only a few hours left, we still have work to do, and as you’ve heard me say before, we like hard work,” she added.
At points, the crowd broke into cheers of “We will win” and “We’re not going back.”
Harris reiterated several campaign promises, such as lowering the cost of living, housing, childcare, elderly home care, and taxes for workers and small businesses. She also vowed to pass a bill to restore reproductive freedoms after the rolling back of Roe v. Wade.
She sought to contrast herself with Donald Trump by using several familiar refrains — such as promising a seat at the table to those who disagree with her, compared to the former president’s often vehement rhetoric against his political opponents.
“We started this campaign 107 days ago,” she said. “From the beginning, ours has not been a fight against something, it has been a fight for something. A fight for a future with freedom, with opportunity, and with dignity for all Americans.”
“Tonight, we finish as we started — with optimism, with energy, with joy, knowing that we the people have the power to shape our future, and that we can confront any challenge we face when we do it together.”
NOW: Harris speaking in Philadelphia in final rally before Election Day
From CNN staff
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign rally in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Monday,November 4. Angela Weiss/AFP/Getty Images
Vice President Kamala Harris is speaking at a rally in Philadelphia, her final stop in front of voters before Election Day.
Harris has made the key battleground of Pennsylvania her priority on Monday with several stops across the state culminating in her final one in the state’s largest city.
She was joined by Oprah Winfrey and Lady Gaga, among other celebrities, musicians and elected officials at the famous “Rocky Steps” at the Philadelphia Museum of the Arts.
Oprah takes the stage at Harris rally with 10 first-time young voters
From CNN’s Jessie Yeung
US television producer Oprah Winfrey arrives on stage with 10 first-time Philadelphia voters during a rally for Kamala Harris in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on November 4, 2024. Angela Weiss/AFP/Getty Images
Oprah Winfrey took the stage at Kamala Harris’ final rally in Philadelphia on Monday night alongside 10 young people – all first time voters.
“The policies that Kamala Harris has proposed for women’s reproductive rights and education equality are what led me to cast my ballot for her,” one voter told Winfrey.
Another first-time voter said it was especially significant for him as an African American to “exercise my right to vote, which my ancestors fought so hard for.”
“We don’t get to sit this one out,” Oprah said.
“If we don’t show up tomorrow, it is entirely possible that we will not have the opportunity to ever cast a ballot again.”
“We are voting for healing over hate,” she said.
“What you can do for your country, what you can do for democracy here, and what you can do for the spirit of John Lewis and all the others who dared to walk across that bridge in Selma and fight for justice for us all … What you can do for every pregnant young woman who has died bc she was not eligible to receive the emergency medical care she desperately needed bc of an abortion ban, what you can do for everyone and everything you cherish — is vote.”
Lady Gaga performs “God Bless America” at Harris’ final rally in Philadelphia
From CNN’s Jessie Yeung
Lady Gaga waves before performing during a campaign rally for Vice President Kamala Harris in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Monday, November 4. ( Angela Weiss/AFP/Getty Images
Musical superstar Lady Gaga appeared at Vice President Kamala Harris’ final rally in Philadelphia, performing a rendition of “God Bless America.”
“For more than half of this country’s life, women didn’t have a voice. Yet we raised children, we held our families together, we supported men as they made the decisions,” she said in brief remarks after her performance. “But tomorrow, women will be a part of making this decision.”
Oprah Winfrey is also expected to make an appearance tonight, before Harris delivers remarks.
Walz focuses on abortion during final campaign rally in Michigan
From CNN’s Aaron Pellish
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz focused heavily on access to abortion and reproductive health care, driving home a core message of Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign in Detroit, Michigan on Monday.
In his remarks at Hart Plaza overlooking the Detroit River, Walz reiterated his attacks on former president Donald Trump, who claimed to be the “protector” of women and said he would look after women “whether they like it or not” at a campaign rally in Wisconsin last week.
He also made a direct pitch to male voters on abortion, asking them to consider the implications of abortion restrictions on the women in their lives.
“Let me speak to the guys in the crowd tonight. I want you to think about the women in your life that you love. Their lives are at stake in this election. Donald Trump appointed those Supreme Court justices who repealed Roe versus Wade, and he brags about it. He is glad that those women you’re thinking about and you love have fewer rights than their mothers and their grandmothers,” he said.
“We’re seeing women turned away from emergency rooms, miscarrying in parking lots, whether they like it or not. Survivors of rape being forced to carry those pregnancies to term, whether they like it or not. Fertility clinics turning couples away at the door, whether they like it or not,” he said.
“Now, tomorrow, women all across America of every age, both parties, are going to send a loud and clear message to Donald Trump, whether he likes it or not.”
Harris offers Americans a chance to turn the page on Trump — without mentioning him
From CNN’s Gregory Krieg
Vice President Kamala Harris appears during a campaign rally in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on Monday, November 4. Quinn Glabicki/Reuters
Her message has been consistent, but Kamala Harris has in the closing days of the presidential race dropped two notable words from her stump speech: Donald Trump.
The former president’s name was again absent from the vice president’s speech on Monday night in Pittsburgh, where she again promised voters a clean break from the discord of the Trump era in American politics. It was a notable switch in rhetoric for the vice president, who had mentioned Trump’s name so often in previous versions of her stump speech that the Republican’s campaign had put together a video compilation of Harris saying “Donald Trump” that he often played at rallies.
“We have an opportunity in this election to finally turn the page on a decade of politics driven by fear and division. We are done with that,” Harris said. “We’re done. We’re exhausted with it.”
That promise has been threaded through her campaign, usually implied but increasingly delivered in explicit terms.
“It can be easy to forget a simple truth,” Harris said in Washington. “It doesn’t have to be this way.”
The way it is, she said in Pittsburgh, is not so good.
“So much about these last several years has been about trying to make people point their fingers at each other,” Harris said, “to have Americans point their fingers at each other, to try and make people feel alone or feel small.”
Elon Musk cancels virtual town hall event minutes after it started after technical problems
From CNN’s Clare Duffy
Elon Musk held a digital version of the town-hall-style rallies he has hosted on behalf of former President Donald Trump. But the event on X ended just a few minutes after it started on Monday night, when Musk encountered technical difficulties.
The event began streaming more than 20 minutes after its scheduled 8 p.m. ET start time. When the billionaire X owner joined, he promoted a podcast interview he did with Joe Rogan and offered to take questions. An operator then attempted to take questions from four listeners who apparently had been on hold, but the line went silent when he called on them.
The operator asked Musk if he believes “we will win” on Tuesday — presumably referring to Trump, whom Musk has supported to the tune of tens of millions of dollars.
“Well, I think if people vote tomorrow, we’re definitely going to win,” he said.
Musk then called off the event, saying: “let’s cancel this, since we seem to be having some technical issues.” Musk promised to start a regular livestream spaces event on X. The X Spaces event Musk started immediately following the town hall, lasted one minute and appeared to have no audio.
Minutes later, Musk said he would not restart his Q&A and encouraged followers to listen to his Rogan interview instead, during which the podcaster endorsed Trump.
The Monday town hall is just the latest election-related event that Musk attempted to host on X that was plagued by technical difficulties.
An August interview between Musk and Trump that was streamed on X was delayed by more than 40 minutes because of glitches. Musk blamed the issue on a cyberattack, but some experts speculated it was simply caused by too many users trying to listen. A similar event last year to kick off Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign was also delayed by 25 minutes and marred by technical difficulties.
Why these 7 battleground states could determine who wins the election
From CNN’s Zachary B. Wolf
People cast their early ballots at a polling station in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on November 2. Carlos Osorio/Reuters
There are thought to be seven states that could conceivably be won by either candidate. As a result, the campaigns have focused their energy in these areas. They can be broken up into two general categories:
3 Midwestern battlegrounds, aka “the blue wall” – These are the manufacturing and union-heavy states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. They used to be more reliably Democratic but have shifted in recent years as their populations have changed and as former President Donald Trump has appealed to White voters without a college degree.
When Trump won the White House in 2016, he won all three. When President Joe Biden won in 2020, he won all three. If Vice President Kamala Harris wins all three this year, she will likely have the electoral votes to be president. But polls suggest close races in all three. Turnout will be key, which for Harris means appealing to suburban women and Black voters. All three states have urban centers.
The blue wall states usually vote the same way. The last time they did not all go to the same candidate was in 1988 – notably also a year when California was red and West Virginia was blue. In those eight elections since 1988, the only time the blue wall states went to a Republican was in 2016, when they were won by Trump.
4 Sun Belt battlegrounds – These states with growing populations include Arizona and Nevada in the West and North Carolina and Georgia in the East. Arizona, Georgia and North Carolina used to be more reliably Republican. Trump won North Carolina twice, but the margins were close in 2020. The last Democrat to win there was Barack Obama in 2008. Biden was the first Democrat to win Georgia since Bill Clinton in 1992 and Arizona since Clinton in 1996.
Here are more key things to know about the US election works.
Ahead of election night, meet the 2024 Democratic and Republican candidates
From CNN’s Ethan Cohen, Molly English and Matt Holt
Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. Getty Images
Ahead of election night, read up on the 2024 candidates on the Democratic and Republican tickets vying to win the White House.
Vice President Kamala Harris is the Democratic candidate for president. The daughter of immigrants from India and Jamaica, Harris grew up in Oakland and spent much of her political career in California’s Bay Area.
She was first elected as the San Francisco district attorney in 2004, before later serving as the attorney general of California. After that, Harris was elected to the Senate before being picked to be President Joe Biden’s running mate in the 2020 election.
She announced her own candidacy for the Democratic nomination for president after Biden withdrew from the ticket and endorsed her on July 21. Harris is the first Black woman and first Asian American to lead the ticket of a major political party.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is Harris’ running mate. Before being elected to Congress to represent the state’s 1st Congressional District in 2007, Walz was a high school geography teacher and an assistant football coach. He also served in the Army National Guard. Walz has been serving as Minnesota governor since 2019.
Former President Donald Trump is the Republican candidate for president, aiming to become only the second commander in chief to win two nonconsecutive terms.
Trump, who was born in New York, graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor’s degree in economics. Before launching his successful 2016 presidential bid, Trump was a real estate developer, businessman and a reality television star as host of “The Apprentice.”
Ohio Sen. JD Vance is Trump’s running mate. Born in Middletown, Ohio, Vance wrote a memoir, Hillbilly Elegy, about his upbringing and white, working-class Americans. He also attended Yale Law School, worked as a venture capitalist and served in the US Marine Corps.
Vance was elected to the Senate in 2023, outlasting a stronger-than-expected challenge from Democrat Tim Ryan and keeping the seat under GOP control.
Harris says she will build economic opportunity in Puerto Rico
From CNN’s Sam Fossum
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a visit at the Freddy and Tony’s, a locally-owned Puerto Rican restaurant, as she campaigns in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on October 27. Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters
Vice President Kamala Harris visited Freddy & Tony’s Restaurant, a Puerto Rican restaurant in north Philadelphia, telling patrons that she wants the country to move on from the “Trump era” and that she believes they are part of a “new generation of leadership.”
“The so-called Trump era has been about trying to have people point their fingers at each other and divide people and make people feel small,” Harris said. “You all have been doing such extraordinary work. And truly the path to victory runs through Philly, and it runs through Pennsylvania and it runs through all of you.”
She also spoke specifically to Puerto Rico’s challenges and discussed her policies that are focused on the island.
“I’m going to create an opportunity economy task force for Puerto Rico,” she said to cheers.
Harris added that she wants to focus on two things: building economic opportunity for the island and improving the electrical grid.
“I really believe we are all a part of a new generation of leadership for our country that is optimistic and ambitious. And may I say for myself, quite impatient about knowing that we can get things done,” she said.
Harris and Trump both take campaign battle to the football airwaves Sunday
From CNN’s Jack Forrest and Aileen Graef
The NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles and the Cincinnati Bengals aren’t the only ones taking the fight to the football field Sunday, with Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump airing dueling campaign videos during the high-profile matchup.
The ads come as the candidates seek to reach voters in the key battleground state of Pennsylvania with Election Day just over a week away.
Harris’ ad, according to her campaign, “reminds viewers of how Trump has disrespected the city of Philadelphia using his own words” in a 30-second video titled “Philly vs. Trump” aimed directly at Philadelphia sports fans.
Together with other ads set to play during sporting events in Milwaukee and Pittsburgh, the Harris campaign is making an effort to energize male voters as the vice president seeks to narrow the gender gap in support for her and Trump. A CNN national poll of likely voters released Friday found Trump has the support of 51% of men compared with Harris’ 45% support.
Trump’s campaign, meanwhile, is launching a two-minute ad titled “Never Quit” — which focuses on the economy and immigration — that will air during the third quarter of the game Sunday.
The former president has made multiple appearances at football games across the US this campaign cycle, including the blockbuster Alabama-Georgia college football game last month and the Pittsburgh Steelers vs. New York Jets game in Pittsburgh last week.
CNN’s Aaron Pellish contributed to this post.
Walz seeks to tie Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally to 1939 pro-Nazi gathering
From CNN’s Aaron Pellish
Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz sought to link Donald Trump’s Sunday rally at Madison Square Garden in New York City to a pro-Nazi gathering at the arena in 1939, suggesting the former president knows “exactly what they’re doing there.”
Walz told supporters during a stop in Henderson, Nevada, that “there’s a direct parallel” between Trump’s Madison Square Garden event and the notorious “Pro-American Rally” at the venue in 1939 that drew thousands of Nazi supporters.
“Go do your Google on this. Donald Trump’s got this big rally going at Madison Square Garden. There’s a direct parallel to a big rally that happened in the mid-1930s at Madison Square Garden … and don’t think that he doesn’t know for one second exactly what they’re doing there,” the Minnesota governor said.
In response, Trump’s campaign criticized the Harris campaign in two statements while pointing out that a Holocaust survivor is attending Sunday’s rally in New York.
“Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are flailing as their sinking campaign comes crashing down. They are despicable and disgusting people who have no respect for the American people, and they are willing to drag this country down because they have no decency or morals,” Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung told CNN.
The campaign also pointed to the fact that Holocaust survivor Jerry Wartski is attending the rally.
“Tim Walz is accusing a Holocaust survivor of attending a Nazi rally. Walz should be ashamed of himself and apologize,” campaign spokesperson Alex Pfeiffer told CNN.
Some context: Madison Square Garden’s history is not without controversy. It has played host to divisive events, including the notorious “Pro-American Rally” of 1939, a pro-Nazi gathering organized by the German American Bund and attended by thousands in the lead-up to World War II. Days later, a Communist Party rally filled the arena. In 1968, George Wallace, the onetime segregationist governor of Alabama, pushed a law-and-order message in a speech at the Garden days before the presidential election, where he carried five states as a third-party candidate.
CNN’s Kate Sullivan, Kristen Holmes, Eric Bradner and Gregory Krieg contributed to this post.
Appeals court keeps Virginia voter purge program blocked, setting up Supreme Court fight
From CNN’s Tierney Sneed
“I Voted” stickers displayed during early voting at a polling location at the Ellen M. Bozeman Government Center in Arlington, Virginia, on October 26. Kent Nishimura/Bloomberg/Getty Images
A federal appeals court refused to reinstate a Virginia purge program aimed at culling suspected noncitizens from the voter rolls, leaving in place a lower court ruling that found the program likely violated a federal prohibition on “systematic” removals in the 90 days before an election.
The Sunday decision by the 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals sets up a Supreme Court fight over the purge program with early voting already under way in Virginia. Republicans all the way up to former President Donald Trump have seized on the case — a consolidation of lawsuits brought by the Biden administration and private groups — as they have pushed the narrative that voting by noncitizens poses a major threat to the election. It is a very rare occurrence.
The new order noted that Virginia officials are still allowed to prevent noncitizen voting “by canceling registrations on an individualized basis or prosecuting any noncitizen who votes.”
US District Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles, a Biden appointee, previously ordered election officials to restore the registrations of the roughly 1,600 people who had been removed under the program during the 90-day “quiet period.” Six-hundred of those individuals were removed because they checked a box during a Department of Motor Vehicles interaction declaring them non-citizen and the other 1,000 were removed because of records in government databases that indicated non-citizenship.
At the heart of the dispute is whether that approach is the sort of “systematic” purge program Congress sought to freeze with the 90-day provision in the 1993 National Voter Registration Act, because of the tendency of those programs to remove eligible voters as well. Those suing Virginia say that within 36 hours of receiving a list of the purged voters from the state, they were able to confirm that at least 18 were in fact citizens who were eligible to vote.
Harris visits small businesses in Philadelphia and says “victory runs through Philly”
From CNN’s Sam Fossum
Vice President Kamala Harris listens during her visit at a barber shop “Philly Cuts”, as she campaigns in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on October 27. Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters
Vice President Kamala Harris on Sunday visited Hakim’s Bookstore and Gift Shop, a Black-owned business, and Philly Cuts, a West Philadelphia barbershop, to meet and speak with voters with just nine days until the election.
While at Philly Cuts, Harris took part in a discussion with Black men moderated by State Rep. Jordan Harris.
She spoke about her focus on creating better incentives for teachers, especially better pay and recruiting more Black men to teach.
“We don’t pay teachers enough. Student loan debt is an issue. Thinking about how we create incentives to actually recruit and retain more Black men as teachers,” she said.
At the bookstore, Harris greeted with people inside, including Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker.
“We’re going to do it — victory runs through Philly and it runs through Pennsylvania,” Harris told one woman.
While being shown the children’s section of the store, she took a picture with an 11-year-old boy, telling him she is “counting on our young leaders.”
She then asked him what books to get for an 8-year-old and 6-year-old, the ages of Harris’ great-nieces.
Wisconsin Senate race devolves into bitter feud as GOP targets partner of gay senator
From CNN’s Manu Raju and Haley Talbot
Sen. Tammy Baldwin seemed to be in a comfortable spot in August in her race against Eric Hovde, CEO of a $3 billion bank.
But then the GOP zeroed in on a new line of attack. In the run-up to Election Day, Republicans have put a spotlight on Baldwin’s same-sex relationship and the career of her partner. And Baldwin, who became the first out gay senator when elected in 2012, has been on the defensive.
Since August, Hovde and GOP groups – including a super PAC linked to his brother – have cut no fewer than eight ads in a multimillion-dollar campaign accusing Baldwin of a conflict of interest because her partner of six years, Maria Brisbane, is a financial adviser for high-end clients, a charge lacking proof and one Baldwin strongly denies.
As Republicans say the attack is fair game, Democrats see a dog whistle, noting that questions are rarely raised about girlfriends of male senators.
“I think he is,” Baldwin told CNN when asked whether she believed Hovde is trying to remind voters that she’s gay.
Hovde pushed back.
“Oh, come on, I could care less whether she’s gay,” Hovde said in an interview. “I mean, this is a ridiculous question.”
Hovde has leaned heavily on the culture wars in his closing argument, attacking Baldwin over transgender policies and homing in on the senator’s partner’s work in an effort to bring GOP voters and right-leaning independents into the fold.
Read more about the Wisconsin Senate race here.
State election officials in Pennsylvania and Arizona affirm security amid threats
From CNN’s Mina Allen and Sarah Davis
Top election officials from the battleground states of Arizona and Pennsylvania said Sunday that the 2024 election will remain secure amid increasing threats from foreign agents.
Pennsylvania Secretary State Al Schmidt and Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, who occupy nonpartisan roles, told CBS’ “Face the Nation” they have been preparing for attempts from foreign agents to interfere in the election.
Fontes said security protocols at the polls and tabulation centers have intensified and are “absolutely and completely different from 2020.” Election workers in Arizona at the Maricopa County Tabulation Center will be protected behind bullet-proof glass, with police drones and rooftop snipers deployed for extra security.
“This is a radically different set of circumstances, but we are prepared, and we’re going to have a secure election,” Fontes said.
This election cycle has seen a rise in threats from foreign countries looking to sow distrust in the US election process. US intelligence found Russian influence actors spreading allegations of undocumented immigrants voting illegally. Fontes said such allegations suggesting the election will be overturned by false narratives is part of the “nonsense” he is dealing with.
“Unfortunately we still have candidates, elected officials and folks with large megaphones lying,” Fontes said. “They are basically playing the role of useful idiots.”
Schmidt said he is “very concerned” about a fabricated video that depicts a poll worker destroying ballots in Pennsylvania. US intelligence officials determined that Russia is behind the fake clip.
Both Fontes and Schmidt affirmed they would certify the results of the presidential election regardless of its outcome.
Harris, Walz to barnstorm battleground states with concert series in final campaign push
From CNN’s Angélica Franganillo Díaz and Samantha Waldenberg
Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, will barnstorm seven battleground states — Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia, North Carolina, Arizona, Nevada and Pennsylvania — in a final push before Election Day,
The campaign’s “When We Vote, We Win” concert and rally series will feature performances from artists including Maggie Rogers, Maná, Gracie Abrams, Los Tigres del Norte, Mumford & Sons, Remi Wolf and The National’s Matt Berninger and Aaron Dessner. Designed as “hubs” for organizing and volunteer recruitment, the campaign hopes these events will energize voters before the November election.
“The Harris-Walz campaign believes that by using their voices to lay out the stakes of this election, it will further encourage and mobilize people to go vote. The rallies serve as central GOTV organizing hubs, which capture volunteer signups in addition to mobilizing voters,” the campaign said.
CNN Poll of Polls suggests a near-even race
From CNN staff
Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump. Rebecca Wright/CNN/Carlos Barria/Reuters
The latest update to the CNN Poll of Polls suggests Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are running near even nationally in the race for the White House, as late-October polls have largely pointed to a photo finish.
The latest poll added to the average, the ABC News/Ipsos poll out Sunday morning, suggests a narrow lead for Harris, with 51% of likely voters across the country supporting her and 47% backing Trump. That edge rests on consolidated support among core Democratic groups that is somewhat different from what other polls have found, but is closer to past performance for Democratic candidates in recent presidential elections.
The ABC poll suggests 90% of Black likely voters and 64% of Hispanic likely voters support Harris, compared with lower levels of support for her with those groups in other recent polling, such as the latest releases from CNN and the New York Times/Siena College. ABC/Ipsos also suggests that Harris’ backers are more likely to turn out, with the margin among registered voters at a narrower 49% Harris to 47% Trump. Earlier in October, the previous ABC/Ipsos poll found 50% of likely voters backing Harris and 48% behind Trump.
Overall, the CNN Poll of Polls stands at 48% Harris to 47% Trump as the candidates begin their final full week of campaigning before Election Day. The previous average stood at 49% Harris to 47% Trump.
The average will be updated throughout the remainder of the campaign as new national polling is released.
Harris says Pennsylvania “will be key” to winning the presidency
From CNN’s Betsy Klein
Vice President Kamala Harris expressed optimism about her path to victory as she began a multi-stop tour of Philadelphia on Sunday, telling reporters that battleground Pennsylvania “will be key” to her electoral map.
“Philadelphia is a very important part of our path to victory, and it is the reason I’m spending time here. … But I’m feeling very optimistic about the enthusiasm that is here, and the commitment that folks of every background have to vote,” Harris said following remarks at a church.
Asked whether she needed to win the commonwealth to win the election, she said, “Pennsylvania will be key – no doubt.”
Harris dismissed questions about her campaign’s internal polling, saying, “My polling is my instinct,” but that she believes “the momentum is with us.”
Amid a spate of election misinformation, Harris said she was “heartened” by meeting people who “don’t want to be played” and are “eager to hear more details about my plan for them.”
Pressed on how her policies can affect Philadelphians who have been impacted by gentrification, she pointed to her plans to ensure fair appraisal values, address alleged price gouging and extend child tax credits and tax credits for small businesses.
Sen. Sanders links Trump to “authoritarianism” and calls ties to Elon Musk “conflict of interest”
From CNN’s Jalen Beckford
Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont warned that former President Donald Trump has a “strong tendency to authoritarianism,” after Vice President Kamala Harris joined Trump’s former chief of staff, retired Marine Gen. John Kelly, in labeling Trump a “fascist.”
“I don’t like using those words, but clearly he has a strong, strong tendency to authoritarianism and to undermining American democracy,” Sanders said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
“Look, this is a guy who provoked an insurrection on January 6, 2021, to prevent — in the first time in American history — a peaceful transfer of power.”
Sanders also labeled billionaire Elon Musks’ relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin a “conflict of interest” and floated the possibility of the SpaceX founder gaining significant influence in a potential Trump administration.
“What really interests me is if, God forbid, Trump would win, whether it would be Elon Musk running the government and Trump working for him, or the other way around,” Sanders said.
“But the idea that you have somebody like Musk with massive amounts of federal contracts, campaigning hard, putting huge amounts of money into Trump’s campaign. Man, if there’s ever been a conflict of interest, that’s it.”
The top presidential campaign ads in October, by spending
From CNN’s David Wright
Voters in the presidential battlegrounds have seen a heavy rotation of presidential campaign ads this month, as their states have been blitzed by tens of millions of dollars in spending by the campaigns of Donald Trump, Kamala Harris and their respective allies.
The ads have focused on an evolving set of issues, including the economy, abortion rights, immigration and crime. And in the closing weeks of the race, Republican advertisers have also poured money into attack ads focused on transgender policies, while Democrats have increasingly focused on criticizing the former president’s character.
Here are the some of the TV ads that the presidential candidates and their allies have spent the most on during the first three weeks of October, according to data from the ad tracking firm AdImpact.
1. FF PAC – ‘Not rich as hell’ (Pro-Harris)
The ad features a voter from Jacksonville, Florida, watching a clip of Trump at a 2023 Mar-a-Lago fundraiser, praising his “rich as hell” donors and promising, “We’re gonna give you tax cuts.” She reacts disapprovingly, saying, “I am not rich as hell. I work hard. I scrape to get by. Donald Trump wants to give tax breaks to billionaires, but Kamala Harris has plans to help us.”
2. FF PAC – ‘Fair Share’ (Pro-Harris)
During the first three weeks of October, FF PAC also put more than $20 million behind a similar ad, featuring the same clip of Trump at the Mar-a-Lago fundraiser but with a different voter, this one from battleground Pennsylvania, sharing his misgivings.
See more of the top presidential campaign ads aired nationwide here.
Harris points to lessons in scripture as she makes the case for moving “past division and chaos”
From CNN’s Sam Fossum
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a Souls to the Polls Sunday service at Divine Faith Ministries International Church in Jonesboro, Georgia, on October 20. Elijah Nouvelage/Reuters/File
Vice President Kamala Harris addressed the congregation of the Church of Christian Compassion in West Philadelphia on Sunday, pointing to lessons from the Apostle Paul as a reminder of how God’s power works through people. Harris also told the congregation that with nine days left until the election they have the power to “fulfill the promise of America.”
“Paul understood something profound. I believe, pastor, that God’s power doesn’t just work for us, it also works within us,” Harris told the congregation.
“People feel real pain. But like Paul, we must remember that divine power works through our actions, and we have the power to move past division and chaos,” she said later after being interrupted by a protestor.
Harris also said that the next nine days until the election will “test” them, but that they have the power to decide their future.
“It is in and within our power to fulfill the promise of America, the promise to create opportunity for every child, to protect our basic freedoms, the power to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with our God,” Harris said.
After Harris’ remarks, the pastor told the congregation that there would be a bus outside to take people to the polls after worship today.
“There are 20 buses at places of faith all over the city of Philadelphia,” he added.
Mark Cuban says it’s “not a stretch” to call Trump a “fascist”
From CNN’s Veronica Stracqualursi
Mark Cuban speaks at a campaign event for Vice President Kamala Harris at University Wisconsin-La Crosse in La Crosse, Wisconsin, on October 17. Craig Lassig/AFP/Getty Images
Billionaire businessman Mark Cuban, who has endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, said that it’s “not a stretch” to call former President Donald Trump a “fascist,” after Harris called Trump one during CNN’s town hall last week.
“Donald Trump is not a normal candidate, and I think it’s not a stretch to call Donald Trump a fascist,” Cuban said in an interview with ABC News’ “This Week” that aired Sunday.
“You know he’s talking about the ‘enemy within’ and going after people using the military. He’s talked about mass deportations, where, you know, they’ll stop people on the street and check their papers. What does that remind you of? Talking about, you know, knocking on doors and pulling people out and deporting them? What does that remind you of? That’s pretty damn close to fascism if not the definition of fascism,” Cuban said.
Cuban also claimed that he hasn’t given Harris “a penny,” saying, “If I have a good idea and if I feel passionate about the candidate, I’ll help.”
“I don’t want them to work with me because I paid them to work with me,” he said.
Independent Nebraska Senate candidate declines to say who he is voting for in presidential race
From CNN’s Aileen Graef
Independent Senate candidate Dan Osborn speaks during his campaign stop at the Handlebend coffeshop in O’Neill, Nebraska, on October 14. Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc./Getty Imag
Independent Nebraska Senate candidate Dan Osborn declined Sunday to say who he was voting for in the presidential race and refused to say which party he would caucus with if he should win.
Osborn is running against Republican Sen. Deb Fischer. Osborn, who says he has been a registered independent since he could vote, has refused endorsements from any political figure or party.
“Well, I don’t give endorsements either. So if I, if I tell if I tell you who I’m going to vote for, that’s an endorsement,” he said during a taped sit down interview on ABC’s “This Week” when asked who he was voting for in the presidential race.
Osborn refused to commit to caucusing with either the Democrats or Republicans should he win, saying, “I need to navigate down the middle because that’s what, that’s what the two-party doom loop means. It means we’re so far apart and politics is so polarized.”
Despite his insistence that he’s running without the backing of a national party, Osborn is benefiting from a competitive congressional race in Omaha with Nebraska attracting national investments from presidential contenders because of the way the state allocates electoral votes with major focus on the second district in Omaha. Trump won the district in 2016 but lost it in 2020.
Harris says her address Tuesday will visually sharpen her closing argument to voters
From CNN’s Sam Fossum
Vice President Kamala Harris said her upcoming address on the National Mall with the White House behind her, the same place that ex-President Donald Trump spoke on January 6, 2021, will help visually sharpen her closing argument for voters ahead of Election Day.
“I think it is very important for the American people to see and think about who will be occupying that space on January 20th,” Harris said when asked about why she’s giving a major speech one week before the election in that location.
During the interview with CBS News’ Norah O’Donnell airing Sunday, Harris also continued to press the case against Trump, saying that her “first priority” as president would be to restore a federal right to an abortion.
Harris told O’Donnell that her “first priority” if elected president would be to pass national legislation restoring abortion rights to the standard that existed under Roe v. Wade but would not explicitly say what, if any, restrictions she would then support as part of that legislation.
“I support Roe versus Wade being put back into law by Congress and to restore the fundamental right of women to make decisions about their own body. It is that basic,” she said when asked if she would support restrictions after fetal viability.
Pressed again, she said: “I’ve told you, let’s put back in place Roe v. Wade.”
While Roe v. Wade established a federal right to an abortion, the ruling did allow for restrictions after fetal viability.
Cheney attacks Vance for suggesting she wants to draw the US into more military conflicts
From CNN’s Aaron Pellish
Former GOP Rep. Liz Cheney pushed back Sunday on Ohio Sen. JD Vance’s assertion that she, and other conservatives who have endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, are motivated by a desire to draw America into additional military conflicts.
Cheney said the Republican vice presidential nominee’s statement is “completely divorced from any connection to the truth” and attacked Vance for attempting “contortions” to justify ex-President Donald Trump’s past dictatorial remarks.
Cheney said on CNN’s “State of the Union” that Vance’s comments during an interview that aired earlier in the show reflect an understanding by the Trump campaign, and its Republican allies, that Trump suggesting using the military on political opponents if he’s reelected is “damaging” for Trump’s campaign.
“Donald Trump, JD Vance, they absolutely understand how damaging it is for the American people to see all of these unprecedented, unprecedented levels of senior officials from the Trump administration telling the American people that Donald Trump is unfit. And so, you know, they concoct these things that are completely divorced from any – any connection to the truth, to lash out and attack,” Cheney said.
Cheney’s comments come after Vance suggested that she and other GOP Trump critics hope to push the US into more military conflicts abroad.
Cheney said Vance’s attacks on her foreign policy worldview show a lack of understanding of her position, which she characterized as preventing war by practicing “peace through strength” while attacking Trump for being willing to side with Russia over US allies.
Graham hits back at former generals for Trump criticism
From CNN’s Aileen Graef
Sen. Lindsey Graham speaks during a news conference at on July 31, in Washington, DC. Kent Nishimura/Getty Images
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham criticized the former generals who have issued dire warnings about a second Trump presidency, including Trump’s former chief of staff retired Gen. John Kelly, saying they should have a “little self-reflection” about the job they did before they criticize the former president.
“And let me say one thing to these generals: I admire you, I respect you, but for 20 years, you were given, and others, billions of dollars to train the Iraqi and the Afghan army, and they folded like a cheap suit. How about a little self-reflection about the job you did before you criticize others,” he said on ABC’s “This Week.”
This comes after Kelly entered the 2024 fray in stunning fashion during a series of interviews published Tuesday, saying the former president fits “into the general definition of fascist” and that he spoke of the loyalty of Hitler’s Nazi generals.
Vance continues to take on Trump’s GOP critics
From CNN’s Kit Maher and Gregory Krieg
In an interview on Sunday with CNN’s Jake Tapper, Ohio Sen. JD Vance pushed back hard against what has become a favored attack from the Harris campaign, which frequently notes that a growing number of prominent former Trump administration officials have said their old boss is unfit for office.
Vance claimed those former administration officials are targeting ex-President Donald Trump because he rebuffed their efforts to check his behavior and push to start “ridiculous military conflicts.” The group includes Trump’s longest-serving chief of staff, John Kelly, who told The New York Times last week that the former president fits the “general definition of fascist.”
Vance argued that Kelly’s concerns over Trump were based on policy and “not about personality.”
“No, (Kelly) agrees with Trump on most policy,” Tapper said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “He disagrees with Trump on how Trump views his role … and the fascism and the authoritarianism.”
Vance sought to shift the terms of the discussion from Trump’s behavior to the records of Kelly and other anti-Trump conservative Republicans.
“If you actually look at John Kelly, and folks like Liz Cheney, the fundamental disagreement they have with Donald Trump is even though they say that they’re conservative, they’re conservative in the sense that they want America to get involved in a ton of ridiculous military conflicts,” Vance said.
“All these people, Jake, they came into office thinking that they could control Donald Trump, that when he said he wanted peace in the world,” Vance said.
“Mike Pence thought he could control Donald Trump? Really?” Tapper asked.
“Yes, he did. And when he found out that he couldn’t, they all turned on Donald Trump,” Vance said.
Read more about Vance’s defense of Trump amid a growing tide of GOP critics here.
Vance insists Trump’s “enemy from within” comments weren’t directed at political rivals
From CNN’s Kit Maher and Gregory Krieg
Sen. J.D. Vance introduces former President Donald Trump during a rally at Herb Brooks National Hockey Center on July 27, in St Cloud, Minnesota. Stephen Maturen/Getty Images
Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance insisted that Donald Trump’s attacks on “the enemy within” were not directed at Democratic Party leaders but dissenting Americans he described as “far-left lunatics” poised to riot if the former president wins in November.
Grilled by CNN’s Jake Tapper on Trump’s use of the loaded phrase, Vance defended his ticket mate, saying the former president would not unleash the military on “Americans writ large.”
“He’s said publicly that he wants to use the military to go after the enemy within, which is the American people,” Tapper said in an interview that aired Sunday on “State of the Union.”
“He did not say that, Jake,” the Ohio senator responded. “He said that he was going to send the military after the American people? Show me the quote where he said that.”
Trump earlier this month initially suggested the use of military force on Election Day to handle the “enemy from within,” referring to potential chaos sown by “radical-left lunatics.” Then, in a Fox News interview, Trump referred to California Rep. Adam Schiff and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as “an enemy from within.” Most recently, appearing on a podcast with Joe Rogan on Friday, Trump said “the enemy within” – Americans with differing politics – pose a greater threat to the US than nuclear-armed North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Read more about Vance’s reaction to Trump’s “enemy from within” comments here.
Big Tech CEOs are calling up Trump, seeking to rekindle their relationship
From CNN’s Steve Contorno and Alayna Treene
Top executives at some of the country’s largest tech companies have sought out Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump ahead of Election Day, looking to get an audience with the former president as the likelihood he returns to the Oval Office sits at a coin flip.
Trump and Apple CEO Tim Cook chatted last week about the iPhone maker’s ongoing legal issues in Europe, the former president divulged in an interview Thursday. Later in the day, Trump told a Las Vegas audience that the “head of Google,” who is CEO Sundar Pichai, called to marvel over the Republican nominee’s campaign stop slinging french fries at a Pennsylvania McDonald’s.
“He said, ‘This is one of the hottest things. We have never seen anything like this,’” Trump recalled. He retold the story Friday on Joe Rogan’s podcast and identified the executive as Pichai.
Google and Apple also face mounting legal headwinds overseas, where the European Union has slapped the companies with multibillion-dollar judgments for tax avoidance.
Trump on Thursday said he discussed the ruling with Cook, with whom he has fostered a relationship dating back to his first term. He suggested the outcome for Apple will change if he wins in November.
“Let me tell you: All of those companies will be set free, if you have the right president,” Trump said. “All of those companies will be in good shape. Don’t worry about that.”
Read more about Trump’s rekindled relationship with tech moguls here.
More than 1,000 faith leaders endorse Harris as vice president leans on her faith to turn out Black voters
From CNN’s Eva McKend and Arit John
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign rally at the Wings Event Center in Kalamazoo, Michigan, on October 26. Jacquelyn Martin/AP
More than a thousand religious leaders endorsed Kamala Harris on Sunday, bolstering the Democratic presidential nominee’s push to emphasize how faith is informing her campaign ahead of next week’s election.
Among those backing the vice president is the Rev. William J. Barber II, a North Carolina-based faith leader who has pushed the Biden administration to call for a ceasefire in Gaza.
“In a moment like this, I am compelled to be clear that every voter must make a choice, and my choice is to oppose the dangerous politics that (Donald) Trump and the MAGA movement have unleashed by supporting the ticket that can defeat this potential for American fascism,” Barber said in a statement to CNN, while stressing that he was backing Harris in his personal capacity.
The endorsements come as Harris has been leaning on her faith – and her ties to Black faith communities – as she seeks to turn out Black voters in her closing pitch.
The vice president, who attended a Black Baptist church in Oakland growing up, appeared with her longtime pastor, the Rev. Amos C. Brown III of San Francisco’s Third Baptist Church, as part of a “souls to the polls” push in Georgia last weekend, a widespread effort to engage Black churchgoers in swing states.
Former President Donald Trump has also sought to court religious voters and encourage White evangelicals, longtime allies of the Republican Party, to vote.
Read more about campaign efforts to win over religious voters here.
Here’s where the candidates will be today
From CNN’s Eric Bradner, Christian Sierra and Christina Asencio
Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump. Getty Images
Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are making their final pitches to voters as Election Day nears.
Both campaigns are urging supporters to cast their ballots early and attempting to reach the vanishingly small pools of undecided voters — or those who know which candidate they prefer but are not sure whether they will vote.
Here’s what each campaign will be up to on Sunday:
Harris: Harris will travel to Philadelphia, where she will hold a campaign event and is expected to make a series of local stops. Pennsylvania is a critical battleground in the race for 270 electoral votes — both members of the Republican presidential ticket spent time in the Keystone State on Saturday.
An interview with Harris and journalist Norah O’Donnell will also air on “CBS Sunday Morning” and “Face the Nation.”
Walz: Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz is set to hold campaign events in Las Vegas. Nevada is another key swing state, where the Harris-Walz campaign has focused significant efforts on rallying Hispanic voters to the polls.
Trump: The former president is returning to his hometown on Sunday for a rally in one of New York City’s most iconic landmarks: Madison Square Garden.
New York is a deep-blue state that Trump is seen as having no real chance to win, but his campaign believes widespread media coverage will reach into all seven swing states. And it could help the GOP in the battle for control of the US House of Representatives, with several New York-area seats currently held by vulnerable Republicans.
Vance: Trump’s running mate is expected to appear with him at the Madison Square Garden rally, as well as at a campaign fundraiser in New York before the big event.
Vance will also appear on CNN’s “State of the Union” this morning.
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