With less than one week before election day, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump hosted rival events in the swing states of Wisconsin and North Carolina where both are fighting for undecided voters.
Harris called on Americans to “stop pointing fingers at each other” as she attempted to move past President Joe Biden’s comments in which he appeared to call Donald Trump’s supporters “garbage”.
Meanwhile, Trump hopped into the passenger seat of a white garbage truck bearing his name to draw attention to Biden’s comments.
So far more than 50 million Americans have already voted, the University of Florida’s Election Lab says. This includes about 29.3 million in-person votes and roughly 26 million mail-in ballots.
What are the latest updates from the polls?
The latest polls from The Economist/YouGov and TIPP Insights, released on Wednesday, indicate that Harris has a slight lead of just one percentage point, with 44 percent of voters supporting her compared with 43 percent for Trump.
In a separate poll by The Washington Post and George Mason University, also released on Wednesday, voters expressed concerns about Trump’s potential reaction if he loses, recalling the 2020 election when his loss triggered the January 6 Capitol riots.
Of more than 5,000 registered voters in key battleground states, 57 percent said they were “very” or “somewhat” worried that Trump’s supporters might become violent if he loses. In contrast, only 31 percent believed that Harris’s supporters would respond in a similar manner.
Additionally, according to FiveThirtyEight’s National poll tracker, as of Wednesday, Harris continues to lead nationally by about 1.4 points. However, this lead is within the margin of error, indicating that the race remains highly competitive.
In swing states – critical states which could determine the election outcome – the race is even tighter. The key battleground states include Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia, Michigan, Arizona, Wisconsin and Nevada.
According to FiveThirtyEight’s daily poll tracker, Harris’s narrow lead in Michigan has grown from a 0.2-point margin to 1 point. She also has a slight edge in Nevada. In Wisconsin, her lead has increased to 0.8 points.
On the other hand, Donald Trump holds a slight advantage in Pennsylvania, slightly increasing from 0.2 points to 0.4 points. His lead in North Carolina has decreased from 1.3 points to 1.1 points.
Trump has gained ground in Arizona, where he currently leads Harris by 2.2 points, and in Georgia, where he has a 1.8-point advantage.
In six of the seven swing states, the candidates are within two points of each other, which falls within the polls’ margins of error, making each state a toss-up just days before the election. Although Trump leads Arizona by 2.1 points, this difference is still very close to the margin of error of three percentage points.
What was Kamala Harris up to on Wednesday?
Harris held rallies in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and North Carolina.
She stressed unity and common ground. “I am not looking to score political points,” the vice president said. “I am looking to make progress.”
Separately, the White House rushed to explain President Biden’s “garbage” gaffe.
The controversy began on Tuesday when Biden joined a campaign call hosted by the Hispanic advocacy group Voto Latino. During the call, Biden criticised a comedian’s remark at Sunday’s Madison Square Garden rally, in which Tony Hinchcliffe referred to Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage”.
“The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters. His demonisation of Latinos is unconscionable, and it’s un-American,” Biden said. “It’s totally contrary to everything we’ve done and been.”
Before boarding Air Force Two for her flight to Raleigh, Harris told reporters that she disagreed with “any criticism of people based on their voting choices”.
“I will represent all Americans, including those who don’t vote for me,” she added.
While Harris was rallying on Wednesday, she was confronted by pro-Palestinian protesters at all three of her events.
“We all want the war in Gaza to end and to get the hostages out, and I will do everything in my power to make it heard and known,” Harris said in Wisconsin. “And everyone has a right to be heard, but right now, I am speaking.”
Harris’s supporters erupted at her comment, a reference to what she told then-Vice President Mike Pence during their debate in 2020. The reaction largely drowned out the protesters.
What was Donald Trump up to on Wednesday?
Trump walked down the steps of the Boeing 757 he was travelling on and climbed into the passenger seat of a white garbage truck that also carried his name.
“How do you like my garbage truck?” Trump said, wearing an orange and yellow safety vest over his white dress shirt and red tie. “This is in honour of Kamala and Joe Biden.”
Trump and other Republicans faced a backlash after Tony Hinchcliffe’s reference to Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage”.
The former president has distanced himself from the comedian but stopped short of denouncing his comment. He also said he did not need to apologise to Puerto Ricans.
“I don’t know anything about the comedian,” Trump said. “I don’t know who he is. I’ve never seen him. I heard he made a statement, but it was a statement that he made. He’s a comedian, what can I tell you? I know nothing about him.” A spokesperson for Trump said the joke doesn’t reflect his views, but the former president has not addressed it himself.
“I love Puerto Rico, and Puerto Rico loves me,” Trump said from the garbage truck.
He ended the brief appearance by telling reporters: “I hope you enjoyed this garbage truck. Thank you very much.”
“[The truck scene] has become a rather viral moment with Trump’s supporters,” Al Jazeera’s Heidi Zhou-Castro reported.
However “voters here, they say they’re simply disgusted by the rhetoric that this campaign has devolved into … and they’re making their votes count”, she added.
“In places like here in Milwaukee, indeed Harris has the advantage. But in rural areas of the state, that’s where Trump will likely find his supporters.”
What’s next for the Harris and Trump campaigns?
Harris will make stops in two swing states
The Democrat is heading to the western US tomorrow, where she will make campaign stops in two swing states. Harris will hold events in Reno and Las Vegas, Nevada, and Phoenix, Arizona.
Mexican bands Mana and Los Tigres del Norte will be performing at Harris’s rallies in Las Vegas and Phoenix, respectively, ostensibly to boost Latino support.
Singer Jennifer Lopez will also reportedly perform at Harris’s Las Vegas rally. On Sunday, the artist shared Harris’s plan on her Instagram story to build Puerto Rico’s economy and its energy grid amid a backlash over Hinchliffe’s comments.
In the final days of her campaign, Harris has relied significantly on celebrities and performers, headlining events alongside notable figures like Bruce Springsteen, Beyonce and Maggie Rogers. The Thursday event takes place just days before early voting in Nevada concludes on November 1.
According to a report by the magazine Rolling Stone, Mexican music has been instrumental in mobilising Latino voters in swing states. On Thursday, La Original Banda El Limon released a corrido dedicated to Harris, titled “Señora Presidenta”.
Trump heads to Nevada and New Mexico
Trump will be in Albuquerque, New Mexico; Henderson, Nevada; and Glendale, Arizona where he will speak with Tucker Carlson at the Desert Island Arena.
Nevada and Arizona are two of the seven battleground states that will decide this election.
A recent survey released by CNN on Tuesday reveals that voters in these two crucial Southwest battlegrounds are undecided about who is the better choice.
Both states have early voting, with the poll indicating that 55 percent of likely voters in Arizona and 42 percent in Nevada report have already cast their ballots. In both states, more registered Republicans have voted so far than registered Democrats.