close
close

first Drop

Com TW NOw News 2024

Harris, Trump court Pennsylvania voters
news

Harris, Trump court Pennsylvania voters

play

Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump hit the campaign trail on Monday, and they both courted one pivotal swing state: Pennsylvania.

Trump participated in a town hall in Oaks, Pennsylvania, Monday evening, located about 25 miles northwest of Philadelphia. On the other side of the state, Harris held a campaign rally in Erie alongside Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa. Former President Bill Clinton also traveled to Georgia, trying to win over voters for Harris in another crucial battleground.

Catch up with the USA TODAY Network’s live updates.

Harris criticizes Trump over ‘enemy from within’ comments

Kamala Harris on Monday seized on Donald Trump’s recent comments that the U.S. military should handle the “enemy from within” in one of her most blistering attacks on the former president of the 2024 campaign. 

“This is among the reasons I believe so strongly that a second Trump term would be a huge risk for America and dangerous,” Harris alleged at her campaign rally in Erie, Pennsylvania. “Donald Trump is increasingly unstable and unhinged, and he is out for unchecked power.”

Harris halted her speech while her campaign displayed video footage of Trump on a large screen using the phrase “enemy from within” during past interviews and rallies, including an interview Sunday with Fox News in which Trump called the “enemy from within” more dangerous than adversaries overseas.

“We have two enemies. We have the outside enemy and we have the enemy from within,” Trump said in the interview. “And the enemy from within, in my opinion, is more dangerous than Russia, China and all these counties.”

“We have some sick people, radical left lunatics. And I think, and it should be very easily handled by, if necessary, by National Guard, or if really necessary, by the military,” Trump added.

Harris then picked up her remarks: “You heard his words – coming from him,” Harris said. “He’s talking about the enemy within Pennsylvania. He’s talking about the enemy within our country, Pennsylvania.”

–Joey Garrison 

When addressing the crowd during her rally, Kamala Harris said, “Erie County, you are a pivot county.  How you all vote in presidential elections often ends up predicting the national result.”

She asked the crowd, “Are you ready to make your voices heard?”

– Kevin Flowers

‘Would anybody else like to faint?’

Trump cut his town hall short after at least two supporters suffered medical episodes in a hot and crowded building. But he also called for his aides to play music, mostly “Ave Maria,” and he made jokes to the crowd.

Telling supporters that the two people were going to be okay, Trump said: “Would anybody else like to faint?”

Before that, the former president said, “Personally, I enjoy this – we lose weight, you know? … We can do this, lose four or five pounds, it’s okay with me.”

– David Jackson

Omarosa Manigault Newman, a former Trump White House official, endorsed Kamala Harris on Monday.

“Donald Trump squandered the greatest opportunity he had in his life to be a consequential leader, to shape the direction of our nation and bend it toward something positive,” Newman told Variety in an interview published Monday.

Newman appeared on the first season of “The Apprentice” and was a longtime Trump ally. However, Newman and the administration publicly severed ties in 2017, and she penned a book the next year that sparked a major legal battle.

– Marina Pitofsky

Trump hosts friendly town hall in Pennsylvania

Trump participated in an event his campaign called a town hall, moderated by South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem with questions from supporters in the crowd.

Appearing in Oaks, Pennsylvania., near Philadelphia, Trump outlined his views on the economy, inflation, immigration, and foreign policy challenges in a crucial battleground state. He also embraced a pair of gold star parents.

The former president told supporters: “You know, (if) we win Pennsylvania, we win the whole thing,”  

However, Trump mixed up the election date while promoting early voting. Things will go well “if everybody gets out and votes on Jan. 5,” Trump said at one point; Election Day is actually Nov. 5.

The former president also ended the town hall a early after two medical incidents in the crowd.

– David Jackson

Harris stopped at Legenderie Records and Coffee House before her Pennsylvania rally to meet with owners Allana and Ishmael Trainor and other Black business owners and leaders.

The press was escorted out before she held a discussion about her new economic plan, “Opportunity Agenda for Black men.” Harris also purchased a Marvin Gaye record.

– Matthew Rink

Trump confirms Oct. 27 rally in New York’s Madison Square Garden  

The Trump campaign made it official Monday: He will tip off a final week of campaigning in New York City. Trump plans to headline an Oct. 27 rally at Madison Square Garden, the venerable arena in the heart of the Big Apple.

Trump claims he can carry New York, despite the state’s overwhelming support for Democrats. In its announcement, the campaign said that “disastrous economic policies are draining the bank accounts of hardworking New Yorkers.”

– David Jackson

Kamala Harris will sit for first-ever Fox News interview

Kamala Harris has agreed to an interview with Fox News, the network announced Monday, in what will be the vice president’s first sit-down interview with Fox.

Harris’ interview with Fox’s chief political anchor, Bret Baier, will take place Wednesday in the battleground state of Pennsylvania and air that night at 6 p.m.

Harris has received criticism for not doing many interviews with traditional news outlets since launching her bid for the White House. She ramped up media appearances in recent weeks, including a “60 Minutes” interview that aired last Monday.

The interview with Fox, known for its conservative-leaning pundits and programming, comes as Harris is trying to court independent and Republicans voters who oppose Donald Trump, the Republican nominee. Harris has also called for another televised debate with Trump, though the former president has said he won’t face off against the vice president again.

– Rachel Barber and Joey Garrison

Donald Trump and Kamala Harris have both agreed to attend town halls – but not the same one. The Republican presidential candidate will take part in a pre-taped televised town hall hosted by Fox News on Tuesday, and focus on “women’s issues” as he tries to win back female voters from his Democratic rival.

The hour-long event, which will not be broadcast live, will feature an all-women audience and cover various issues, including the economy, abortion, immigration, and health care. Fox’s Harris Faulkner will moderate, and the show will air Wednesday at 11 a.m. Eastern.

A week after Trump takes part in the Fox News town hall, Harris will participate in one hosted by CNN.

After Trump ruled out joining a CNN presidential debate, the network invited both candidates to participate in separate town hall events later this month. CNN extended the invitations on Thursday, and the Harris campaign quickly accepted. The vice president is set to appear with Anderson Cooper on CNN on Oct. 23, with voters in Pennsylvania. That event will be aired live.

– Margie Cullen

As Election Day approaches, Trump Media & Technology Group’s share prices have increased. The price reached a low of $12.15 on September 23, but the Truth Social parent company has seen a spike of nearly 50% in the last week.

– Marina Pitofsky

Former President Bill Clinton on Monday called on pivotal voters in the swing state of Georgia to support Kamala Harris. The former president delivered remarks at a Democratic campaign office in Columbus, Georgia, on Monday.

“Uniting people and building, being repairers of the breach, as Isaiah says, those are the things that work,” Clinton said as he spoke to Peach State voters and organizers. “Blaming, dividing, demeaning — they get you a bunch of votes at election time, but they don’t work.”

– Marina Pitofsky

 Kamala Harris proposed legalizing marijuana nationally for recreational use and ensuring Black entrepreneurs have access to the cannabis industry as part of an economic agenda aimed at Black men, whose support for the Democratic presidential nominee has shown signs of slipping.

Other proposals in Harris’ “Opportunity Agenda for Black men,” released Monday, include offering 1 million “fully forgivable” loans to Black business owners and new federal regulations for cryptocurrency that look to protect investors in the digital currency.

The Harris campaign said, if elected, the vice president will “break down unjust legal barriers that hold Black men and other Americans back by legalizing marijuana nationally, working with Congress to ensure that the safe cultivation, distribution, and possession of recreational marijuana is the law of the land.”

– Joey Garrison

Candidates across the country are in the final homestretch of the 2024 election.

Early voting is open in multiple states, voter registration deadlines have passed in several states and it appears that the top of the ticket candidates may have made their final appearance on the national stage together at the vice presidential debate earlier this month.

Of course, all eyes are on former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, who have been campaigning in battleground states in what is looking like a very close election.

−Kinsey Crowley

When Donald Trump lost Georgia by just under 12,000 votes in 2020, he went to the two people with the most power over the state’s elections — the governor and the secretary of state — and asked for help overturning the results.

He asked Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, to help him “find 11,780 votes,” but Raffensperger refused. Then he asked Gov. Brian Kemp, another Republican, to order an audit and convene the state legislature so they could hand the state’s electoral votes to him. Kemp also resisted.

Heading into a tight Nov. 5 election, Trump in September claimed without evidence that Democrats are “cheating,” laying the groundwork to challenge the results again if he loses. During a debate in June, Trump twice avoided directly answering if he would accept the result’s of this year’s election, eventually saying he would do so only “If it’s a fair and legal and good election.”

But Trump would be unlikely to find state officials willing to try to block their state’s electoral votes from going to Vice President Kamala Harris. Democrats have gained power in major swing states, and the Republicans leading states that Harris could win have given no indication that they would overturn the election. In fact, several explicitly said they won’t do so.

Representatives of the Republican governors of New Hampshire, Vermont and Virginia − all states leaning toward Harris in polls − told USA TODAY they intend to certify the results regardless of the winner. And top election officials in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Wisconsin, and North Carolina also said they wouldn’t be swayed.

– Erin Mansfield and Sarah Wire

Although Kamala Harris and Donald Trump’s visions for solving Americans’ largest problems differ, both have pledged to address inflation, lower taxes and support Israel in its war against Hamas. They have also both committed to ending federal taxes on tips. 

Still, Harris and Trump have seriously different pitches for the nation. They diverge most on climate change, reproductive rights and gun control. 

Before you cast your ballot, USA TODAY’s voter guide can help you lay out where each candidate stands. Here’s what Trump and Harris have said about major issues, in their own words: 

Voters Guide 2024: Where Harris and Trump stand on key issues

– Rachel Barber

Election Day is on Nov. 5, less than a month away. What’s not as obvious is when the results of the presidential race will be announced — and that depends on a variety of factors. Each state handles its elections differently, ranging from weeks-long early voting to strict voter ID laws.

What we do know is that both Republicans and Democrats are ramping up for a barrage of legal challenges between now and after the general election. So don’t expect Kamala Harris or Donald Trump to claim victory on Election Day.

Read more here.

– Sam Woodward

Keeping up with Election 2024? Sign up for USA TODAY’s On Politics newsletter for exclusive analysis.

No, Trump probably isn’t going to produce the kind of detailed medical report that Harris released over the weekend.

The release, reflecting a physical taken in April, aimed to contrast the Democratic presidential nominee with her opponent, Donald Trump, who would be the oldest person elected to the presidency and who has shared few details about his own health.

Trump and his allies have rejected questions about whether the former president will released the same information. He demanded in a post on Truth Social that Harris also take a test on “Cognitive Stamina and Agility”

The Trump campaign, meanwhile, cited the general reports attesting to the candidate’s health put out this year by congressman, doctor and longtime Trump ally Ronny Jackson. A campaign statement said Trump “has maintained an extremely busy and active campaign schedule unlike any other in political history.”

All the same, expect Harris and allies to call for more detailed health records from Trump.

“Are they afraid that people will see that he is too weak and unstable to lead America?” Harris said this weekend in North Carolina. “Is that what’s going on?”

– David Jackson

Donald Trump took the lead over Kamala Harris in the betting odds for the White House for the first time since the Sept. 10 presidential debate.

Trump’s largest lead at the betting houses USA TODAY has regularly surveyed comes at BetOnline where he stands -140 to Harris’ +120.

The action, which U.S. bookmakers cannot legally take part in, held steady through September but has seen Trump come back into favor over the past two weeks.

– James Powel

The deadline to register to vote in 2024 has already passed in more than a dozen states, and time is running out in many more places through October.

Millions of Americans have enrolled to cast a ballot this year, with unprecedented recent spikes in new voters posing to shake up a heated race for the White House. 

With Election Day just weeks away, campaigns and nonpartisan organizations are turning their attention to another priority: making sure voters actually show up. 

− Savannah Kuchar

More: Voter registration deadlines hit, focus shifts to actually getting people to vote

Trump gives thumbs-down to ‘The Apprentice’ movie

Donald Trump has quickly criticized the new film about his life: “The Apprentice.”

“A FAKE and CLASSLESS Movie written about me,” Trump said early Monday on Truth Social about the film that USA TODAY described as “a polarizing biopic of young Donald Trump (Sebastian Stan), portraying him as a New York slumlord who becomes a ruthless real-estate mogul under the tutelage of closeted gay lawyer Roy Cohn (Jeremy Strong).”

Trump, who has threatened to sue the filmmakers, called it “a cheap, defamatory, and politically disgusting hatchet job” designed to influence the presidential election.

“The Apprentice” isn’t setting records at the box office. The Hollywood Reporter said that the Trump movie “opened to an estimated $1.6 million range from 1,740 locations, just enough to crack the top 10.”

– David Jackson 

On the heels of her high-profile endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris, former Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., said she regrets her previous support for GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump.

In a Sunday interview on “Meet the Press,” NBC host Kristen Welker asked Cheney if she regrets standing by Trump in the 2016 presidential election and several years afterwards while she served in Congress.

Welker pointed to a 2016 debate between Trump and then-Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in which Trump said “I’ll tell you at the time. I’ll keep you in suspense,” when asked if he would commit to the principle of a peaceful transition of power.

“Congresswoman, do you regret standing by him at the time and for all of those years after?” Welker said.

“Yes, I do,” Cheney responded.

− Kathryn Palmer

Vem Miller, the Nevada man arrested at a checkpoint in southern California allegedly en route to a Donald Trump campaign rally, was associated with a far-right movement called the Sovereign Citizens, according to the local sheriff. 

Miller was arrested after police officers questioned him at a checkpoint and noticed his vehicle sported an irregular license plate. The license plate was “one that is homemade and indicative of a group of individuals that claim to be sovereign citizens,” Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco told reporters Sunday.

But what is the Sovereign Citizen movement? And why might law enforcement be concerned about someone associated with the group? Read more here.

− Will Carless

Latest presidential polls: How do Harris, Trump stand on Oct. 14?  

The 2024 election is shaping up to be an incredibly tight race. In a Real Clear Politics average of national polls, Harris leads Trump by 1.7 percentage points, which is within the margin of error for many of the surveys.

Harris and Trump are also neck-and-neck in the battleground states. For example, Trump is leading Harris by 1 percentage point in a Real Clear Politics average of Pennsylvania polls, while Harris leads by 0.3 percentage points in Wisconsin.

− Marina Pitofsky

Kamala Harris will hold a campaign rally in Erie, Pennsylvania alongside Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa, on Monday. The vice president and her Republican rival, Donald Trump, will both make their pitches to Georgia voters later in the week, with Harris set to hold a rally on Saturday.

− Marina Pitofsky

Donald Trump is set to host a town hall in Oaks, Pennsylvania, Monday evening, located about 25 miles northwest of Philadelphia. Tomorrow, he’s set to host a rally in another pivotal swing state, gathering with voters in Atlanta, Georgia.

− Marina Pitofsky

If you’ve been thinking about participating in the 2024 general election on Nov. 5 but haven’t registered yet, the time is now in many states. Check out the deadline for each state at the link below.

Want to vote for Trump or Harris? Deadline to register is just days away in many states.

– Jim Sergent

As November approaches. make sure you check out the USA TODAY Network’s 2024 election guide for voters across the country. Here, you can access all the info you need before casting your ballot and making your voice heard on a local, state and national level.

Can’t decide between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris? We’ve laid out their takes on the major issues facing the nation. Looking for the latest controversial ballot measure or the lawmakers fighting for reelection? Here’s what to know as Election Day approaches.

More: USA TODAY’s guide to the 2024 election

– USA TODAY Network staff