Election 2024 live updates: Harris, Trump rally swing states with 2 days left; new polls
With just two days left until Election Day, Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris are putting the bows on their presidential campaigns, wrapping up arguments in must-win states before their final test: Tuesday, Nov. 5.
The former president has rallies scheduled in Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Georgia, while the vice president has planned multiple stops in Michigan.
Keep up with the USA TODAY Network's coverage live from the campaign trail.
Kevin McCarthy calls on Donald Trump to campaign with Nikki Haley
Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., told USA TODAY Sunday that he believes Donald Trump has the “advantage” in the presidential race as it comes to a conclusion, but said the former president could be doing more to close the deal.
Sign-up for Your Vote: Text with the USA TODAY elections team.
“You could’ve been more uniting, you know, if you put the Nikki Haleys, others, in there,” McCarthy said. “You’re running a general election, not a primary.”
Trump’s former United Nations Ambassador, Haley ran against the former president in the GOP primary and drew support from moderate Republicans, a group Kamala Harris has courted with endorsements from Republicans such as former Rep. Liz Cheney. Haley endorsed Trump and spoke at the Republican National Convention, but hasn’t been on the campaign trail with him.
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“To me it’s all about addition not subtraction,” McCarthy said. “So where am I weak? I bring Nikki Haley in.”
Yet McCarthy also believes Trump has “reached out” beyond his base by incorporating Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a former Democrat, into his campaign. Kennedy, who Trump has promised to give a big role on health issues in a future administration, has been campaigning heavily for the former president in the closing stretch. Kennedy is an anti-vaccine advocate whose public comments on health care have drawn widespread backlash.
– Zac Anderson
Harris stops by chicken and waffles restaurant in Detroit
After attending a Sunday morning church service, Kamala Harris grabbed lunch at a chicken and waffles restaurant in Detroit.
The crowd crammed inside Kuzzo’s Chicken and Waffles erupted into cheers when Harris entered the restaurant, which is owned by former Detroit Lions cornerback Ron Bartell. The vice president worked the room for several minutes, shaking hands with two women who work at the eatery and posing for photos and selfies with other patrons.
Spotted in the crowd: Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist and Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan.
No word on what the VP picked up for lunch.
–Michael Collins
Oprah Winfrey, Lady Gaga to appear at Harris’ final campaign rally Monday night
Oprah Winfrey and Lady Gaga will join Kamala Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff Monday night in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as the Democratic nominee makes her closing arguments to voters, according to her campaign.
Winfrey and Gaga’s appearances will wrap up a star-studded lineup of back-to-back Harris-Walz events across all seven battleground states, all featuring a range of celebrity appearances and musical performances.
Harris will hold two in the battleground state of Pennsylvania, starting off in Pittsburgh where D-Nice, Katy Perry and Andra Day are slated to perform and ending in Philadelphia. Winfrey and Gaga will be joined on stage by DJ Cassidy, Fat Joe, Freeway, Just Blaze, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Ricky Martin, The Roots, Jazmine Sullivan and Adam Blackstone.
The Pennsylvania rallies are part of a series of get-out-the-vote events simultaneously taking place in other critical swing states of North Carolina, Georgia, Nevada, Arizona, Wisconsin and Michigan. Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, will appear alongside his wife, Gwen Walz, at an early evening event in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and wrap up in Detroit, Michigan, with performances by the Detroit Youth Choir, Jon Bon Jovi, The War and Treaty.
– Kathryn Palmer
Harris addresses death toll in Israel-Hamas war
With just two days until the election, Kamala Harris on Sunday made a pitch to Arab Americans who are on the fence about supporting her over the Biden administration's handling of the Israel-Hamas war.
Asked by a reporter in Detroit what her closing argument would be to Arab Americans, Harris repeated what she has said previously about the war in the Gaza Strip. The number of “innocent Palestinians” killed is “unconscionable,” she said.
“We need to end the war, and we need to get the hostages out, and as president of the United States, I will do everything in my power to achieve that end,” Harris said.
Harris also repeated her call for a two-state solution.
–Michael Collins
Supporters gather for Atlanta Harris-Walz rally
The line snaked down the halls Sunday afternoon for the Harris/Walz rally at a hotel in Atlanta, where Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and second gentleman Doug Emhoff were slated to speak. Some people wore T-shirts that read, “We’re not going back’’ and “Republicans for Harris.” Renee Cobbs, 70, of Powder Springs, Georgia was among the first to get into the ballroom.
“I’m celebrating already,’’ Cobbs said as she pinned a Harris button on her jean jacket. “I’m optimistic not only about Georgia, but also the other battleground states.’’
It was Cobbs’ second Harris/Walz rally. She went to hear the vice president at a recent rally in Decatur, Georgia. By Friday, the last day for early voting, more than 4 million people had voted in Georgia, according to the Georgia Secretary of State’s office.
Cobbs said she worries Trump is too negative and pointed to what she called his ramped up rhetoric, which she said has only gotten worse since Harris took the top of the ticket. “Kamala is one of the best things for the country and the world at this point,’’ said Cobbs.
− Deborah Berry
Harris votes by mail-in ballot
Kamala Harris has cast her vote for president – by mail.
Harris, who served as a U.S. senator from California before becoming vice president, told reporters traveling with her on Sunday that she has filled out her ballot and that it is in the mail.
“My ballot is on its way to California, and I'm going to trust the system that it will arrive there,” she said.
Harris declined to say how she voted on a California ballot measure that would increase penalties for some theft- and drug-related crimes.
“I am not going to talk about the vote on that, because, honestly, it's the Sunday before the election, and I don't intend to create an endorsement one way or another around it,” she said.
–Michael Collins
RFK Jr: Trump would seek to remove fluoride from public water sources
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Saturday that Donald Trump would seek to remove fluoride from public water sources as one of his first presidential actions if he is reelected, falsely suggesting that the compound is dangerous.
The American Dental Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics have endorsed water fluoridation, citing studies that show fluoride in community water systems can prevents at least 25 percent of tooth decay in children and adults.
When reached for comment about Kennedy's remarks, Trump campaign Senior Adviser Danielle Alvarez did not directly address Kennedy's assertion, saying that Trump has "received a variety of policy ideas" but "is focused on Tuesday’s election."
But in a phone call with Trump on Sunday morning, NBC News reporter Dasha Burns said the former president appeared open to Kennedy's plans. The former president reportedly said "Well, I haven't talked to him about it yet, but it sounds okay to me. You know it's possible," when asked about Kennedy's suggestion to remove fluoride from public water.
– Karissa Waddick
Trump says he 'shouldn't have left' White House
Donald Trump said during a Sunday rally in Pennsylvania that he "shouldn't have left" the White House as he touted his accomplishments during office.
As Trump addressed his handling of the southern border and the nation's economy, he told the crowd, "we had the safest border in the history of our country the day that I left,” adding "I shouldn't have left, I mean honestly."
Trump has long falsely said that fraud impacted the 2020 presidential election, which he lost to President Joe Biden. The former president launched a legal battle in states across the country after the election, but his claims of fraud were all rejected by courts.
− Marina Pitofsky
Allan Lichtman vs. Nate Silver: Who will accurately predict the 2024 election?
As voters look to polls and political analysts for insight into who might win the presidency on Tuesday, a feud between two of the nation’s leading election prognosticators, Allan Lichtman and Nate Silver, will soon be put to the test.
Lichtman, an American University professor who has correctly predicted nine out of 10 of the last presidential elections, has forecasted a win for Vice President Kamala Harris.
Silver, the statistician and pollster who founded FiveThirtyEight, wrote recently in the New York Times that the race is a virtual tie, but his “gut” tells him former President Donald Trump will likely prevail.
− Karissa Waddick
JD Vance's final pitch to Arizona voters ties economic woes to illegal immigration
Visiting Arizona just days before Election Day, JD Vance revved up a crowd in Scottsdale by arguing that Kamala Harris has prioritized illegal immigrants over American citizens.
Vance, a senator from Ohio and the Republican nominee for vice president, ticked through a list of economic woes facing Americans and, using at times exaggerated or unclear claims, tied each problem to President Joe Biden and Harris' record on illegal immigration.
“Compassion, for the American president, has to start with the American people, and the people who have the legal right to be here,” Vance told hundreds of supporters at Dillon Precision, a guns and ammunition storefront in Scottsdale.
− Laura Gersony
Harris addresses church service in Detroit, says election offers opportunity for 'freedom, justice and compassion'
Kamala Harris followed her guest appearance on Saturday Night Live by stopping by a Sunday morning church service in Detroit.
Harris told congregants of the Greater Emmanuel Institutional Church of God in Christ that Tuesday’s election will give Americans a chance to decide whether they want to live in a country of “chaos, fear and hate” or “freedom, justice and compassion.”
Americans should answer that question, she said, “not just with our faith, but with our feet as we walk to the polls.”
The country will be tested over the next two days and the road won’t be easy, Harris said. But in times of uncertainty, she concluded by citing Psalm 30:5, “we are reminded weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.”
“Morning is on its way,” she said.
–Michael Collins
When will election results be announced?
It is not clear exactly when the election results will be announced, as the timing depends on a variety of factors. Each state handles its elections differently, ranging from weeks-long early voting to strict voter ID laws.
But you can anticipate delays.
Some key swing states that Trump and Harris are vying for, like Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, aren't permitted to start processing absentee and mail-in ballots until Election Day, which is expected to slow down the count.
– Sudiksha Kochi and Sam Woodward
Elise Stefanik addresses gender gap between Kamala Harris, Donald Trump supporters
Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., was asked on "Fox News Sunday" about the major gender gap among supporters that has emerged between Harris and Trump.
For example, a USA TODAY/Suffolk poll of Pennsylvania voters found Trump is up by 20 points among men in the commonwealth, 57% to 37%, while Harris has an 18% hold on women over Trump, 57% to 39%. That’s compared to Trump’s 16-point advantage among men nationally and Harris 17-point advantage among women.
Stefanik denied concerns about Trump’s performance among women, turning the conversation to Harris’ numbers with male voters, telling host Shannon Bream “Trump is doing better among women than Kamala Harris is doing among men.”
She also said that inflation and concerns about the southern border were reasons that women would vote for Trump, claiming American women were economically better of under Trump. “It was the highest number of women ever in the workforce, the largest wage and salary increase for working women ever, childcare was affordable,” Stefanik said.
It was not immediately clear what metric Stefanik was referencing. Data from the US Department of Labor shows that women’s labor force participation peaked in 1999.
– Cy Neff
Trump escalates violent rhetoric toward news media
Talking about the protective glass surrounding him, Donald Trump said at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania on Sunday that a potential assassin would need to shoot through the news media to hit him. “I don’t mind that,” he said.
“I have a piece of glass over here. And I don't have a piece of glass there. And I have this piece of glass here. But all we really have over here is the fake news,” right?” Trump said to laughs from the crowd.
“And to get me, somebody would have to shoot through the fake news. And I don’t mind that so much. I don’t mind that,” he said.
– Karissa Waddick
Trump criticizes polls after surprising Iowa survey
The former president usually loves to talk about polls, but on Sunday he criticized a surprising new poll out of the Midwest.
"The polls are just as corrupt as some of the writers back there," Trump said during an airport rally near Lancaster, Pennsylvania., the start of a fly-around that will take him to North Carolina and Georgia on Sunday.
Trump specifically cited The Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll released on Saturday that shows him now trailing Harris in the Hawkeye State. But he also knocked other surveys released ahead of Election Day.
"We've got all this crap going on, with the press and with the fake stuff," Trump said. "And fake polls."
– David Jackson
Trump says elections should be 'one day' and on 'paper ballots'
Donald Trump at rally in Lititz, Pa. on Sunday morning repeated arguments that elections should only last one day and should be conducted on paper ballots, rather than on voting machines. He also aired concerns that election offices were “extending hours and stuff.”
“Whoever heard of this stuff?” Trump said.
A judge in Pennsylvania last week extended the deadline for Bucks County voters to request a mail-in ballot after Trump’s campaign filed a lawsuit alleging that long lines prevented some supporters from being able to get their ballot. The order extended the deadline from Wednesday, Oct. 30 to Friday, Nov. 1.
In Indiana, election officials in one county have proposed adding additional early morning voting hours to stem long voting lines.
– Karissa Waddick
Trump campaign adviser dismisses Iowa poll as 'outlier'
Top Trump adviser Corey Lewandowski is dismissing a poll out of Iowa that shows the former president trailing Kamala Harris in the red state.
The Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll has 47% of likely voters backing Harris, compared to Trump’s 44%. Lewandowski said the poll is “a complete outlier that has no credibility” and noted that the same poll had Trump and President Joe Biden tied in the state late in the 2020 race.
Trump won Iowa by eight percentage points in 2020. Lewandowski noted that Harris hasn’t been campaigning in Iowa in pushing back against the idea that the state is in play.
It’s a bad sign for the Trump campaign if Harris is doing well in Iowa, one that raises questions about the former president’s prospects in other states with large numbers of older white voters. The Des Moines Register/Mediacom survey shows Harris winning females voters by 20 percentage points. She also has a big lead with senior voters and is beating Trump with Iowa independents.
– Zac Anderson
'It doesn't make you a man': John Fetterman hits Donald Trump comments on transgender right
Sen. John Fetterman strongly condemned Donald Trump and Republicans rhetoric about transgender rights during an interview on CNN Sunday, saying “it doesn't make you tough. It doesn't make you a man to pick on trans or gay kids.”
Fetterman was asked by anchor Dana Bash about whether Trump campaign ads that suggest Kamala Harris is “for they/them” are resonating in the pivotal swing state.
“If your political capital, you know, comes from picking on trans kids or gay kids or anything like that, that you're just bankrupt throughout all of this,” Fetterman said. “My version of being is, it's like, ‘Hey, I like ribeye, I like Motorhead, and I'm never going to pick on trans kids and gay kids.”
Trump and his running mate, JD Vance, have made anti-trans attacks a major part of their closing message to voters in the 2024 election, arguing
– Karissa Waddick
Doug Burgum addresses Iowa poll showing Kamala Harris leading Donald Trump
North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, a campaign surrogate for Donald Trump who was once floated as a possible running mate, is brushing off new polling that suggests a Democratic victory in a long-red state.
A Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll released Saturday night shows Vice President Kamala Harris leading Trump 47% to 44% among likely voters.
In an interview with Kristen Welker on Sunday’s “Meet the Press,” Burgum placed little stock with the surprise poll figures, pointing to a competing Saturday poll from Emerson College putting Trump in a 10-point lead over Harris in the state.
“If you take the average of those last two polls, I think Trump's still going to confidently win Iowa,” Burgum said on the NBC talk show Sunday. “I would be surprised, completely shocked, that [Harris win] comes anywhere close to being the fact that Iowa.”
The Republican governor remained optimistic of his party’s candidate, pointing to his recent campaign trail visits in several key battleground states: "It’s a very tight race that is going to be decided on Tuesday, but the momentum in the last week that I felt on the ground... is that the energy from all demographics is very, very positive.”
– Kathryn Palmer
Donald Trump reacts to Des Moines Register Iowa poll
Donald Trump on Sunday appeared to criticize a new Iowa poll that shows him trailing Kamala Harris in the Midwestern state.
"No President has done more for FARMERS, and the Great State of Iowa, than Donald J. Trump," he said Sunday on his Truth Social account. "In fact, it’s not even close!"
Even so, a Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll released Saturday shows Harris leading Trump 47% to 44% among likely voters.
A loss in Iowa would be major for Trump, who campaigns today in Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Georgia.
–David Jackson
Harrison Ford, aka Indiana Jones, endorses Kamala Harris
Indiana Jones is standing with Kamala Harris.
Actor Harrison Ford, who in a series of films played the adventurous archaeologist with a phobia of snakes, has released a video in which he endorses the Democratic presidential nominee and expresses a fear of something else: a second Donald Trump presidency.
In the video, a gruff-voiced Ford cites the dozens of former members of the Trump administration who are sounding the alarm about the Republican nominee and telling voters “for God’s sake, don’t do this again.” Harris, he said, will protect Americans’ rights to degree with her on policy or ideas “and then, as we have done for centuries, we'll debate them, we'll work on them together, and we'll move forward.”
Ford concludes by saying he has one vote, “same as anyone else,” and that he’s going to use it by moving forward and voting for Harris.
–Michael Collins
Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock pressed on Joe Biden's 'garbage' comment.
Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., appearing Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press," was asked about President Joe Biden's comment last week in which he appeared to call Trump's supporters "garbage."
The president has since said he was only referring to the racist rhetoric at Donald Trump's Madison Square Garden rally. But Warnock on Sunday called for all Americans to take a closer look at the way they talk politics.
"As the pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church, where Martin Luther King Jr. served, I think that we all need to elevate the character and the tone of our political discourse," Warnock said, adding that he believes "That's what Kamala Harris is doing."
– Marina Pitofsky
Could Iowa be shifting back to a presidential swing state? What new poll shows
Could red-state Iowa be shifting back to purple as a presidential swing state?
The new Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll released Saturday night shows Vice President Kamala Harris leading former President Donald Trump by 3 percentage points in the state, 47% to 44% – a result that suggests Iowa is in play with Election Day fast approaching.
Yet neither campaign has treated Iowa and its six Electoral College delegates as up for grabs. Neither Harris nor Trump has campaigned in Iowa since the presidential primaries, and neither campaign has established a ground presence in the state, according to Des Moines Register chief politics reporter Brianne Pfannenstiel.
– Des Moines Register staff
Where do Trump, Harris stand in the polls?
The 2024 race for the White House is set to be neck-and-neck until Election Day. In Real Clear Politics' average of national polls, Trump leads Harris by 0.1 percentage points, well within the margin of error for each of the surveys included.
It's also razor-close in swing states across the country. For example, Harris leads Trump by 0.3 percentage points in Real Clear Politics' average of Wisconsin polls.
– Marina Pitofsky
FCC commissioner criticizes Harris' 'SNL' appearance
Brendan Carr, the senior Republican on the Federal Communications Commission suggested in a social media post on Sunday that Kamala Harris’ appearance on “Saturday Night Live” may have broke the FCC’s Equal Time Rule.
Carr called Harris’ spot on the comedy show a “clear and blatant effort to evade,” the commissions rule, unless NBC offered Donald Trump a similar opportunity. The Equal Time Rule stipulates that radio and TV broadcasters give political candidates similar air time.
“With only days before the election, NBC appears to have structured this appearance in a way that evades these requirements,” Carr said in his post on X, formerly Twitter.
Carr, who was appointed by both Trump and President Joe Biden, is among five commissioners on the FCC. The other commissioners have not yet publicly weighed in on the matter. It's also not clear what conversations, if any, NBC and the Trump campaign have conducted.
– Karissa Waddick
Where is Trump Sunday?
Trump plans to hold rallies Sunday in Lititz, Pennsylvania, Kinston, North Carolina and Macon, Georgia.
- Sam Woodward
More:New presidential election polls released in Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina: See results
Where is Harris Sunday?
Harris is set to campaign Sunday in Detroit, Pontiac and East Lansing, Michigan.
- Sam Woodward
Where is Walz Sunday?
Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz has a campaign stop with second gentleman Doug Emhoff Sunday in Smyrna, Georgia before he attends a political event in Charlotte, North Carolina.
- Sam Woodward
Where is Vance Sunday?
Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vanceplans to attend a rally in Raleigh, North Carolina on Sunday with Donald Trump Jr. before heading to another campaign event in Aston, Pennsylvania.
- Sam Woodward
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