Updated November 04, 2024 at 23:47 PM ET
Election Day is tomorrow. That means one last mad dash by former President Donald Trump and Vice President Harris to try to drum up excitement and motivate supporters to get out to vote in a race that polls have shown as essentially tied — and one big symbolic hurrah at the end, for each of them.
On the final day of campaigning, neither Trump nor Harris held a clear advantage. In a new NPR/PBS News/Marist poll out Monday, the race was a dead heat — 49% to 49% — among registered voters. Among likely voters, Harris led 51% to 47%, an advantage still within the margin of error.
With all but a sliver of voters still up for grabs, Harris and Trump spent the day holding dueling rallies in the pivotal swing state of Pennsylvania, whose 19 electoral votes could prove decisive.
Harris, who has called herself the "underdog" of the 2024 race, held four rallies in Pennsylvania, ending with a concert at the "Rocky Steps" of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, made famous in the ultimate underdog movie.
"It's good to be back in the City of Brotherly Love, where the foundation of our democracy was forged and here at these famous steps, a tribute to those who start as the underdog and climb to victory," Harris said.
The candidates' closing arguments illustrated the stark choice facing voters. Harris mostly avoided mentioning her opponent by name, delivering a message of unity and pledging to "be a president for all Americans."
Trump, his voice noticeably hoarse, painted a portrait of a nation in decline, overwhelmed by migrant crime and a failing economy.
"We do not have to live this way," Trump said at a rally in Pittsburgh. "We do not have to settle for weakness, incompetence, decline and decay. With your vote tomorrow, we can fix every single problem our country faces and lead America — and indeed the whole world — to new heights and glory."
Trump started the day in North Carolina before traveling to Pennsylvania. He'll wrap his campaign with a late-night rally in Grand Rapids, Mich., where he closed out his 2016 win — and went back to in 2020, noting he was "a little superstitious."
Steel Town showdown
In Pittsburgh, where the candidates held competing rallies, Trump's remarks followed a familiar arc of his closing rallies, as he leapt from topic to topic during a meandering address that lasted for nearly two hours.
He criticized an appearance by Beyoncé at a Harris rally in Houston last month, hailed Green Party candidate Jill Stein as "one of my favorite politicians," celebrated an endorsement from Joe Rogan and baselessly accused Democrats of cheating in the election.
Harris’ event was at the Carrie Blast Furnaces, a hulking historical landmark recognizing the city’s steel industry, a former Democratic bastion where Republicans have made major inroads, during the campaign.
Harris gave a pared-down version of her stump speech before Katy Perry performed. The rally was connected in a livestream with other get-out-the-vote events in swing states like Wisconsin — where Gov. Tim Walz spoke. And then it was off to Philadelphia for the big finale.
The Harris campaign says 75% of Pennsylvanians vote on Election Day, which is why she was spending her last day on the trail in the commonwealth.
Trump kicked things off in North Carolina
Trump started his day in Raleigh with a rally at Dorton Arena — a venue that was also one of his stops on the final day of the 2016 campaign.
Starting 50 minutes late, Trump's address combined his usual mix of harsh rhetoric around immigration, attacks on his enemies and bravado about his chances of winning the election.
He said on his first day in office he would tell Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum that he would enact steep tariffs on all imported goods if her country did not stop the flow of migrants and drugs across the border into the U.S. He called Harris a “low IQ individual” and claimed he was winning all seven swing states.
“I hate the expression, actually, but it's ours to lose,” he said. “Does that make sense to you? It's ours to lose.”
Republicans carried North Carolina for decades, with the exception of former President Barack Obama in 2008. Trump won it twice. But in the final days of his campaign, he's spent more time there than in Pennsylvania, another state important to his path to victory, amid a highly competitive race with Harris.
Harris started in Scranton, Pa. — the hometown of Joe Biden
Harris kicked off her final full day on the campaign trail in Scranton, where she gave a pep talk to canvassers.
The vice president didn't refer to Trump by name in her remarks, but called him "the other guy." Standing in front of a homemade sign, she recounted how she used to campaign with an ironing board, setting it up in grocery stores and handing out flyers.
"An ironing board makes a really great standing desk," she said. "That is how I love to campaign. I don't do it as much anymore."
They were both in Pennsylvania's 'Latino corridor'
Both candidates have been fighting to win over Latino voters in Pennsylvania this year. There are about 580,000 Latino voters living in the state, most of them with Puerto Rican ties.
Democrats found a new opening with after a comedian called Puerto Rico a "floating island of garbage" during Trump's Madison Square Garden rally, touching off outrage in the Latino community.
Trump rallied in Reading, a city that is more than two-thirds Latino — many of whom have Puerto Rican heritage. The former president has been trying to win Latino voters all year — a group that has historically leaned Democratic.
At a roughly half full Santander Arena, Trump promised to conduct mass deportations and lower gas prices. He criticized Harris for her weekend cameo on Saturday Night Live, and at one point suggested she should get into a boxing ring with Mike Tyson.
It was not until his stop in Pittsburgh later Monday where he spoke specifically about Puerto Rico. "I love Puerto Rico," Trump said, before inviting the son of legendary Puerto Rican baseball star Roberto Clemente to address the crowd.
Harris stopped in Allentown, an hour's drive up the Hwy. 222 corridor, where she said she was proud of her longstanding record on Puerto Rico.
She also reminded voters in the crowd that the race isn’t over yet, and asked them to share with others why they decided to show up at the rally.
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