With 41 million votes already cast and roughly one week left until Election Day in a campaign that remains a dead heat, the presidential candidates are pulling out all the stops in a furious race to the finish.
Trump is fresh off a mega-MAGA rally at New York City’s Madison Square Garden. It was a reprieve from his usual battleground barnstorm – and, yes, in a city where he was convicted of 34 felony counts of business fraud and in a state that will undoubtedly go blue. But with mere days until Nov. 5, the rally generated a media blitz he badly needed in a race whose narrative has largely been controlled by his opponent.
The packed house was treated to a litany of guest speakers who made racist, sexist and profanity-laden remarks before Trump took the stage and spoke for 1 1/2 hours. His speech focused heavily on Democrats as “the enemy” and his plans for a mass deportation of people in the country illegally.
“The United States is now an occupied country,” he said. “Nov. 5, 2024, nine days from now, will be Liberation Day in America.”
“On Day One, I will launch the largest deportation program in American history and get criminals out. I will rescue every city and town that has been invaded and conquered. We will put these vicious and bloodthirsty criminals in jail and kick them out as fast as possible.”
The GOP Garden party kicked off a hair-bending schedule of rallies for Trump: in Atlanta on Monday; in Allentown, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday; in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on Wednesday alongside former NFL quarterback Brett Favre; in Henderson, Nevada, on Thursday; in Milwaukee on Friday; and in Salem, Virginia, on Saturday.
Vice President Kamala Harris, meanwhile, also took a detour from the swing states on Saturday to visit Houston, where she received the endorsement of Beyonce, the global music superstar, in an event that centered on abortion rights. Democrats have overperformed at the polls since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade with its federal guarantee of abortion access in 2022, and the issue has been front and center this election cycle. On stage, Beyonce recounted stories of Texas women who suffered life-threatening health complications as a result of being denied care for pregnancy complications.
“Though we are in Texas tonight, for anyone watching from another state, if you think you are protected from Trump abortion bans because you live in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Nevada, New York, California or any state where voters or legislators have protected reproductive freedom, please know: No one is protected,” Harris said. “Because a Donald Trump national ban will outlaw abortion in every single state.”
Trump, in an attempt to turn the page on the issue of reproductive rights and in direct response to the Beyonce event, told supporters on his Truth Social website that “abortion has dropped way down as an issue.”
“States are already giving it to the PEOPLE to Vote, which is what everyone wanted,” he wrote. “Like Ronald Reagan, I believe in the EXCEPTIONS for Rape, Incest, and the Life of the Mother. Many States are already done, others are moving to a vote now. A 52 year contentious issue will finally be coming to a close. The focus now is on the broken Border, Inflation and the Economy!”
Ten states have abortion measures on their ballot this year, including in a handful of crucial swing states, and the measures are expected to drive voter turnout in Democrats’ favor.
Harris also got an influential nod over the weekend from Puerto Rican recording artist Bad Bunny – one of the biggest performers in the world and among the most influential Latino musicians.
While Beyonce did not perform in Houston, Harris has three concerts scheduled in the coming days: On Wednesday, she is scheduled to campaign in Madison, Wisconsin, and host a rally and concert featuring performances by Gracie Abrams, Mumford & Sons, Remi Wolf and The National’s Matt Berninger and Aaron Dessner. On Thursday, Harris and Walz are set to campaign in Phoenix and Las Vegas alongside the Mexican bands Mana and Los Tigres del Norte, two of the most popular and influential bands in the history of Latin music.
In addition to the concerts, Harris is also scheduled to deliver a major “closing argument” speech at a rally at the Ellipse on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
The race is neck and neck and is expected to be until Election Day, barring any last-minute spoils. While the polls have been within the margin of error for months, last week some showed Trump closing razor-thin margins on Harris. The opposite seems to be true at the start of this week, as a new ABC News/Ipsos Poll shows Harris leading nationally 51% to 47% with likely voters and a CBS poll has Harris up 50% to 49%.
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Democrats are hoping that the warchest the Harris-Walz campaign and supporting PACs have amassed since the summer – the most of any candidate in U.S. history – could be the X factor. Among other things, the funding has allowed them to swarm the airwaves with ads across multiple platforms, including the first-ever campaign investment on video game platforms. This weekend alone they launched five new ads targeting sports fans.
The money is also paying for massive grassroots get-out-the-vote operations, like their ability to knock on 1.5 million doors in battleground states on Saturday alone, according to the campaign. It’s also allowing her vice presidential running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, and high-profile surrogates to trek all across the country in a bid to garner voters wherever they possibly can. Walz, for example, became the first candidate on a presidential ticket ever to campaign in the capital of Window Rock on the Navajo Nation, where he spoke this weekend about Harris’ commitment to Tribal sovereignty.
On the Sunday talk show circuit, Harris-Walz campaign director Jen O’Malley Dillon had a message for Democrats: “It is OK to be nervous and to be anxious, but don’t be freaked out, because we feel very good about where we are. We are very confident we’re going to win this thing. And it’s not just because we want to win. It’s because what we’re seeing in the numbers and the early voting,” she said in an interview on MSNBC, “what we’re seeing with this extraordinary enthusiasm everywhere we go.”
