Trump and Harris prepare final pitch to US voters after blitzing battleground states

Donald Trump and Kamala Harris have one final day to win over voters in a US presidential campaign that will be decided in just a handful of states.

The vice president is spending all of Monday in Pennsylvania, a crucial battleground state which offers 19 electoral votes and is expected to determine the outcome.

Her rally in Philadelphia will include the likes of Lady Gaga and Oprah Winfrey.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump plans four rallies in three states: North Carolina, Pennsylvania and finally Michigan.

US election: Colleges, swing states and how it all works

More than 77 million Americans have already cast their vote ahead of election week, according to the University of Florida’s Election Lab. That’s almost half the 160 million votes returned in 2020.

But swing states, also known as battleground or toss-up states, hold disproportionate sway in presidential elections because they switch between voting Republican and Democrat.

That is why both candidates have focused their campaigning in the final days in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Arizona, North Carolina, Michigan and Nevada.

Heading into Monday, Ms Harris has now mostly stopped mentioning Mr Trump – instead she tried to focus on forward-looking themes.

At a rally in East Lansing, Michigan, she spoke to some of the state’s Arab-Americans, and addressed concerns about US support for Israel.

“As president, I will do everything in my power to end the war in Gaza,” she said.

Meanwhile, Mr Trump repeated that he would bring about the “golden age of America” if elected, though he also doubled down on his accusations of election fraud.

In Georgia, he depicted a second-term Trump administration: “We stand on the verge of the four greatest years in American history. It’ll be nasty a little bit at times, and maybe at the beginning in particular.” Mr Trump didn’t elaborate on what would be “nasty”.

Polling is tight

The final poll of the election from NBC, Sky News’ US partner, found Ms Harris and Mr Trump tied at 49% although the margin of error is 3.1 points – a figure that creates a significant level of uncertainty about the result.

In Georgia, the race appears very tight. A recent poll by the New York Times puts Ms Harris ahead by one point. Other polls have Mr Trump narrowly leading.

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Meanwhile, election officials in Georgia are pushing back against claims from Mr Trump and his allies of “election interference” – which appear to be part of efforts to challenge the election if he loses.

Mr Trump has also rejected the findings of a shock survey in Iowa which suggested Ms Harris led him by three points in the state, calling it a “fake poll”.

Analysis: Trump’s opponents say spin is ‘draft script for a dictatorship’

They might have billed it: ‘Donald Trump, For the Absence of Doubt’.

His weekend tour through the swing states carried a baggage heavy with menace. The tone has characterised a campaign, now finishing as it started.

On the rally stage, Trump spoke of a “demonic” Democratic Party and how “I don’t mind” if journalists are shot at.

He told a crowd in Lititz, Pennsylvania, that voting machines would be hacked and that he “shouldn’t have left” the White House following the end of his presidential term. It is a matter of democracy – the election process that he dismisses, then and now.

So typical, so Donald, so ‘whatever’. It’s political discourse as pantomime and it has become normal. Americans have heard it for the past 8 years as much as they have heard Trump’s opponents spin the rhetoric for all it’s worth.

They style it as a draft script for a dictatorship, framing this election as a choice between recklessness and responsibility.

Ultimately, it will be a matter for the voters. To dismiss the warnings is to give him the benefit of the doubt.

Trump has enough supporters to keep him competitive down to the wire – the rhetoric speaks to the locked-in vote, no doubt.

How it lands with the ‘persuadables’ beyond is an open question.

Donald Trump has ignored the guidance of his advisers to focus on ‘winning’ issues like the economy and immigration. He will hope there are enough voters who listen to hints of authoritarianism and believe it won’t evolve into a post-election reality.

But the key question for voters is the one on which Trump’s chances could turn: why shouldn’t it?

Ms Harris is in a closely fought race for Michigan’s 15 electoral college votes but is currently polling just ahead of Mr Trump in the battleground state.

Stars turn out to support candidates

Hollywood actor Robert De Niro was out canvassing for the vice president this weekend in Pennsylvania – one of the key battleground states.

It is not the first time he has endorsed Ms Harris. In September, he was joined by fellow actor Steve Buscemi for a livestream to help raise funds for the Democrats.

US election: Do celebrity endorsements make a difference?

Meanwhile, the vice president made a surprise appearance on Saturday Night Live, where she performed in a short skit alongside Maya Rudolph.

Mr Trump secured high-profile support from billionaire business mogul Elon Musk, who has spent at least $119 million (£91.5m) mobilising supporters to back the Republican nominee.

On the night, Sky News will have access to the most comprehensive exit poll and vote-counting results from every state, county and demographic across America through its US-partner network NBC.

You can find out more about Sky News’ coverage here.

This article was originally published by Sky.com. Read the original article here.

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