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Vice President Kamala Harris delivered rousing remarks at the Ellipse in Washington DC on Tuesday, the site of Donald Trump’s notorious ‘fight like hell’ speech on January 6 2021
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With less than a week left in the 2024 US presidential election cycle, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are making their final pitches to voters across the country, particularly the battleground states.
The Democratic presidential nominee delivered her “closing argument” at the Ellipse in Washington DC last night, speaking on the very same spot from which Trump told his supporters to “fight like hell” on January 6 2021.
Harris urged Americans to finally “turn the page” on the “division, chaos and mutual distrust” of the Trump era, characterising her opponent as a cynical opportunist vulnerable to the influence of malign actors at home and abroad and offered herself as a positive alternative.
Unfortunately, her moment of triumph risks being overshadowed by Joe Biden, who has inadvertently whipped up a conservative media storm by seemingly calling Trump’s supporters “garbage” in response to Tony Hinchcliffe’s already-notorious Madison Square Garden joke about Puerto Rico.
“The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters – his – his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it’s un-American,” the president told Latinos on a Zoom call on Tuesday.
“It’s totally contrary to everything we’ve done, everything we’ve been.”
With just one week until the election, we are no closer to knowing whether Trump or Harris will be the next president of the United States.
But that question will ultimately be answered by voters in a handful of battleground states, whose 93 electoral college votes will push either candidate over the line.
In each of these seven states — Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin — neither Harris nor Trump has established a secure lead, with polling averages showing that the candidates are within two points of each other.
This means that nearly 100 Electoral College votes are ripe for the taking and will not be secure until next week.
Alicja Hagopian has more.
The states hold 93 electoral college votes
The late-night host, particularly hated by Trump, belatedly reached out to the GOP ahead of Election Day on his show last night.
Rhian Lubin was watching.
The comedian abandoned his ‘usual roast’ of Trump and, while he still cracked jokes, struck a more serious tone
In a video obtained by NBC News, House Speaker Mike Johnson can be seen addressing an event in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, on Monday promising that his side will “take a blowtorch” to federal agencies in the first 100 days of a Donald Trump presidency.
“Healthcare reform’s going to be a big part of the agenda,” Johnson tells his audience.
“When I say we’re going to have a very aggressive first 100 days agenda, we got a lot of things still on the table.”
Asked if that would mean no Obamacare, Johnson rolled his eyes and answered: “No Obamacare. The ACA is so deeply ingrained, we need massive reform to make this work, and we got a lot of ideas on how to do that.”
This is what Harris-Walz spokesperson Sarafina Chitika had to say in response:
“Healthcare is on the ballot this November. Speaker Mike Johnson is making it clear – if Donald Trump wins, he and his Project 2025 allies in Congress will make sure there is ‘no Obamacare.’
“That means higher healthcare costs for millions of families and ripping away protections from Americans with pre-existing conditions like diabetes, asthma, or cancer.
“Voters see Trump’s ‘concepts of a plan’ for what they are: Ending the Affordable Care Act, jacking up prices, and leaving millions of Americans without the care they need.”
Just one point separates the two presidential candidates in those two must-win battleground states, a new poll finds.
James Liddell has the details.
Just one point separates the presidential candidates in two must-win battleground states, new poll finds
Harris’s running mate was on the breakfast show a little while ago talking to George Stephanopoulos and said of her Ellipse speech last night: “The vice president’s rhetoric is the rhetoric that the president of the United States gives. One that understands we’re all in this together. One that welcomes robust debate about the issues.”
Asked about Joe Biden’s “garbage” blunder, Walz said: “The president has clarified his remarks. Let’s be very clear, the vice president and I have made it absolutely clear that we want everyone as a part of this. Donald Trump’s divisive rhetoric is what needs to end.”
On their ticket’s supposed struggle to attract male voters, he said: “I think folks are still undecided. We go again back to those kitchen table issues. Men care about the lives of the women they love in their lives and they do care about the issue of reproductive care.
“They also want to make sure manufacturing jobs are coming back to Michigan. They want to make sure their kids are safe in schools from gun violence. Men are no different than women in that they want to live safe and secure lives. They want an opportunity to thrive.”
Asked how optimistic he was about next Tuesday, Walz declared: “We’re winning this thing… There’s energy out there. People are ready.
“There will be a clear result. My biggest concern is that Donald Trump has brought pessimism to folks. That folks don’t believe that their votes don’t matter. Those votes do matter.”
The world’s wealthiest man appears to believe that a Trump presidency must crash the economy in order to benefit Americans.
Elon Musk agreed on Tuesday that proposed drastic cuts to the federal government, coupled with Trump’s sweeping deportations, will likely cause global markets to “tumble”.
Alex Woodward has more.
The former president’s wealthy allies are promoting the idea of economic collapse and high prices as a necessary side effect of Trump’s economic agenda
Allan Lichtman, the American political historian is known as the “Nostradamus” of elections because he has successfully predicted the last nine out of 10 presidential races since 1984, has revealed why he believes there is “more election anxiety this year” than ever before.
In a new episode on his YouTube channel, marking one week to go until voters elect either Kamala Harris or Donald Trump as the next president, Lichtman spoke of the “election anxiety” this time around.
“There was more election anxiety this year than I’ve ever seen, and I go back to Kennedy – Nixon in 1960,” Lichtman said.
“I’ve never seen this kind of election anxiety,” he added.
“A lot of people believe the future of the country is on the line here, and the democracy of America could be a thing of the past. I don’t think that’s an illegitimate fear.
“I’m so worried about the future of our election, you know, I think I’ve said this before – democracy is precious but like all precious things, it can be destroyed.”
Rhian Lubin has more.
In his latest broadcast, Allan Lichtman urges viewers to ‘ignore the polls’ and keep the faith in his method
Which policy? Mass deportations?
Trump’s former primary rival was not even invited to speak at Madison Square Garden – shunned in favor of Tony Hinchcliffe, Hulk Hogan, Rudy Giuliani and the crucifix guy – but is nevertheless still out there backing the man who trashed and taunted her for months last winter.
Speaking to Bret Baier on Fox News, “Birdbrain” did at least criticize the Republican nominee for his rhetoric on Puerto Rico and women but are even conservatives listening to her at this point?
Honestly, how embarrassing is this?
Here’s more on her appearance from James Liddell.
Former UN ambassador warned that the Trump campaign’s ‘overly masculine’ rhetoric risks alienating women
Here’s James Liddell to offer some timely perspective on the president’s gaffe on Tuesday, given that his would-be Republican successor twice referred to their country as a “garbage can” yesterday.
White House has said Biden was referring to Trump’s ‘hateful rhetoric at the Madison Square Garden rally as garbage’ – and not the GOP candidate’s supporters
In the latest fallout from the Tony Hinchcliffe crack, pop superstar and actress Jennifer Lopez has revealed she will speak at Kamala Harris’s event in Nevada tomorrow to urge her fellow Latinos to back the Democrat rather than a candidate whose surrogates consider Puerto Rico a “floating garbage island”.
The territory’s biggest newspaper, El Nuevo Dia, has meanwhile moved to back Harris in response to the Trump comic’s insult.
And, for good measure, here’s Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro dismissing Trump’s attempts to walk away from Hinchcliffe in conversation with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins.
Rhian Lubin has more.
The singer has publicly thrown her support behind Kamala Harris following Tony Hinchcliffe’s racist joke calling Puerto Rico a ‘floating island of garbage’
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