Vice President Harris speaks in a moderate conversation Monday with former Rep. Liz Cheney in Brookfield, Wisconsin. They spoke in front of a banner reading “Country Over Party.”
Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP via Getty Images
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Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP via Getty Images
GREENVILLE, N.C. — With just over two weeks until voting closes on Election Day, Vice President Harris and former President Donald Trump spent Monday campaigning in swing states focusing on a key electoral bloc of victory: the Republicans.
In North Carolina, Trump touted early voting numbers during a tour of storm damage near Asheville, denounced Harris while promoting tough immigration policies at a rally in Greenville and courted evangelical voters at a faith-focused event just outside Charlotte.
“As I look back on the journey and events of my life, I now recognize that it is the hand of God that has led me to where I am today,” Trump said during an event with religious leaders in Concord. “And my faith took on new meaning on July 13 in Butler, Pennsylvania, where I was knocked to the ground essentially by what seemed to be a supernatural hand. And I would like to think that God saved me for a purpose , and it is to make our country greater.”
Meanwhile, Harris held several moderate town hall-style discussions with former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney in suburban Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, where the vice president framed the election as a choice about the future of democracy where the issues go beyond partisan labels.
“I’ve said it before and it needs to be said again and again: There are moments in our country’s history that challenge each of us to really decide,” Harris said in Malvern, Pennsylvania. “Do we stand up for these things that we talk about, including especially country over party?”
Throughout the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump has made little effort to moderate his messaging beyond his base within the Republican Party, and has instead sought to broaden that base by ensuring that low-propensity voters are receptive to his message and disillusioned with the current Democratic administration.
The coalition that delivered President Biden’s narrow victory in 2020 included a significant number of anti-Trump conservatives and right-wing independents who supported his campaign but otherwise support Republicans. After taking office as the Democratic nominee this summer, Harris stepped up her efforts to campaign on the other side and expand the party’s tent to defeat Trump.
As polls continue to show a likely close race in the seven swing states that will decide the election, Monday’s events are a reminder of how important it is for every constituency to show up and vote for both campaigns.
Trump continues to be Trump
Former President Trump speaks to the media in Swannanoa, North Carolina, on Monday after observing cleanup efforts in the wake of Hurricane Helene.
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North Carolina is the only one of seven swing states that Trump won in 2020 and is a key part of his path to victory in 2024.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Helen, which ravaged the South in late September, Trump used the storm as a frequent opportunity to criticize Harris, Biden and the federal government’s response — and tie it all to his views on immigration.
Speaking to reporters in a hard-hit area of Swannanoa, Trump repeated false claims about funding for the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
“They’ve spent a lot of money bringing in illegal immigrants, people who entered our country illegally, and taking them in,” Trump said. “And all the money they spent – numbers that no one can believe. So they don’t have money for the people who live here.”
Trump also refused to denounce threats of violence against FEMA and other federal employees after a North Carolina man was arrested for threats earlier this month.
“Does that mean if they do a bad job, we’re supposed to not say it?” » asked Trump.
He also greatly exaggerated the number of pre-selected supporters he served Sunday at a Pennsylvania McDonald’s and praised the Tar Heel State’s early voting numbers.
At his rally in Greenville, Trump reiterated his calls for mass expulsions, closing the U.S.-Mexico border and attacked Harris as the catalyst for what he calls an “invasion” of America.
“So either you’re stupid, or you hate our country, or they’re trying to vote them out, right?” he said of Harris’ immigration policies. “And it’s probably the third. It’s turning beautiful little towns into a Third World dump.”
There is no evidence to support claims that noncitizens voted illegally, and Trump himself has acknowledged that he has yet to see any evidence to suggest the election would not be fair. “Unfortunately, I know the other side, and they are not good. But I didn’t see that,” Trump said.
His suggestion that the final vote could be tainted fits another part of Trump’s final message that is not grounded in reality: The only way he can lose is to cheat.
At the church event, Trump largely stuck to his usual campaign speech, promising to “keep men out of women’s sports” but also promising “we will proudly say Merry Christmas again,” while baselessly accusing Harris, who is Baptist, of having anti-socialist views. – Christian bias.
Trump has another rally planned in Greensboro, North Carolina, on Tuesday. He will also participate in a roundtable discussion with Latin American leaders in Florida.
Harris, Cheney and the right to abortion
Harris’ campaign pitch to Republicans is the complete opposite of Trump’s, both ideologically and rhetorically.
She spent Monday traveling through the states of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, where Cheney delivered the message to suburban voters that support for Harris is not incompatible with conservatism, even for those who oppose abortion.
“I think there are many of us across the country who are pro-life, but who have watched what is happening in our states since the Dobbs decision and I’ve seen state legislatures put laws in place that result in women not getting the care they need,” Cheney said in Pennsylvania, referring to the Supreme Court decision overturning the constitutional right to abortion “So I think that’s not the case. a problem we see spreading across party lines. »
The bulk of Harris’ GOP outreach work has been less about taking more conservative positions on policy issues and more about providing an authorization structure for those who identify as Republicans — but not Trump Republicans — so that they feel like they can support his campaign. against the former president.
“Right now, there are millions of good and honorable people that Donald Trump has just fundamentally betrayed,” Cheney said in Waukesha, Wisconsin. “The decision to give someone the power of the presidency means you are giving someone the most impressive power.” and the great power of any office, anywhere in the world, and you have to choose people who have character, people of good faith.”
Harris is scheduled to have interviews Tuesday with NBC and Telemundo. Later this week, she is also expected to campaign with former President Barack Obama in Georgia and participate in a town hall with CNN.
