US election campaign: Final spurt: Harris and Trump are vying for the same voters

It is the fight for perhaps decisive, few tens of thousands of votes: In the final spurt before the US election, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are vying for exactly the same voters in North Carolina. Within a few hours they appeared less than a hundred kilometers apart – and attacked their competition with clear words.

Harris accused the Republican of being “increasingly unstable,” obsessed with revenge and seeking uncontrolled power. Trump called Harris a “low IQ individual.”

North Carolina on the US east coast is one of the hotly contested “swing states”: In the 2020 election, Trump won by just over one percentage point ahead of future President Joe Biden. This year, polls in the state predict a very close race, with a razor-thin lead for Trump.

Overall, according to the surveys, Trump and Harris are close together. The election outcome in the so-called swing states will be decisive, which is why the election campaign has been concentrated in the last few days.

In a speech in the state of Virginia, Trump denied US Vice President Harris’ ability to become president. “It will be completely overwhelmed, collapse, and millions of people will die,” he predicted if the Democrat wins the election. There are people who thrive under pressure – and those who then fall into depression.

Shortly before the election, Trump once again fueled the expectation among his supporters that a victory could only be taken away from him through fraud. “Let them cheat because that’s what they do,” Trump said of the Democrats. He is confident that he will not only win the majority of voters, but also the majority of votes overall.

After the 2020 election, Trump claimed that the victory was taken away from him by large-scale voter fraud by the Democrats. However, dozens of lawsuits filed by the Trump campaign failed in the courts. There was never any evidence of irregularities that would have changed the outcome of the vote. But Trump continues to claim this. His comments also led to his supporters storming the Capitol in Washington, the seat of the US Congress, at the beginning of 2021.

Trump praises his “beautiful white skin”

Trump also specifically tried to woo women as voters. The 78-year-old said he was advised to stop calling women “beautiful.” “That’s why I won’t tell you how beautiful you are.”

The Republican candidate also spoke again of his “beautiful white skin.” “I wouldn’t have to be with you tonight,” he said. “I could be on a beach, my beautiful white skin would be nicely tanned.”

Harris wants to vote by mail

Harris emphasized that she wants to cut taxes for the middle class and ban price rip-offs by companies. It will ensure affordable healthcare. When she was interrupted by loud calls about the Gaza war, Harris emphasized: “This is what democracy looks like.” She wants to fight for people’s right to express their opinions. “But right now I’m speaking,” she shouted to the demonstrators.

The 60-year-old probably wants to vote by post herself. At least this is the US vice president’s plan, the US broadcaster CNN quoted a spokesman for Harris’ campaign team as saying. She wants to be a role model for other voters and show that there are different ways to vote. It remained unclear whether Harris had already submitted the ballot.

Her husband Doug Emhoff posted on X that he had already cast his vote by letter. Not surprisingly, he voted for his wife. “I voted for Kamala Harris for President of the United States. I will never forget this moment,” he wrote.

CNN: Around 70 million votes have already been cast

The US broadcaster CNN reported, citing its own surveys in collaboration with institutes, that around 70 million votes had been cast so far. The number corresponds to almost 45 percent of the approximately 158 million votes cast in the presidential election in 2020.