With only a week to go until the election, bookies have picked a firm favourite, despite knife-edge polls. Meanwhile, a Grammy-winning musician says they rejected a cash offer by the Trump campaign to join him on stage in New York.
Tuesday 29 October 2024 22:23, UK
Some 51 million Americans have already voted in the election with still a week to go, according to Election Hub at the University of Florida.
That’s more than the number of people on the electoral register in the whole of the UK.
During the last presidential election, a total of 158 million votes were cast.
Kamala Harris and Donald Trump diverge on several topics including support for Ukraine and NATO, tariffs that could trigger trade wars, abortion rights, taxes and basic democratic principles.
Here’s how they are polling in the key swing states…
Puerto Rican protesters have gathered outside a Trump rally venue in Pennsylvania.
The group has descended on the PPL Center in Allentown, holding up signs that read “vote for community” in English and Spanish.
Others held up placards in support of Kamala Harris.
It comes after racist remarks were made during a Trump event in Madison Square Garden on Sunday.
Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe joked that Puerto Rico was a “floating island of garbage”, stirring anger particularly in Pennsylvania, which is home to a number of Puerto Rican voters.
The Trump campaign took the rare step of distancing itself from Hinchcliffe’s joke but not other comments.
Robert F Kennedy Jr has lost his bid to have his name removed from the ballot in two key swing states.
The US Supreme Court denied the former independent presidential candidate’s request, meaning his name will remain on ballots in Wisconsin and Michigan for the presidential election.
The presence of independent and third-party candidates on the ballot paper could be a key factor in the close presidential race.
The high court previously rejected Mr Kennedy’s separate effort to stay on the ballot in New York – a state where his presence is unlikely to make a difference in the race between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.
Mr Kennedy has been working to get off the ballot in the seven key swing states since dropping out of the race and endorsing Mr Trump.
Long-time Donald Trump ally Steve Bannon was released from prison early today.
He was freed after serving a four-month sentence for defying a subpoena in the congressional investigation into the January 6 attack.
After he left the Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, Connecticut, he held a defiant news conference, telling reporters Donald Trump was “on the cusp of the biggest political comeback in history”.
The 70-year-old said he had been “empowered” by prison, and was “more focused” than he had ever been.
Bannon was a key adviser to Mr Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, and was the former president’s chief White House strategist in 2017.
He said they spoke this morning, but did not provide any more details.
Donald Trump is hearing from voters at a community roundtable in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania.
One of the speakers, a doctor from Puerto Rico, takes the mic and tells the former president she came to the US in 1981.
“I want you to know Puerto Rico stands behind you and Puerto Rico loves you,” she says.
Before she can continue her story, Mr Trump adds: “I know it very well, and we helped you through a lot of bad storms.”
“I think no president’s done more for Puerto Rico than I have,” he added.
Mr Trump has been coming under fire over the last couple of days after a comedian at his event in Madison Square Garden made a controversial comment about Puerto Rico being a “floating island of garbage”.
It stirred particular anger given the electoral importance of Puerto Ricans who live in Pennsylvania and other key swing states.
A retired police lieutenant, named Donald, also speaks to Mr Trump, telling him he would not work in the police force now, and there is a real challenge with recruitment in the industry.
He says there has been a “trickle down effect” on communities in Philadelphia and law enforcement is being forced to “do more with less”.
“What we need is to be back to law and order,” he adds, before describing his struggles with having enough money in retirement.
Mr Trump responds to his comments by shaking his head and saying: “It’s terrible.”
The big event tonight will be Kamala Harris’s speech at the Ellipse near the White House.
It is her chance to deliver her “closing argument” to voters, and she has chosen a poignant location to do it – the Ellipse is where Donald Trump spoke on 6 January 2021 before the Capitol riots.
Her campaign has released excerpts of her remarks ahead of the event, which show she is planning to call Mr Trump “unstable, obsessed with revenge, consumed with grievance and out for unchecked power”.
“Donald Trump intends to use the United States military against American citizens who simply disagree with him,” she will say.
“People he calls – quote – ‘the enemy from within’. This is not a candidate for president who is thinking about how to make your life better.
“America, we know what Donald Trump has in mind. More chaos. More division. And policies that help those at the very top and hurt everyone else. I offer a different path. And I ask for your vote.”
Ms Harris will also address the former president’s pledge to pardon January 6 rioters, saying “one of his highest priorities is to set free the violent extremists who assaulted those law enforcement officers on January 6”.
A pledge to voters
She will also make a pledge to voters, with the excerpts suggesting she will “seek common ground and common sense solutions to make your lives better”.
“I am not looking to score political points. I am looking to make progress,” she will say.
“I pledge to listen to experts. To those who will be impacted by the decisions I make. And to people who disagree with me. Unlike Donald Trump, I don’t believe people who disagree with me are the enemy.
“He wants to put them in jail. I’ll give them a seat at my table.
“And I pledge to be a president for all Americans. To always put country above party and above self.”
Donald Trump has taken to the stage at a community roundtable in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania.
As he walks out, supporters chant “USA”.
The former governor of Arkansas Mike Huckabee makes a joke about the event actually being held around a rectangular table before introducing Mr Trump.
As he starts addressing the crowd of around 500 people, the former president says he had an “incredible night” at Madison Square Garden – where a controversial event took place on Sunday.
The rally saw speakers make a series of crude and racist remarks.
Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe’s set, in which he joked that Puerto Rico was a “floating island of garbage”, stirred particular anger given the electoral importance of Puerto Ricans who live in Pennsylvania and other key swing states.
We’ll be bringing you all the latest updates from the event in this blog, and you can watch it below…
Puerto Rico’s largest newspaper has endorsed Kamala Harris for president.
El Nuevo Dia urged Puero Ricans to vote for the Democratic nominee, with a piece signed by its editor saying Donald Trump has for years “maintained a discourse of contempt and misinformation against the island”.
The editorial also slammed Mr Trump over comedian Tony Hinchcliffe’s derogatory joke about Puerto Rico during his rally at Madison Square Garden.
It questioned whether the joke was representative of what Mr Trump and Republicans think of Puerto Ricans.
“Politics is not a joke and hiding behind a comedian is cowardly,” it read.
“The entire world has been stunned by such a repugnant display of hate that evokes memories of the speeches of Nazism and Fascism, which aimed to eliminate minorities.”
It concluded: “Today we urge all those who love our beautiful island, the land of the sea and the sun, not to lend their vote to Donald Trump.
“To all Puerto Ricans who can vote in this upcoming United States election and represent those of us who cannot: Vote for Kamala Harris.”
Earlier, we heard from Donald Trump as he delivered remarks from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
In the speech, Mr Trump dubbed his rally in New York’s Madison Square Garden a “love fest”.
“Politicians that have been doing this for a long time – 30 and 40 years – said there’s never been an event so beautiful,” he said.
“It was like a love fest, an absolute love fest, and it was my honour to be involved.”
The rally was heavily criticised after comedian Tony Hinchcliffe made racist remarks, including describing US territory Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage”.
Mr Trump made no mention of the jokes or the resulting backlash earlier today.
Watch Mr Hinchliffe’s comments here…
No woman has ever held America’s top job in the presidency’s 235 year history – is that going to change with Kamala Harris?
Find out below.
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