Written by Nandita Bose and Steve Holland
DETROIT/KINSTON, North Carolina (Reuters) – Democrat Kamala Harris delivered her final speech before becoming U.S. president on Sunday at a historic black church and to Arab Americans in battleground Michigan. Meanwhile, Republican rival Donald Trump made violent remarks at a rally in Pennsylvania. .
Opinion polls show the two candidates in a close race, with Vice President Harris, 60, supported by strong support from female voters, and former President Trump, 78, gaining support from Hispanic voters, especially men. has been done.
Voters overall view both candidates unfavorably, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll, but that doesn't deter them from voting.
More than 78 million Americans have already cast their ballots ahead of Tuesday's Election Day, according to the University of Florida Elections Research Institute, marking the highest turnout in 2020 in more than 100 years. Almost half of the 160 million votes cast.
Control of Congress will also be up for grabs on Tuesday, with Republicans favored to hold a majority in the Senate, while Democrats appear to have a chance to overturn Republicans' narrow majority in the House. Presidents whose political parties lack control of both chambers have a hard time passing major legislation.
“In just two days, we They have the power to decide the fate of our country for generations to come.” “We must act. It is not enough to pray. It is not enough to just talk.”
Later, at a rally in East Lansing, Michigan, she addressed the state's 200,000 Arab Americans and began her speech by paying tribute to the civilian victims of Israel's wars in Gaza and Lebanon. .
“Given the scale of death and destruction in Gaza, the civilian casualties and displacement in Lebanon, this year is difficult and devastating. And as president, I will end the war in Gaza.” I will do everything in my power to achieve this,” Harris said to applause.
With tens of thousands of civilians dead and millions displaced in Gaza and Lebanon, many Arab and Muslim-American and anti-war activist groups have condemned US support for Israel. Israel said it was targeting the militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah.
President Trump visited Dearborn, Michigan, a center of the Arab-American community, on Friday and vowed to end the Middle East conflict without saying how.
Instead of mentioning Trump by name, Harris chose to highlight her opponent's record in her final Sunday on the campaign trail.
President Trump erases the script
At the first of three rallies on Sunday, Mr. Trump frequently abandoned his teleprompter and made off-the-cuff remarks criticizing polls showing trends in favor of Ms. Harris. He called Democrats “the party of Satan,” mocked Democratic President Joe Biden and talked about the high price of apples.
President Trump, who survived an assassination attempt in July in Butler, Pennsylvania, in which a gunman's bullet grazed his ear, complained Sunday during a speech to supporters about the gap in the bulletproof glass surrounding him, saying that the assassin was not in the news. I wondered if I needed to shoot through the agency to get him.
“Somebody's going to have to shoot through the fake news to get me, but I don't really care about that,” said Trump, who has long criticized the media and sought to stir up public sentiment against it.
Last week, he directed Arizona prosecutors to launch an investigation after suggesting former Rep. Liz Cheney, a prominent Republican critic, should be exposed to the crossfire in a fight over her hawkish foreign policy.
Campaign spokesman Stephen Chan said in a statement that Trump's comments were not directed at the media, but were “about threats against him spurred by dangerous rhetoric from Democrats.” .
Trump later spoke in Kinston, North Carolina, and Macon, Georgia, highlighting last week's jobs report that showed the U.S. economy created just 12,000 jobs last month.
He told a large crowd in the amphitheater that the report showed the United States was “a nation in decline,” reminiscent of the Great Depression of 1929, when “people were jumping off buildings.” He issued a bleak warning, without evidence, about the looming possibility of a repeat.
Harris campaign officials said her closing arguments were aimed at appealing to a small number of undecided voters. This was in contrast to Mr. Trump, who gave little more than a normal speech aimed at inspiring his loyal supporters.
“Mr. Kamala's campaign is run on hate and demonization,” Trump said.
Near the end of his speech in Pennsylvania, Trump falsely claimed that his false claims that his 2020 loss was the result of fraud inspired his supporters to storm the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. He thought it would have been better if he had not transferred power. .
“The day I left, our borders were the most secure in the history of this country. We shouldn't have left. I mean, let's be honest, we did, and we did very well,” Trump said. he said.
In his remarks, President Trump said election results should be announced on election night, even though multiple state officials warned it could take days to confirm final results. said.
Democrats say they have plans in case Trump tries to prematurely claim victory this time.
(Additional reporting by Valerie Borkovich, David Ljungren, Ismail Shakil and Andrea Shalal; Writing by Andy Sullivan and Daniel Trotta; Editing by Scott Malone, Don Durfee, Howard Goller and Lincoln Feast.)