Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris will both address supporters in a key swing state on Thursday: Nevada.
Trump is holding a rally in Henderson, Nevada, located southeast of Las Vegas, in the afternoon. That’s not the only Western state where Trump will host a campaign stop on Thursday − he’s also heading to Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Harris, meanwhile, will hold rallies Oct. 31 in Reno and Las Vegas to encourage Nevada voters to go to the polls, as well as a stop in Phoenix, Arizona.
Keep up with the USA TODAY Network’s live coverage from the campaign trail.
‘Get pissed off’: Vance makes closing argument to young voters
At a town hall in North Carolina, Vance offered the crowd of High Point University students this closing message: “You should be pissed off.”
“And why should you be pissed off?” Vance said. “You should be pissed off because you’re the first generation in the history of the United States of America that is unlikely to be able to own a home, that is unlikely to be able to earn a wage on which you can raise a family, that is more likely to be indebted than you are to accumulate wealth.”
The Republican vice presidential candidate focused on the economy, including high costs of living and college tuition debt, in his address to students Thursday morning. Vance also fielded questions from the young voters related to immigration and public safety.
“We can make a different policy choice, but only if you guys get pissed off about the position you’ve been put in and vote for a change in leadership,” Vance said.
— Savannah Kuchar
Harris and Trump neck and neck in two crucial swing states, new polls show
Trump nor Harris are in a dead heat in both Georgia and North Carolina less than a few days out Election Day, according to new CNN polls conducted by SSRS.
The polls found that 47% of likely voters in Georgia support Harris, while 48% back Trump. Forty-eight percent of likely voters in North Carolina support Harris, while 47% support Trump.
The poll was conducted between Oct. 23 and Oct. 28 among 732 registered voters in Georgia and 750 registered voters in North Carolina.
Both candidates were within the polls’ margins of error of plus or minus 4.7 percentage points among likely voters in Georgia and plus or minus 4.5 percentage points among likely voters in North Carolina.
— Sudiksha Kochi
Walz attempts to court male voters in Pennsylvania amid notable gender gap
At a campaign rally in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, on Thursday, Walz directly called out undecided male voters in his speech asking them to “think about the women in your lives you love.”
“This election literally is about their lives,” he said, referring to the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in 2022. “Their lives are at stake in this election.”
Walz’s comments come as the Harris campaign is trying to address a notable gender gap. A USA TODAY/Suffolk University poll found that women decisively Harris, 53% to 36%, while men overwhelmingly support Trump, 53% to 37%.
The Minnesota governor also criticized comments Trump made at a rally in Wisconsin last night where the former president vowed to protect women “whether the women like it or not.”
“We trust women to make their own decisions. We trust them to go to their doctors. We trust them to make these types of decisions,” said Walz.
“Here’s what’s going to happen on Tuesday. They are going to send a loud and clear message to Donald Trump on Nov. 5. They’re going to send that message whether he likes it or not,” Walz added in his speech.
— Sudiksha Kochi
Harris: ‘Very offensive to women’ that Trump said he would protect women whether they ‘like or not’
Vice President Kamala Harris told reporters Thursday that Donald Trump’s vow to protect women “whether the women like it or not” was a “very offensive” statement.
“It actually is, I think, very offensive to women in terms of not understanding their agency, their authority, their right and their ability to make decisions about their own lives, including their own bodies,” Harris told reporters on Thursday.
The Harris campaign has capitalized on Trump’s comments, releasing an ad hours after Trump made those remarks on Wednesday.
Trump during his rally in Wisconsin on Wednesday said that he wants to protect women, something he said his advisors urged him to not say.
“I’m going to do it whether the women like it or not,” Trump said. “I’m going to protect them. I’m going to protect them from migrants coming in. I’m going to protect them from foreign countries that want to hit us with missiles.”
Harris also said Trump will repeal the Affordable Care Act, pointing to comments House Speaker Mike Johnson made this week where he said there will be “no Obamacare” if Trump and congressional Republicans win the upcoming election on Nov. 5. Trump during this election cycle has vowed to improve upon the ACA but avoided proposing any specific policies.
“He is not going to be fighting for women’s reproductive rights,” Harris concluded. “He does not prioritize the freedom of women and the intelligence of women to make decisions about their own lives and health care for all Americans is on the line in this election as well.”
– Rebecca Morin
Josh Shapiro rebuts Trump, promises secure Pennsylvania election
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro promised a free and fair election after Donald Trump amplified claims of voter fraud in the state.
“They’ve already started cheating,” Trump told the crowd at a rally in Allenstown Tuesday.
On social media this week, the GOP nominee continued laying the groundwork to claim voter fraud following the election.
“We caught them CHEATING BIG in Pennsylvania. Must announce and PROSECUTE, NOW!” Trump said on Truth Social. “Who would have ever thought that our Country is so CORRUPT?”
The state has asked for patience as investigations into thousands of potentially fraudulent voter registration applications filed in Lancaster and possibly other counties continue. Shapiro responded to Trump’s claims in a post on X, formerly Twitter, Wednesday.
“Let’s remember, in 2020, Donald Trump attacked our elections over and over,” Shapiro wrote. “He’s now trying to use the same playbook to stoke chaos, but hear me on this: we will again have a free and fair, safe and secure election — and the will of the people will be respected.”
— Sarah Wire and Rachel Barber
‘Fingers crossed’: Viktor Orbán wishes Trump good luck for Election Day
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Thursday that he spoke with Trump over the phone and wished him “the best of luck for next Tuesday.”
“Only five days to go. Fingers crossed,” he wrote in the post.
Orbán is a hard-right politician who has drawn controversy for his efforts to limit press freedom and political opposition. Trump has praised authoritarian leaders like Orbán, Vladimir Putin of Russia and Xi Jinping of China at campaign rallies.
Harris has previously knocked Trump for openly admiring these leaders and cast the former president as a threat to democracy.
— Sudiksha Kochi and Kinsey Crowley
Trump and Harris in dead heat in crucial swing state
Trump and Harris are neck and neck in Michigan, a key swing state, less than a week out from the Nov. 5 election, according to a new Washington Post poll released Thursday.
The poll found that 47% of likely voters would back Harris while 46% would back Trump. Among registered voters, 47% said they would back Trump while 45% said they would back Harris.
Six percent of voters in both groups said they had no opinion or skipped answering who they would vote for.
The poll, conducted between Oct. 24 and Oct. 28 among 1,003 registered and likely voters, has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.7 percentage points.
— Sudiksha Kochi
Trump vows to “protect women,” Harris responds to the comment
Trump told a crowd in Wisconsin Wednesday he would protect women – “whether the women like it or not.”
Campaign advisers to the former president had urged him to not to say that, he said.
“I want to protect the people, I want to protect of our country. I want to protect the women. ‘Sir, please don’t say that.’ Why? They said, ‘We think it’s very inappropriate,’” Trump said.
“Well, I’m going to do it whether the women like it or not. I’m going to protect them,” he added. “I’m going to protect them from migrants coming in. I’m going to protect them from foreign countries that want to hit us with missiles.”
The Harris campaign jumped on the statement, releasing an ad hours later using clips of Trump’s comment side-by-side with headlines related to reproductive rights.
Democrats have criticized Trump for appointing conservative Supreme Court judges that helped overturned Roe v. Wade. In turn, Trump has boasted about his role in upending a constitutional abortion right and returning limit decisions to the states.
— Savannah Kuchar
Americans are anxious and frustrated about the 2024 campaigns
Most Americans reported feeling anxious or frustrated about the presidential election in a new poll by The AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research released Thursday.
Democrats and Republicans are similarly frustrated by the campaigns, but more Democrats reported feeling anxious about the race. The poll found 79% of Democrats said they were anxious compared to 66% of Republicans.
A majority of Americans are not excited about the presidential contest. Only 24% of independents, 37% of Democrats, and 41% of Republicans said they feel excited about the election.
The survey of 1,233 Americans had a +/- 3.6 percentage point margin of error.
— Rachel Barber
NFL owners’ political donations surge to $28 million, lean Republican
NFL owners have donated at least $28 million to federal political candidates and causes during the 2023-24 election cycle − a hefty sum that, according to USA TODAY Sports research, marks a sevenfold increase from the amount spent over the same time period four years ago.
The significant increase in owners’ political giving can be attributed in large part − though not exclusively − to the addition of the Walton-Penner ownership group, which purchased the Denver Broncos in 2022.
Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank ($3.3 million), Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper ($2.9 million) and New York Jets owner Woody Johnson ($1.8 million) are among the other NFL leaders who have eclipsed seven figures in donations.
In response to a request for comment, NFL spokesperson Brian McCarthy wrote in an email that “it is up to club personnel to determine to which candidates and causes they will contribute.”
— Tom Schad and Sudiksha Kochi
Harris campaign seeks to shore up support from Puerto Rican, Latino voters
The Harris campaign released a new ad Thursday aimed at targeting Puerto Rican and Latino voters in key battleground states just a few days out from the Nov. 5 election.
The new Spanish-language ad, titled Somos Más, takes a direct hit at comments that comedian Tony Hinchcliffe made at Trump’s Madison Square Rally on Sunday, where he called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage.”
“Puerto Rico is an island of scientists, poets, educators, stars and heroes. ¡Boricua! We’re not trash, we’re more,” the narrator in the ad says.
A press release from the campaign notes that the ad will air on Spanish language TV, including Univision, Telemundo and WAPA America, as well as social media platforms such as TikTok and YouTube to reach voters.
— Sudiksha Kochi
How ballot counting will be protected on election night and beyond
More than a dozen county and city election officials spoke with USA TODAY about what they are doing to make sure they can count ballots at central ballot counting locations once polls close, no matter what happens outside.
Election officials have built new warehouses where ballots will be counted under increased security. Local and state law enforcement have run through multiple scenarios for large crowds descending on the ballot counting locations.
Some jurisdictions have reduced the number of observers allowed to attend and required them to obtain credentials far in advance.
— Sarah D. Wire and Sudiksha Koch
Who is ahead in the polls?
In the final days of the election, battleground states like Pennsylvania remain tightly-contested for Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump and could represent the key to an Electoral College victory.
Two recent polls show just how close the race is in Pennsylvania, which is among seven swing states that could determine a victory in the race for the White House. A new CNN poll conducted by SSRS found that in Pennsylvania, the race is tied, while a new poll from Quinnipiac University gave Trump a 1-point edge on Harris.
Nationwide, Trump and Harris are tied at 48% in the latest TIPP Tracking Poll.
As the nail-biter of a race approaches its conclusion in five days, Trump and Harris plan to both address supporters Thursday in Nevada, another key swing state.
–Eric Lagatta
Arnold Schwarzenegger endorses Harris
Former California Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced he will vote for the Democratic ticket in the presidential election.
“I will always be an American before I am a Republican,” he wrote in a social media post Wednesday. “That’s why, this week, I am voting for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz.”
The professional bodybuilder and actor turned GOP politician served as governor from 2003 to 2011. California is Harris’ home state.
Schwarzenegger encouraged his followers to vote even if they disagree with him, but gave reasons he will not support former President Donald Trump.
–Rachel Barber
Historian who correctly predicted 9 of last 10 presidential elections picks Harris, still
Democratic nominee Kamala Harris will be the next president of the United States and beat Republican rival Donald Trump on Election Day, or so historian and election forecaster Allan Lichtman still predicts.
Known for correctly predicting the results of the last nine out of 10 presidential elections, Lichtman said on his YouTube channel Tuesday night that his prediction has not changed, despite Democratic nominee Harris’ leads in battleground states shrinking and polls being nail-bitingly close.
“Nothing has changed to change my prediction that I made on Sept. 5,” Lichtman said, “in defiance of the polls.”
–Sam Woodward
Harris campaigns in Wisconsin Wednesday night
Vice President Kamala Harris went back to a familiar place in the final stretch of her presidential campaign.
As she runs on preserving personal freedoms and protecting democracy, she made her pitch on Wednesday evening a few miles from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where her progressive parents participated in various civil rights causes in the late 60s. She spoke at the nearly 10,000-seat Alliant Energy Center here, to a majority-female crowd.
As president, Harris pledged that she would seek common ground and common-sense solutions to problems.“I am not looking to score political points. I am looking to make progress,” she said in her speech.
–Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy
Trump milks Biden’s garbage gaffe in insult-laden stump speech in Wisconsin
Former President Donald Trump made President Joe Biden’s “garbage” gaffe a central theme in his campaign rallies Wednesday. He also continued to take shots at his Democratic opponent Vice President Kamala Harris.
“Her gross incompetence disqualifies her from being president of the United States,” Trump said during a rally in Green Bay, Wisconsin, Wednesday evening. “No one respects her, no one trusts her, no one takes her seriously.”
Trump rode into the Wisconsin event in the front seat of a personalized garbage truck, donning a neon orange trash collector’s vest. The move was in reference to Biden’s statement Tuesday, calling supporters of the former president “garbage.”
–Savannah Kuchar and David Jackson
Where do Donald Trump, Kamala Harris stand in the polls
The 2024 race for the White House will be razor-close until Election Day. In Real Clear Politics’ average of national polls, Trump leads Harris by just 0.4 percentage points, well within the margin of error for each of the surveys included.
It’s even closer in some of the swing states that could ultimately decide the election. For example, Harris leads Trump by 0.2 percentage points in Real Clear Politics’ average of Wisconsin polls.
– Marina Pitofsky
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Where is Donald Trump campaigning on Thursday?
Donald Trump on Thursday is holding rallies in two Western states: New Mexico and Nevada. Trump will address Albuquerque voters in the afternoon before making a campaign stop in Henderson, located outside of Las Vegas.
The former president unveiled one of his signature campaign promises during a June rally in Las Vegas, vowing that, if elected, he would try to end federal taxes on tips, a likely winner in Nevada, whose casino and entertainment economy depends on tips.
– Marina Pitofsky, Mark Robison
Where is Kamala Harris campaigning on Thursday?
Kamala Harris will hold rallies in Reno and Las Vegas, calling on Nevada voters to make a plan to vote. The Silver State is one of the pivotal swing states that could ultimately decide the 2024 election.
It will be the vice president’s first Northern Nevada visit since landing at the top of the Democratic ticket. Her last trip was in April 2023 when she spoke with Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve and actress Rosario Dawson about reproductive rights on the University of Nevada, Reno campus.
Harris is also set to address voters in Phoenix, Arizona Arizona at a Thursday morning rally.
– Mark Robison
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Election 2024 updates: Polls tighten as Trump, Harris keep rallying
