Obama criticizes comic's Puerto Rico remarks at Trump's rally

“These are fellow citizens he’s talking about," Obama said in Philadelphia.

Last Updated: October 29, 2024, 6:12 AM EDT

As we head into the final full week of campaigning before Election Day, the latest ABC News/Ipsos poll shows Kamala Harris with a slight 51-47% lead over Donald Trump among likely voters nationally -- but the polls in the battleground states remain essentially deadlocked within the margin of error.

Fallout continues over racist comments made at Trump's big rally on Sunday at Madison Square Garden and Harris is preparing for her "closing argument" Tuesday night on the Ellipse near the Capitol and White House in Washington.

Oct 29, 3:48 am

More than 47.5 million Americans have voted early

More than 47.5 million Americans have voted early as of just after 9 p.m. ET Monday, according to the Election Lab at the University of Florida.

Of the total number of early votes, 24,243,105 were cast in person and 23,384,971 were returned by mail.

President Joe Biden departs a polling station after casting his early voting ballot for the 2024 general elections on Oct. 28, 2024, in New Castle, Delaware.
Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP

Oct 28, 2024, 9:02 PM EDT

Harris in hot mic moment says her campaign is struggling with male voters

During a stop in Kalamazoo, Michigan, at Trak-Houz Bar & Grill where Vice President Kamala Harris and the state's governor, Gretchen Whitmer, were grabbing a beer, a hot mic caught Harris discussing that her campaign is struggling with male voters.

“So, everyone agrees that we need to move the ground with men,” Harris said. She goes on to look around at the cameras, saying, "Oh, we have microphones in here just listening to everything. I didn't realize that. We just told all the family secrets. S---," she said while laughing.

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris takes the stage during a campaign rally and concert in Ann Arbor, Mich., Oct. 28, 2024.
Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

On the record, Harris flat-out rejects that she has any issues with male voters. ”It’s not what I see in terms of my rallies, in terms of the interactions I’m having with people in communities and on the ground,” Harris said at a campaign stop in Philadelphia last week.

"What I am seeing is in equal measure, men and women talking about their concerns about the future of our democracy, talking about the fact that they want a president who leads with optimism and takes on the challenges that we face, whether it be grocery prices or investing in small businesses or home ownership," Harris said at the time.

The vice president's campaign has notably been doing extensive outreach to male voters. The campaign announced on Sunday that they were focusing on outreach during NFL games, 3v3 games and Twitch streams to mobilize and activate fans. They also launched Athletes for Harris, co-chaired by Magic Johnson, and have placed ads on fantasy sports, sports betting and sports news sites in an effort to close the gap with male voters.

Oct 28, 2024, 8:30 PM EDT

Vance suggests American World War II soldiers would vote for Trump

During his second campaign event Monday, vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance accused Vice President Kamala Harris of doubling down on "divisive rhetoric" and displayed images of American World War II soldiers landing at Normandy in 1944.

"What the Democrats have decided to do in this last week of the campaign is to double down on the most divisive rhetoric, I think, that we have ever seen from a major party presidential candidate in my lifetime," Vance told the crowd in Racine, Wisconsin.

Flanked by two monitors while talking to a crowd of about 200 people, Vance showed photos of troops landing at the beaches of Normandy on D-Day in 1944.

Vance questioned what those soldiers would think of Harris and her policies.

"Do you think that those men who saved a continent, and I would say, saved the world for freedom and liberty? Do you think that they were fighting to open the southern border of their own country? Do you think that those men were fighting for taxpayer-funded sex reassignment surgeries for illegal aliens?" Vance asked the crowd.

"I'd like Kamala Harris to go back in time and hop on that boat and say that she wants taxpayer-funded sex reassignment surgeries for illegal aliens. And I'd like to hear the response of those brave men," Vance said.

Oct 28, 2024, 8:05 PM EDT

Trump says 'I'm not a Nazi, I'm the opposite of a Nazi'

During his campaign event in Atlanta on Monday, Trump responded to claims his rhetoric can be likened to fascist beliefs, saying "I'm not a Nazi."

"The newest line from Kamala and her campaign is that everyone who isn't voting for her is a Nazi," Trump told the crowd.

"I'm not a Nazi. I'm the opposite of a Nazi," Trump said.

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at McCamish Pavilion, Oct. 28, 2024, in Atlanta.
Mike Stewart/AP

During a CNN town hall last week, Harris was asked if she thought Trump was a fascist and replied, "Yes, I do."

Harris went on to say American voters don't want "a president of the United States who admires dictators and is a fascist."

Oct 28, 2024, 7:40 PM EDT

Trump says Michelle Obama was ‘nasty’ to him

Trump told a rally in Atlanta on Monday that Michelle Obama has been “nasty” to him.

“You know who’s nasty to me? Michelle Obama,” he said. “I always tried to be so nice and respectful. Oh, she opened up a little bit of a little bit of a box, she opened up a little bit of something. There she was nasty. Shouldn't be that way.

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump attends a campaign rally at McCamish Pavilion, in Atlanta, Oct. 28, 2024.
Brendan Mcdermid/Reuters

“That was a big mistake that she made,” he added.

Obama attacked Trump while stumping for Harris in Michigan on Saturday, telling the crowd, “I hope that you’ll forgive me if I’m a little angry that we are indifferent to his erratic behavior, his obvious mental decline, his history as a convicted felon, a known slum lord, a predator found liable for sexual abuse, all of this while we pick apart Kamala’s answers from interviews that he doesn’t even have the courage to do, y’all.”

Trump also claimed he could have locked up Hillary Clinton but didn’t.

Trump had just repeated his often used line “Get out of here, Kamala! You’re fired!” when the crowd broke into a chant of “Lock her up!”“Be nice, be nice,” Trump told the crowd. “You know, they used to say that with Hillary, and I'd always go, ‘Relax. Take it easy, we’re going to win.’”

“Then we won. When they said, ‘Lock her up, lock her up, lock her up.’ Easy, easy -- we won. We're going to have unity,” he said.

“I could have locked her up, but I didn't want to lock her up. She's the wife of the president of the United States, previously, and the presidential secretary of state. I said that would be so terrible for our country, and then try and do it to me.”

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