With Tuesday being Election Day, it’s the last leg of the presidential campaign. The candidates have been racing around the swing states.
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Tomorrow, finally is Election Day.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Americans are electing every member of the House of Representatives and enough of the Senate to decide who’s in control, as we’ll hear about in a few minutes, also electing governors, state legislators, choosing ballot measures. Is there one other race that’s – oh, yes, yes, yes. The peak attention goes to the presidential campaign, and the candidates hold multiple rallies today after racing across the country all weekend.
MARTIN: We are joined now by two very tired NPR White House correspondents, Franco Ordoñez, who has been following former President Donald Trump, and Asma Khalid, who has been following Vice President Harris. Good morning to you both.
ASMA KHALID, BYLINE: Good morning.
FRANCO ORDOÑEZ, BYLINE: Good morning, Michel.
MARTIN: Or maybe it’s good evening, since you probably never went to sleep. All right, so let’s start with the highlights from this busy weekend. Asma, why don’t you lead us off?
KHALID: Yeah, I mean, yesterday, Harris was focused all day on the ground in Michigan. And, you know, that is important because Democrats have relied on that state to win presidential elections for years, you know? But the big headline was, in fact, the stop that Harris made on her way to Michigan. I was on the plane with her on Air Force Two, and we were coming from North Carolina. We were supposed to be going to Detroit. Instead, the plane went to New York City, and Harris ended up on “Saturday Night Live.”
You know, of course, a question I’ve had is, does going on that show really speak to anyone who is currently on the fence? Who knows? But the Harris campaign is trying to project that they are ending this campaign on a positive note, and so this was, you know, a bit of lighthearted fun.
ORDOÑEZ: I’ll just add that Trump’s allies are saying it’s unfair. And his campaign is actually charging Harris with stealing Trump’s skit ideas from when he was on the show in 2015 while seeking the Republican nomination. Now, Trump didn’t mention it yesterday, but he’s since soured on the show, complaining that it’s become a, quote, “campaign contribution to the Democrats.”
MARTIN: Interesting, since he’s been on that show twice. Asma, we spoke last week about Harris’ closing argument. Has that shifted in these final days?
KHALID: It has shifted a bit. You know, her central message for weeks has been about the dangers that Democrats see Trump pose to democracy. She has described him as being unstable and out for unchecked power, and that was indeed the message that you heard from her. She delivered these big concert-like rallies in Atlanta and Charlotte over the weekend. But on Sunday, at a rally on the campus of Michigan State University, she sounded more upbeat.
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VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS: We have momentum. It is on our side. Can you feel it?
(CHEERING)
KHALID: You know, at that rally, Michel, Harris did not mention Trump by name. This was the first time that she did that since she became the nominee. You know, she still tried to create a contrast and talked about turning the page. For weeks, Democrats have been saying that they are the underdog. But now Harris and her team are projecting more optimism, more confidence. You’re hearing the Harris campaign tout its ambitious ground game, and their mood seems to have changed in these final days.
MARTIN: OK, Franco, what about Trump? What was his weekend like?
ORDOÑEZ: Yeah, Michel. He has just definitely turned it up a notch. I mean, three rallies yesterday, three rallies on Saturday – you can tell, though, it’s wearing on him a bit. I mean, his voice is growing hoarse. He’s making some mistakes. But it didn’t stop him from going off script, like he does, and attacking his political enemies. In Pennsylvania yesterday, he called Democrats demonic and doubled down on false claims of voter fraud, actually saying he should have stayed in the White House after losing the election.
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DONALD TRUMP: We had the safest border in the history of our country the day that I left. I shouldn’t have left. I mean, honestly – ’cause we did so well. We had such a great – so now, I mean, every polling booth has hundreds of lawyers standing there.
ORDOÑEZ: You can hear how he quickly switched gears. And he also joked about it being OK with reporters being shot at.
MARTIN: So, Franco, half of the rallies Trump went to this weekend were in North Carolina. He’s returning there again today. Why is that?
ORDOÑEZ: I mean, it is very significant that he is doing that. I mean, it was not supposed to – North Carolina, that is – to even be a swing state. Trump won there twice. He shouldn’t be needing to even go to North Carolina at all. But now it’s very competitive. Harris is spending time there. And Trump has spent more time in North Carolina than Pennsylvania in the last few days, which is really kind of crazy if you think about it. But North Carolina is a must-win state for Trump, and clearly, he feels some vulnerability.
KHALID: You know, I want to jump in here real quick because I was out with Harris this weekend. And to your point, Franco, about how competitive North Carolina is, there was this moment when Air Force Two landed in Charlotte, and Harris was descending the stairs, and there, just, you know, some yards away in the background was Trump’s plane. It was the visual image of how they are fighting over the state. And, you know, for decades, Republicans have carried North Carolina in presidential elections with the one exception of Barack Obama in 2008. But the Harris campaign believes that it is gaining a lot of support from college-educated voters, from suburbanites and from women, all of whom are key groups, key demographic groups in North Carolina.
MARTIN: OK, what about today, this final day of campaigning before Election Day tomorrow? Franco, what is Trump doing, and what will you be watching for?
ORDOÑEZ: Yeah, he’s actually going to have four rallies today, one in North Carolina, two in Pennsylvania and a final one in Grand Rapids, which is where I am today. So last time, he held five rallies a day in those last few days. And his pace this time seems to be an effort to kind of recapture that spirit. He’s also going to be in Reading, Pennsylvania, which is part of a Latino corridor of Pennsylvania and where there are many Puerto Ricans who were not happy with the, you know, quote, “floating Island of garbage” remarks from one of Trump’s opening speakers at his New York rally.
KHALID: You mentioned Reading, and Harris is actually going to be in that same city as well, which I think is very noteworthy because you have now both candidates in this relatively small city of Pennsylvania. It’s got less than 100,000 people, but it does have the highest percentage of Latinos of any city in Pennsylvania. And, you know, you mentioned that joke, Franco. Democrats feel like that joke has been a political gift for them. They feel like the Harris campaign is really making inroads with Latinos, that it allows them to draw this contrast with Trump. And, you know, I will say Harris has had some struggles this campaign season with Latinos, but after that joke, she publicly got support from a number of celebrities like Bad Bunny.
MARTIN: So Asma, stay with us on that. What else is Harris doing today?
KHALID: Yeah, she’ll be crisscrossing the state of Pennsylvania. It is, of course, the biggest prize of all the swing states, 19 electoral votes. You know, really the big focus here is that state. She’s got a stop in Scranton, rallies in Allentown and Pittsburgh, and she’ll be ending the night in Philadelphia with a concert on the famous Rocky Steps at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. I will say, lots of symbolism there for a campaign that has repeatedly billed itself as the underdog.
MARTIN: And Franco, how is Trump going to end his night?
ORDOÑEZ: Yeah, it’s actually going to be the third time that Trump is going to wrap up his campaign here in Grand Rapids. In 2020, he mentioned maybe being a little bit superstitious. He actually scheduled to speak at 10:30 tonight, but last time, it was after midnight when he started. I really expect to be reporting in the wee hours tonight, if not tomorrow morning.
MARTIN: Oh, dear. Time for more Red Bull. That is NPR’s Franco Ordoñez, who’s been following former President Donald Trump, and Asma Khalid, following Vice President Harris. Thank you both so much, and hang in there, couple more hours.
KHALID: Thank you.
ORDOÑEZ: Thank you, Michel.
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