Republican presidential nominee and former US President Donald Trump arrived at a campaign rally at Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum in Greenville, North Carolina, on Monday. AFP
One of the most closely contested US election races in modern history enters its final two-week stretch on Tuesday, with Republican Donald Trump making a special appeal to Latino voters as Democratic rival Kamala Harris prepares for a national network interview. Both campaigns are investing hundreds of millions of dollars in a final push to sway any undecided voters who could tip the scales in their favor, with polls consistently showing the candidates in a dead heat as Election Day approaches.
Regardless of the outcome, Americans will make history on November 5: they will either elect the first female president in the world's leading superpower or put the first convicted felon in the White House.
Democratic presidential nominee US Vice-President Kamala Harris and former US Rep. Liz Cheney reacted during a debate in Brookfield, Wisconsin, on Monday. REUTERS
Polls seem to be giving Trump, who at 78 is the oldest nominee from a major party in US history, a slight advantage recently—but all within the margin of error, providing little comfort for a former president making his third consecutive White House run. Vice President Harris—who only entered the race in July, when President Joe Biden made the surprising decision to drop out and endorse her instead—will give a television interview to NBC on Tuesday. The 60-year-old, who celebrated her birthday over the weekend, will also deploy one of her party's most popular emissaries back into the field: Barack Obama.
The former Democratic president will hold a series of rallies in Wisconsin and Michigan, two of the seven most hotly contested swing states in the election, which, under the US system of indirect universal suffrage, are likely to determine the outcome. Trump, whose anti-migrant rhetoric is becoming increasingly coarse and extreme, will participate in a roundtable discussion with Latino voters at one of his Florida properties. The Republican will then travel to North Carolina, another swing state where he also campaigned on Monday, for an event focused on the economy. However, he rarely sticks to the topic at his rallies—instead, he has been criticized for a tumultuous few weeks that have featured rambling monologues and threats about weaponizing the military against Democrats whom he labels 'the enemy from within.'
One recent televised town hall devolved into a surreal, impromptu music session as Trump abandoned discussion of the election to play his favorite hits while swaying on stage. The Harris campaign has started to question his mental and physical fitness to serve. But a wave of MAGA-capped supporters continues to flock to his rallies, convinced that he is the victim of political persecution or that Democrats are instigating threats against him. Democrats are also trying to attract moderate Republicans disillusioned by Trump's ominous rhetoric and scandals. Harris has positioned herself as a 'joyful warrior' aiming to turn the page on Trump's years of outrage and usher in a new generation of American political leadership.
More than 15 million Americans have already voted by mail or in person, according to the independent organization Elections Project, representing around 10 percent of the total turnout in 2020.
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