Kamala Harris and Donald Trump predicted victory as they campaigned across Pennsylvania and other battleground states on Monday, November 4, 2024, ahead of Tuesday’s presidential election in the United States.
The campaign has seen head-spinning twists – two assassination attempts and a felony conviction for Republican former President Trump, and Democratic Vice President Harris’ surprise elevation to the top of the ticket after President Joe Biden, 81, dropped his reelection bid under pressure from his own party.
More than $2.6 billion has been spent to sway voters’ minds since March, according to AdImpact, an analytics firm.
However, opinion polls show Trump, 78, and Harris, 60, virtually even. The winner may not be known for days after Tuesday’s election, though Trump has already signalled that he will attempt to fight any defeat, as he did in 2020.
Both candidates predicted victory as they converged on Pennsylvania on Monday to urge supporters who have not yet cast their ballots to show up on Election Day.
The state offers the largest share of votes in the Electoral College of any of the seven battleground states expected to determine the outcome, Reuters reported.
Trump also campaigned in North Carolina and Michigan on the final full day of the campaign and was due to return to his home in Palm Beach, Florida, to vote and await election results.
Harris scheduled five campaign stops in Pennsylvania, including two cities where Trump also visited, Reading and Pittsburgh.
She ended the day in Philadelphia with a star-studded event at the “Rocky steps” of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the site of a famous scene from the movie “Rocky”.
Despite enjoying the support of A-list celebrities including Lady Gaga and Oprah Winfrey, both of whom rallied the Philadelphia crowd before Harris took the stage, the vice president called herself the underdog who like Rocky was ready to “climb to victory”.
Harris said: “The momentum is on our side. We will win.
“Tonight, then, we finish as we started: with optimism, with energy, with joy.”
Trump and his allies, who falsely claim his 2020 defeat was the result of fraud, have spent months laying the groundwork to again challenge the result if he loses.
He has promised “retribution” if elected, spoken of prosecuting his political rivals and described Democrats as the “enemy from within”.
Harris campaign officials said his attempts to allege fraud would fail.
“Voters select the president, not Donald Trump,” Dana Remus, a campaign legal adviser, told reporters.
