With just six days to go until Election Day, both former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris made appearances in North Carolina.
Only 60 miles apart, Harris spoke to a crowd of supporters in Raleigh, while Trump made an afternoon visit to Rocky Mount. Two very different visions for the future of the country were on display in the candidates’ speeches, as both pointed fingers at the other.
In her 20-minute speech, Harris emphasized abortion access, promising to sign a bill restoring “reproductive freedom” if elected president.
“Ours is a fight for the future, and it is a fight for freedom like the fundamental freedom of a woman to be able to make decisions about her own body,” she said.
Trump spent much of his 86-minute speech on immigration and economic policy.
“They’ve allowed millions and millions of people to come into our country that are criminals,” Trump said of the Biden-Harris administration. “They call it immigration. It’s not immigration. It’s horrible.”
Both candidates emphasized the urgency of this election.
“We have to get this done now, because we’re not going to have a second chance,” Trump said. “We are a nation in decline. But don’t worry, we will not be a nation in decline for too much longer.”
In her rally, Harris argued that “democracy” is at stake.
“We know we are actually fighting for our democracy and, unlike Donald Trump, I don’t believe people who disagree with me are the enemy,” Harris said. “He wants to put them in jail. I’ll give them a seat at the table.”
Trump addressed those claims at his rally, which started just as Harris’ was ending.
“They’ve bullied you, they’ve demeaned us, they’ve demonized us, and censored us, and de-platformed us, and weaponized the power of our own government against us. They’ve gone after their political opponent, me,” Trump said, referencing four separate criminal indictment against him since he left office. “They are so dishonest. ‘Donald Trump is doing terrible things. He wants to put us in jail.’ That’s what they’ve been trying to do to me for three years.”
Considered one of seven swing states, winning North Carolina is critical in the race for the White House. This is one of many times that both Harris and Trump have made election trail appearances in North Carolina.
So far, early voting in the state has seen historic turnout.
According to a daily report released by the North Carolina State Board of Elections, 3.4 million of the state’s 7.8 million registered voters have already cast their ballots. Republicans are also turning out in much higher numbers than ever before.
The Harris campaign remains confident in her chances of being the first Democrat to win the state since former President Barack Obama in 2008, despite Trump continuing to lead in the polls.
Currently, Trump leads the polls by an average of 1.1%, well within the margin of error, according to Project 538. RealClear Polling also had Trump leading in the polling average in North Carolina by 1%.
Even though Trump has the lead, experts say the race is still very tight.
“We all know how imperfect polls can be, but we’ve got nothing better and they are telling us that this is a tight race,” said Steve Greene, professor of political science at NC State University. “Both candidates also clearly believe this state is a tight race or they would not be investing so many resources here. The scarcest campaign resource is a candidate’s time.”
Democratic vice presidential nominee, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, also appeared in Charlotte and Asheville on Wednesday. Trump’s running mate, J. D. Vance, will be leading a town hall in High Point on Thursday morning.
In his rally, Trump addressed comments made recently by President Joe Biden, emphasizing the “hatred” he sees in the political rhetoric.
“Joe Biden finally said what he and Kamala really think of our supporters. He called them ‘garbage,’” Trump said. “My response to Joe and Kamala is very simple. You can’t lead America if you don’t love Americans and you can’t be president if you hate the American people, and there’s a lot of hatred.”
Harris called on Democrats to join together in the last few days before the election.
“Let’s spend the next six days so that when we look back at these six days, we will know we did everything we could,” she said. “We are all in this together.”
