PHILADELPHIA (AP) 鈥 Kamala Harris and Donald Trump closed out this year鈥檚 presidential race with a fierce battle for Pennsylvania on Monday, making their final pitch to voters across a state that could prove decisive in the campaign for the White House.
Harris ended her night in Philadelphia at the art museum steps made famous in the movie 鈥淩ocky,鈥 where she said 鈥渢he momentum is on our side.鈥 She also rallied with supporters in Allentown, Scranton and Pittsburgh, and she swung through Reading to visit a Puerto Rican restaurant and do a little canvassing herself, knocking on doors alongside campaign volunteers.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the day before the election and I just wanted to come by and say I hope to earn your vote,鈥 Harris told one woman, who said she had already cast a ballot for the Democratic nominee.
Trump started the day in North Carolina and finished it in Michigan, but he spoke in Reading and Pittsburgh in between. The former president delivered stemwinders at each stop, blending false claims about voter fraud with warnings about migrants committing crimes and promises to revitalize the United States.
鈥淲ith your vote tomorrow, we can fix every single problem our country faces and lead America, and indeed the whole world, to new heights of glory,鈥 he said.
While Harris focused on optimism about the future and never mentioned Trump by name, the Republican nominee excoriated his opponent at every turn. His running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, followed Trump鈥檚 lead during his own rally in Atlanta, telling the crowd that 鈥渨e are going to take out the trash in Washington, D.C., and the trash鈥檚 name is Kamala Harris.鈥
The last day of campaigning was an appropriately frenetic ending to a presidential race
Trump was involving hush money payments and survived two assassination attempts. for trying to overturn the last presidential election, which he lost to Joe Biden.
Harris became Democrats鈥 replacement candidate this summer when and forced to abandon his reelection bid after stumbling badly in his debate with Trump.
One of the few constants in the campaign has been how close it鈥檚 remained. The election is expected to be decided by razor-thin margins, and the results may not be known for days.
Pennsylvania has the most Electoral College votes of any battleground state, making it the top prize of the campaign. A victory there would clear a path to White House for either candidate.
鈥淵ou are going to make the difference in this election,鈥 Harris said in Allentown.
About 30 miles away in Reading, Trump told supporters that 鈥渋f we win Pennsylvania, we win the whole ball of wax.鈥
In Pittsburgh, Trump delivered what his campaign aides described as his closing argument after his previous attempt 鈥 a mass rally at in New York -- was derailed by crude and racist jokes. He has also veered into and said he the White House after he was voted out.
鈥淥ver the past four years, Americans have suffered one catastrophic failure, betrayal and humiliation after another,鈥 Trump said. He added that 鈥渨e do not have to settle for weakness, incompetence, decline, and decay.鈥
The crowd exploded in cheers when Trump said the country should tell Harris, 鈥淵ou鈥檙e fired,鈥 his catchphrase from 鈥淭he Apprentice,鈥 the reality television show that made him a nationally recognized star.
Harris arrived in Pittsburgh while Trump鈥檚 rally was underway. By the time she finished her succinct remarks, he was still talking.
鈥淲e must finish strong,鈥 Harris said. 鈥淢ake no mistake, we will win.鈥
The day was further evidence of the ripple effects from Trump's Madison Square Garden event, where the comedian Tony Hinchcliffe Southeastern Pennsylvania, which was visited by both candidates on Monday, is home to thousands of Latinos, including a sizable Puerto Rican population.
鈥淚t was absurd,鈥 said German Vega, a Dominican American who lives in Reading and became a U.S. citizen in 2015. 鈥淚t bothered so many people 鈥 even many Republicans. It wasn鈥檛 right, and I feel that Trump should have apologized to Latinos.鈥
But Emilio Feliciano, 43, waited outside Reading鈥檚 Santander Arena for a chance to take a photo of Trump鈥檚 motorcade. He dismissed the comments about Puerto Rico despite his family being Puerto Rican, saying he cares about the economy and that鈥檚 why he will vote for Trump.
鈥淚s the border going to be safe? Are you going to keep crime down? That鈥檚 what I care about,鈥 he said.
While in Reading, Harris visited Old San Juan Cafe with New York Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, who has Puerto Rican heritage.
Supporters chanted 鈥淪铆 se puede鈥 and 鈥淜amala鈥 as the vice president鈥檚 motorcade pulled up. Once inside, Harris chatted with some diners, even mixing in 鈥済racias鈥 and a few Spanish words. The vice president later ordered cassava, yellow rice and pork, saying, 鈥淚鈥檓 very hungry鈥 as she noted that she鈥檚 been too busy campaigning to find time for many meals.
鈥淚 stand here proud of my long-standing commitment to Puerto Rico and her people," she told her crowd in Allentown. Harris promised to be 鈥渁 president for all Americans.鈥
Trump, meanwhile, stuck to talking about his proposed crackdown on immigration while speaking in Reading. He called to the stage Patty Morin, the mother of 37-year-old Rachel Morin, who was found dead a day after she went missing during a trip to go hiking. Officials say the suspect in her death, Victor Antonio Martinez Hernandez, entered the U.S. illegally after allegedly killing a woman in his home country of El Salvador.
About 77 million Americans have voted early. A victory by either side would be unprecedented.
Trump winning would make him the first incoming president to have been indicted and convicted of a felony. He would gain the power to end other federal investigations pending against him. Trump would also become only the second president in history to win nonconsecutive White House terms, after Grover Cleveland .
Harris is vying to become the first woman, first Black woman and first person of South Asian descent to reach the Oval Office 鈥 four years after she broke the same barriers in national office by becoming Biden鈥檚 second in command.
Heading into Monday, Harris has mostly stopped mentioning Trump by name, calling him instead 鈥渢he other guy.鈥 She is promising to solve problems and seek consensus.
Harris campaign chair Jen O鈥橫alley Dillon said on a call with reporters that not saying Trump鈥檚 name was deliberate because voters 鈥渨ant to see in their leader an optimistic, hopeful, patriotic vision for the future.鈥
On her final day of campaigning, Harris took a rare trip down memory lane by talking about being a longshot candidate for San Francisco district attorney in 2003, her first elected office.
鈥淚鈥檇 walk to the front of the grocery store, outside, and I would stand up my ironing board because, you see, an ironing board makes a really great standing desk,鈥 the vice president said, recalling how she would tape her posters to the outside of the board, fill the top with flyers and 鈥渞equire people to talk to me as they walked in and out.鈥
Trump seemed nostalgic as well.
鈥淚t鈥檚 sad because we鈥檝e been doing this for nine years,鈥 he said in Pittsburgh after inviting members of his family to join him on stage.
He held his final rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he also concluded his campaigns in 2016 and 2020.
鈥淚 have one left,鈥 he said beforehand. 鈥淎nd remember the rallies are the most exciting thing. There鈥檒l never be rallies like this. This is never going to happen again.鈥
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Superville reported from Scranton, Pennsylvania. Barrow reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Makiya Seminera in Raleigh, North Carolina; Maryclaire Dale in Philadelphia; and Zeke Miller, Will Weissert, Michelle L. Price and Chris Megerian in Washington contributed to this report.
