CLOSE BY With Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s plane in the background, US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris steps off Air Force Two upon arrival at Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina on Nov. 2. —Agence France-Presse
GASTONIA, North Csarolina — Kamala Harris and Donald Trump dueled across the swing states on Saturday on the final weekend of the tensest US election of modern times.
The Democrat urged voters to “turn the page” on the Republican’s scorched-earth brand of politics, while the former president reminded voters of higher inflation and the illegal migrant crisis in the four years of Kamala and Joe Biden in the White House.
As the hours tick down to the Election Day climax on Tuesday, 75 million people have already cast early ballots.
READ: Fil-Ams for Kamala on double time
The country—and the world—could then face a nail-biting wait to know whether Harris becomes the first US woman president or Trump secures a spectacular return to power.
The rivals crossed paths on Saturday, with Harris’ official vice presidential Air Force Two and Trump’s personal jet sharing the airport tarmac in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Both held rallies in North Carolina, while Harris also spoke to supporters in Georgia, another of the seven swing states seen as the keys to victory in an otherwise dead-even nationwide contest. Trump added in a stop in Virginia.
The rounds of high-stakes speeches before thousands of people at each stop continue on Sunday when Harris holds multiple events in the swing state of Michigan and Trump rallies with supporters in Georgia, North Carolina and Pennsylvania.
Most polls show Trump, 78, and Harris, 60, within the margin of error from each other across the swing states.
Reflecting Harris’ drive to hit every possible target before Tuesday, her plane took a detour to New York for an appearance on the “Saturday Night Live” television comedy show.
For Harris, a key electorate is women voters angered over the ruling by Supreme Court justices earlier appointed by Trump to overturn Roe v. Wade, ending a decadeslong constitutional right to abortion.
“Donald Trump’s not done. He will ban abortion nationwide,” Harris said in Atlanta, Georgia.
Trump and his supporters have repeatedly debunked what they called the “false” claim of Harris, saying he has vowed to veto any bill banning abortion wholesale.
Harris painted Trump as “increasingly unstable, obsessed with revenge” and “out for unchecked power.”
For his part, the Republican has pointed out the Democratic Party of Harris using “lawfare” to prosecute him, his former aides and his supporters.
“We have an opportunity in this election to finally turn the page on a decade of Donald Trump who spends full time trying to keep us divided and afraid of each other,” said Harris who has repeatedly called him a fascist and a would-be dictator.
Trump, stirring up his right-wing base, continued to hammer on hardships felt by Americans under the Harris-Biden administration.
In Salem, Virginia, he began his speech by saying “I’ve come today with a message of hope for all.”
Calling his opponent “low IQ” and “stupid,” he said Harris would usher in an economic “depression,” asking the crowd: “Do you want to lose your job and maybe your house and pension?”
Gender gap
Earlier, he warned women that violent criminals would threaten them in their homes, recalling the deaths of several women in the hands of illegal migrants.
But Trump has worked hard to appeal to men, appearing on podcasts with martial artists, spending time in barbershops and meeting with crypto entrepreneurs.
With Harris getting a surge in support from women, some predict a dramatic gender gap in the results.
The candidates’ frantic schedules will run right into Monday, culminating with late-night rallies—in Grand Rapids, Michigan for Trump and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for Harris. —Agence France-Presse