Both candidates campaigned aggressively in swing states, pitching alternate paths of positive change under their leadership.
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., PHILADELPHIA Pa.—Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Trump spent the final day before the presidential election rallying supporters in battleground states that help form a path to the White House.
Harris visited Pennsylvania on Nov. 4, making her final appeal to the state’s 9 million voters at events in Scranton, Allentown, and Pittsburgh, and closing the day with a rally in Philadelphia.
Trump began his day with a morning rally in North Carolina, followed by two afternoon stops in Pennsylvania, before concluding in Michigan with a late-evening event, where he took the stage just after midnight.
Both candidates used the occasion to restate their appeals to voters, urging them to participate in what they each view as the most consequential election of this era.
Harris Seeks to Realize Promise of America
Harris rallied a crowd of up to 50,000 people on the grounds of the Philadelphia Art Museum in an evening event, marking the end of her 15-week presidential campaign following President Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the race on July 21. In her speech, Harris urged her supporters to vote on Election Day and pledged to govern in a bipartisan way.
“We have one day to get this done, which means we need to get to work and get out the vote … Your vote is your voice and your voice is your power,” Harris said. “I pledge to listen to those who will be impacted by the decisions I make,” Harris added. “I pledge to listen to people who disagree with me … I’ll give them a seat at the table”
Harris’s short speech was broadly similar to others she delivered in the final weeks of the campaign, where she had been seeking to turn her supporters out to vote. She referenced common themes of joy and abortion access.
She presented her campaign as a vehicle to “realize the promise” of America.
“I have always believed in our nation’s promise, because I have lived it,” Harris said. “Generations of Americans led the fight for freedom and, now, the baton is on our hands.”
Harris’s speech was preceded by several high-profile performers and speakers. Oprah Winfrey introduced Harris, while artists Lady Gaga, will.i.am, and Ricky Martin performed before her. Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-Pa.), Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.), and Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker, a Democrat, all spoke at the rally.
“Tonight, we finish as we started: with optimism, with energy, and with joy, knowing that we the people have the power to shape our future,” Harris said. She thanked the many staff and volunteers who supported her campaign.
“I pledge to always put country above party and self and to be a president for all Americans,” Harris said, speaking in front of a large banner that read “A President For All.”
Harris ended her speech with the rallying cry of her campaign: “When we fight, we win!”
Trump Envisions Golden Age
Trump’s closing rally drew an overflow crowd to the 12,000-seat Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, where he was joined by his children Donald, Tiffany, and Eric Trump, along with Eric’s wife, Lara.
Trump’s closing message reiterated his promises to Michiganders: to reinvigorate auto manufacturing through a system of tariffs and tax incentives, halt illegal immigration, and reduce consumer prices by allowing greater domestic production of fossil fuels.
“We are going to do some great things for Michigan, we are going to bring the car business blazing back. We are going to make Detroit greater than it ever was,” Trump said. “I will cut your energy prices in half within 12 months. When that happens [the price of ] everything is coming down.”
Trump, his voice hoarse after weeks of campaigning, urged attendees to vote on election day. “All we have to do is get out the vote tomorrow,” he said. “We just have to show up and you’re going to have the biggest victory.”
Victory in this election, Trump said, would usher in “a new golden age” for America, a time of peace and unprecedented prosperity.
Trump, who has closed each of his three campaigns in Grand Rapids, acknowledged that his final campaign rally marked the end of an era. “It’s unbelievable. This is it, the last one we’re going to have,” Trump said. “It’s been an incredible journey … and this is the last one.”
Recalling the attempt on his life in Butler Pa., in July, Trump said, “That brush with death did not stop us. It only made us more determined to finish the job that we had only started.”
“There’s never been anything like it and there [will] never be anything like it,” Trump said. “I think it caught on because our country is in trouble, and I happened to be a messenger.”
The former president closed his final rally with the slogan that has been the theme of each of his campaigns, “We will make America great again!”