October 27, 2024, presidential campaign news

Radio host Sid Rosenberg speaks at a campaign rally at Madison Square Garden in New York on Sunday.

Some speakers at former President Donald Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden on Sunday hurled insults at Vice President Kamala Harris, Hillary Clinton, illegal immigrants and Puerto Rico.

Radio host Sid Rosenberg said, “She is some sick bastard, that Hillary Clinton, huh? What a sick son of a b*tch.”

Later, Rosenberg said, “You got homeless and veterans, Americans, Americans, sleeping on their own feces on a bench in Central Park. But the f**king illegals, they get whatever they want, don’t they.”

David Rem speaks at the rally.

David Rem, who previously unsuccessfully ran for Congress, called Harris “the devil” and “the antichrist.” Rem, who at one point waved around a cross, said he was going to run for mayor of New York City.

Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who hosts the podcast “Kill Tony,” was the first speaker during the programming at Trump’s rally.

“There’s a lot going on, like, I don’t know if you know this but there’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. Yeah. I think it’s called Puerto Rico,” Hinchcliffe said, receiving laughs from the crowd.

It’s been called the “red mirage” or the “blue shift.”

It’s the recent phenomenon by which an apparent Republican lead early after polls close on election night is erased by the counting of mail-in ballots later in the evening or in the days after Election Day.

Former President Donald Trump has pointed to the red mirage to back up his baseless allegations of election fraud, when in fact it has been a function of the rise of mail-in voting and the often-peculiar rules about when those ballots can be counted.

What happened in 2020?: When most Americans went to bed on election night in 2020, on November 3, the end result was far from clear. The contest between Trump and Joe Biden was still too early to call in the key states of Arizona, North Carolina, Nevada, Wisconsin, Michigan, Maine, Georgia and Pennsylvania.

The following days would include dramatic hours spent watching the counting of votes in these states. The vote count didn’t reflect a Biden lead in Georgia until early in the morning of November 6, when small batches of votes were being counted and affecting the very close election.

CNN was able to project that Biden would win the election four days after Election Day, on November 7, but counting would continue.

How long will it take this year?: There is some indication that things could go quicker in some key states.

In Georgia, a new election law means more people will vote early in person rather than by mail, which could speed up the process of counting mail-in ballots. North Carolina no longer accepts mail-in ballots if they arrive after Election Day.

It’s important to remember that while news networks like CNN might project a winner when it is clear who will win, the races are not officially certified until later. Certification deadlines vary by state, but they all have until December 11 to complete recounts, if needed, and to settle disputes around presidential results.

Read more about the “red mirage” or the “blue shift” here.

Vice President Kamala Harris stressed the stakes of the election during a campaign event in Philadelphia on Sunday, describing it as “one of the most consequential elections of our lifetime” and underscoring the significance of battleground Pennsylvania.

The vice president also talked about the campaign’s effort to build a broad coalition, saying: “The power is with the people, and from the beginning, our campaign has been about building coalitions and building community.”

Harris spoke to young voters, trying to appeal to them directly and calling them “rightly impatient for change.”

Jaime R. Harrison, Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, gavels the start of Day one of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois, on August 19.

Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison said Sunday that the party has been “very, very pleased” with early voting in Michigan nine days ahead of the election.

Early in-person voting started statewide on Saturday — and in Detroit on October 19. Absentee ballots started going out to Michigan voters in the mail in late September.

Asked by CNN to elaborate on his confidence, as data does not show party affiliation for early voters, Harrison pointed to public polling that shows “either it’s tied or plus or minus one.”

“That means it’s about getting your voters to the polls, and we have been bringing in, you know, we have top leaders from the state that are all doing their part, and also a lot of a lot of surrogates that have been coming here,” he said.

Vice President Kamala Harris and former first lady Michelle Obama, in her first appearance on the campaign trail, held a rally in Kalamazoo on Saturday. Harrison said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries would visit the state too, and highlighted recent visits by Reps. Jim Clyburn and Jasmine Crockett.

Former President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at Suburban Collection Showplace on October 26, in Novi, Michigan.

Donald Trump sat down Friday with prominent podcast host Joe Rogan for a conversational interview that ran for nearly three hours — and the former president delivered his standard bombardment of false claims, at least 32 in all.

Many of those false claims are lies that were debunked months or even years ago. The claims spanned a variety of topics, including immigration policy, environmental and energy policy, the legitimacy of the 2020 election, Trump’s record in office, Vice President Kamala Harris, crowd sizes, and how schools deal with transgender children.

Here are some of the claims:

Migrants and murderers: Trump repeated his frequent false claim that “we had 13,099 murderers dropped in our country over the last three years.” In reality, as the Department of Homeland Security and independent experts have noted, that official figure is about immigrants with homicide convictions in the US today who entered the country over decades, including during Trump’s own administration, not over the past three years or under the Biden administration. You can read more here.

The outcome of the 2020 election: Trump repeated his lie that he won the 2020 election, falsely claiming, “I won that second election so easy.” He lost, fair and square, to Biden, who beat Trump 306-232 in the Electoral College and earned over 7 million more votes than Trump.

Trump and ISIS: Repeating one of his regular false claims, Trump said, “We defeated ISIS in record time. It was supposed to take years, and we did it in a matter of weeks.” The ISIS “caliphate” was declared fully liberated more than two years into Trump’s presidency.

Read more about Trump’s false claims he made to Rogan.

Tony Hinchcliffe arrives to speak before former President Donald Trump during a campaign rally at Madison Square Garden, on October 27, in New York.

A speaker at former President Donald Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden on Sunday referred to Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage.”

Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who hosts the podcast “Kill Tony,” was the first speaker during the programming at Trump’s rally in New York City.

“There’s a lot going on, like, I don’t know if you know this but there’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. Yeah. I think it’s called Puerto Rico,” Hinchcliffe said, receiving big laughs in the crowd.

Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign seized on the moment, quickly clipping the video and posting it on X. Harris on Sunday visited a Puerto Rican restaurant in north Philadelphia, where she spoke specifically to Puerto Rico’s challenges and discussed her policies focused on the island, including creating an opportunity economy task force.

The comedian’s comments come as Donald Trump has been calling the US “a garbage can for the world” as he rails against illegal immigration. The former president has said he thinks illegal immigration is the top issue this election and has frequently used dehumanizing language when referring to undocumented immigrants.

A screen displays a video of former President Donald Trump inside the arena on the day of a Trump rally at Madison Square Garden, in New York, on October 27.

Donald Trump is kicking off the final full week of the presidential race Sunday with a rally at Madison Square Garden, betting on his own showmanship as he seeks to fill the iconic venue and create a spectacle that will reach television and phone screens in all seven battleground states.

The former president is returning to his hometown of New York City — deep-blue turf that virtually no Republicans expect to win, but where signs of discontent and state and local Democratic leadership struggles could help endangered GOP incumbents hold House seats in the surrounding suburbs.

It’s the latest in a line of Trump visits to blue states that have also included a rally in California’s Coachella Valley this month, one on Long Island in the summer and a recent stop for an economic forum in Chicago.

For Trump, Sunday’s event signifies more than just a campaign stop. It’s also an important moment for him personally. The former president has long voiced a desire to take the stage at the Midtown Manhattan landmark. His name will most likely appear on the same kind of marquee that has so often welcomed guests such as Billy Joel, Elton John and other legendary entertainers.

New York remains a safely blue state, though Trump has privately and publicly said that he thinks he could win it, an idea those in his campaign have acknowledged is far from reality.

Read more about Trump’s upcoming rally in this deep-blue state here.

Vice President Kamala Harris met with youth basketball players as they were doing drills Sunday, the fourth stop she’s made in Philadelphia this afternoon with the election just nine days away.

The players she met with at the Alan Horwitz Sixth Man Center told her about their recent loss last weekend and the lessons they learned. Harris gave them some inspirational words and advice.

They also talked about middle school and academics as she encouraged the kids to think of their brains as a muscle.

“It’s a muscle and when you exercise it, it gets stronger,” she said.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz held a moment of silence at a campaign rally for those harmed by the federal government’s role in Indian boarding schools and stressed the importance of preserving the history of the abusive programs so it “can never be denied.”

Walz spoke at a Native American outreach event at a casino in Las Vegas and acknowledged President Joe Biden’s Friday visit to the Gila Crossing Community School in Arizona, where he formally apologized for the federally run Indian boarding school system, which the White House said “was designed to assimilate Native Americans by destroying Native culture, language and identity through harsh militaristic and assimilationist methods.”

Walz, who made the case directly to Native Americans during a visit to in Window Rock, Arizona, in Navajo Nation territory on Saturday, in Las Vegas reiterated his and Vice President Kamala Harris’ commitment to protecting tribal sovereignty and investing in Native American communities while portraying Donald Trump as undermining Indigenous communities as president and accusing him of making racist remarks about Native Americans in the past.

“(Trump) tried to block expanding of casinos, claiming that some tribes who were applying weren’t truly Native American,” Walz said.

In 1993 while speaking to a House subcommittee, Trump said, “They don’t look like Indians to me” in reference to Native Americans in Connecticut, rivals in the casino business.

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a visit at the Freddy and Tony's, a locally-owned Puerto Rican restaurant, as she campaigns in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on October 27.

Vice President Kamala Harris visited Freddy & Tony’s Restaurant, a Puerto Rican restaurant in north Philadelphia, telling patrons that she wants the country to move on from the “Trump era” and that she believes they are part of a “new generation of leadership.”

She also spoke specifically to Puerto Rico’s challenges and discussed her policies that are focused on the island.

“I’m going to create an opportunity economy task force for Puerto Rico,” she said to cheers.

Harris added that she wants to focus on two things: building economic opportunity for the island and improving the electrical grid.

“I really believe we are all a part of a new generation of leadership for our country that is optimistic and ambitious. And may I say for myself, quite impatient about knowing that we can get things done,” she said.

The NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles and the Cincinnati Bengals aren’t the only ones taking the fight to the football field Sunday, with Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump airing dueling campaign videos during the high-profile matchup.

The ads come as the candidates seek to reach voters in the key battleground state of Pennsylvania with Election Day just over a week away.

Harris’ ad, according to her campaign, “reminds viewers of how Trump has disrespected the city of Philadelphia using his own words” in a 30-second video titled “Philly vs. Trump” aimed directly at Philadelphia sports fans.

Together with other ads set to play during sporting events in Milwaukee and Pittsburgh, the Harris campaign is making an effort to energize male voters as the vice president seeks to narrow the gender gap in support for her and Trump. A CNN national poll of likely voters released Friday found Trump has the support of 51% of men compared with Harris’ 45% support.

Trump’s campaign, meanwhile, is launching a two-minute ad titled “Never Quit” — which focuses on the economy and immigration — that will air during the third quarter of the game Sunday.

The former president has made multiple appearances at football games across the US this campaign cycle, including the blockbuster Alabama-Georgia college football game last month and the Pittsburgh Steelers vs. New York Jets game in Pittsburgh last week.

CNN’s Aaron Pellish contributed to this post.

Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz sought to link Donald Trump’s Sunday rally at Madison Square Garden in New York City to a pro-Nazi gathering at the arena in 1939, suggesting the former president knows “exactly what they’re doing there.”

Walz told supporters during a stop in Henderson, Nevada, that “there’s a direct parallel” between Trump’s Madison Square Garden event and the notorious “Pro-American Rally” at the venue in 1939 that drew thousands of Nazi supporters.

In response, Trump’s campaign criticized the Harris campaign in two statements while pointing out that a Holocaust survivor is attending Sunday’s rally in New York.

“Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are flailing as their sinking campaign comes crashing down. They are despicable and disgusting people who have no respect for the American people, and they are willing to drag this country down because they have no decency or morals,” Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung told CNN.

The campaign also pointed to the fact that Holocaust survivor Jerry Wartski is attending the rally.

“Tim Walz is accusing a Holocaust survivor of attending a Nazi rally. Walz should be ashamed of himself and apologize,” campaign spokesperson Alex Pfeiffer told CNN.

Some context: Madison Square Garden’s history is not without controversy. It has played host to divisive events, including the notorious “Pro-American Rally” of 1939, a pro-Nazi gathering organized by the German American Bund and attended by thousands in the lead-up to World War II. Days later, a Communist Party rally filled the arena. In 1968, George Wallace, the onetime segregationist governor of Alabama, pushed a law-and-order message in a speech at the Garden days before the presidential election, where he carried five states as a third-party candidate.

CNN’s Kate Sullivan, Kristen Holmes, Eric Bradner and Gregory Krieg contributed to this post.

"I Voted" stickers displayed during early voting at a polling location at the Ellen M. Bozeman Government Center in Arlington, Virginia, on October 26.

A federal appeals court refused to reinstate a Virginia purge program aimed at culling suspected noncitizens from the voter rolls, leaving in place a lower court ruling that found the program likely violated a federal prohibition on “systematic” removals in the 90 days before an election.

The Sunday decision by the 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals sets up a Supreme Court fight over the purge program with early voting already under way in Virginia. Republicans all the way up to former President Donald Trump have seized on the case — a consolidation of lawsuits brought by the Biden administration and private groups — as they have pushed the narrative that voting by noncitizens poses a major threat to the election. It is a very rare occurrence.

The new order noted that Virginia officials are still allowed to prevent noncitizen voting “by canceling registrations on an individualized basis or prosecuting any noncitizen who votes.”

US District Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles, a Biden appointee, previously ordered election officials to restore the registrations of the roughly 1,600 people who had been removed under the program during the 90-day “quiet period.” Six-hundred of those individuals were removed because they checked a box during a Department of Motor Vehicles interaction declaring them non-citizen and the other 1,000 were removed because of records in government databases that indicated non-citizenship.

At the heart of the dispute is whether that approach is the sort of “systematic” purge program Congress sought to freeze with the 90-day provision in the 1993 National Voter Registration Act, because of the tendency of those programs to remove eligible voters as well. Those suing Virginia say that within 36 hours of receiving a list of the purged voters from the state, they were able to confirm that at least 18 were in fact citizens who were eligible to vote.

Vice President Kamala Harris listens during her visit at a barber shop "Philly Cuts", as she campaigns in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on October 27.

Vice President Kamala Harris on Sunday visited Hakim’s Bookstore and Gift Shop, a Black-owned business, and Philly Cuts, a West Philadelphia barbershop, to meet and speak with voters with just nine days until the election.

While at Philly Cuts, Harris took part in a discussion with Black men moderated by State Rep. Jordan Harris.

She spoke about her focus on creating better incentives for teachers, especially better pay and recruiting more Black men to teach.

“We don’t pay teachers enough. Student loan debt is an issue. Thinking about how we create incentives to actually recruit and retain more Black men as teachers,” she said.

At the bookstore, Harris greeted with people inside, including Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker.

While being shown the children’s section of the store, she took a picture with an 11-year-old boy, telling him she is “counting on our young leaders.”

She then asked him what books to get for an 8-year-old and 6-year-old, the ages of Harris’ great-nieces.

Sen. Tammy Baldwin and Republican millionaire banker Eric Hovde.

Sen. Tammy Baldwin seemed to be in a comfortable spot in August in her race against Eric Hovde, CEO of a $3 billion bank.

But then the GOP zeroed in on a new line of attack. In the run-up to Election Day, Republicans have put a spotlight on Baldwin’s same-sex relationship and the career of her partner. And Baldwin, who became the first out gay senator when elected in 2012, has been on the defensive.

Since August, Hovde and GOP groups – including a super PAC linked to his brother – have cut no fewer than eight ads in a multimillion-dollar campaign accusing Baldwin of a conflict of interest because her partner of six years, Maria Brisbane, is a financial adviser for high-end clients, a charge lacking proof and one Baldwin strongly denies.

As Republicans say the attack is fair game, Democrats see a dog whistle, noting that questions are rarely raised about girlfriends of male senators.

“I think he is,” Baldwin told CNN when asked whether she believed Hovde is trying to remind voters that she’s gay.

Hovde pushed back.

Hovde has leaned heavily on the culture wars in his closing argument, attacking Baldwin over transgender policies and homing in on the senator’s partner’s work in an effort to bring GOP voters and right-leaning independents into the fold.

Read more about the Wisconsin Senate race here.

Top election officials from the battleground states of Arizona and Pennsylvania said Sunday that the 2024 election will remain secure amid increasing threats from foreign agents.

Pennsylvania Secretary State Al Schmidt and Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, who occupy nonpartisan roles, told CBS’ “Face the Nation” they have been preparing for attempts from foreign agents to interfere in the election.

Fontes said security protocols at the polls and tabulation centers have intensified and are “absolutely and completely different from 2020.” Election workers in Arizona at the Maricopa County Tabulation Center will be protected behind bullet-proof glass, with police drones and rooftop snipers deployed for extra security.

This election cycle has seen a rise in threats from foreign countries looking to sow distrust in the US election process. US intelligence found Russian influence actors spreading allegations of undocumented immigrants voting illegally. Fontes said such allegations suggesting the election will be overturned by false narratives is part of the “nonsense” he is dealing with.

“Unfortunately we still have candidates, elected officials and folks with large megaphones lying,” Fontes said. “They are basically playing the role of useful idiots.”

Schmidt said he is “very concerned” about a fabricated video that depicts a poll worker destroying ballots in Pennsylvania. US intelligence officials determined that Russia is behind the fake clip.

Both Fontes and Schmidt affirmed they would certify the results of the presidential election regardless of its outcome.

Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, will barnstorm seven battleground states — Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia, North Carolina, Arizona, Nevada and Pennsylvania — in a final push before Election Day,

The campaign’s “When We Vote, We Win” concert and rally series will feature performances from artists including Maggie Rogers, Maná, Gracie Abrams, Los Tigres del Norte, Mumford & Sons, Remi Wolf and The National’s Matt Berninger and Aaron Dessner. Designed as “hubs” for organizing and volunteer recruitment, the campaign hopes these events will energize voters before the November election.

Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.

The latest update to the CNN Poll of Polls suggests Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are running near even nationally in the race for the White House, as late-October polls have largely pointed to a photo finish.

The latest poll added to the average, the ABC News/Ipsos poll out Sunday morning, suggests a narrow lead for Harris, with 51% of likely voters across the country supporting her and 47% backing Trump. That edge rests on consolidated support among core Democratic groups that is somewhat different from what other polls have found, but is closer to past performance for Democratic candidates in recent presidential elections.

The ABC poll suggests 90% of Black likely voters and 64% of Hispanic likely voters support Harris, compared with lower levels of support for her with those groups in other recent polling, such as the latest releases from CNN and the New York Times/Siena College. ABC/Ipsos also suggests that Harris’ backers are more likely to turn out, with the margin among registered voters at a narrower 49% Harris to 47% Trump. Earlier in October, the previous ABC/Ipsos poll found 50% of likely voters backing Harris and 48% behind Trump.

Overall, the CNN Poll of Polls stands at 48% Harris to 47% Trump as the candidates begin their final full week of campaigning before Election Day. The previous average stood at 49% Harris to 47% Trump.

The average will be updated throughout the remainder of the campaign as new national polling is released.

Vice President Kamala Harris expressed optimism about her path to victory as she began a multi-stop tour of Philadelphia on Sunday, telling reporters that battleground Pennsylvania “will be key” to her electoral map.

“Philadelphia is a very important part of our path to victory, and it is the reason I’m spending time here. … But I’m feeling very optimistic about the enthusiasm that is here, and the commitment that folks of every background have to vote,” Harris said following remarks at a church.

Harris dismissed questions about her campaign’s internal polling, saying, “My polling is my instinct,” but that she believes “the momentum is with us.”

Amid a spate of election misinformation, Harris said she was “heartened” by meeting people who “don’t want to be played” and are “eager to hear more details about my plan for them.”

Pressed on how her policies can affect Philadelphians who have been impacted by gentrification, she pointed to her plans to ensure fair appraisal values, address alleged price gouging and extend child tax credits and tax credits for small businesses.

Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont warned that former President Donald Trump has a “strong tendency to authoritarianism,” after Vice President Kamala Harris joined Trump’s former chief of staff, retired Marine Gen. John Kelly, in labeling Trump a “fascist.”

“Look, this is a guy who provoked an insurrection on January 6, 2021, to prevent — in the first time in American history — a peaceful transfer of power.”

Sanders also labeled billionaire Elon Musks’ relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin a “conflict of interest” and floated the possibility of the SpaceX founder gaining significant influence in a potential Trump administration.

“What really interests me is if, God forbid, Trump would win, whether it would be Elon Musk running the government and Trump working for him, or the other way around,” Sanders said.

Voters in the presidential battlegrounds have seen a heavy rotation of presidential campaign ads this month, as their states have been blitzed by tens of millions of dollars in spending by the campaigns of Donald Trump, Kamala Harris and their respective allies.

The ads have focused on an evolving set of issues, including the economy, abortion rights, immigration and crime. And in the closing weeks of the race, Republican advertisers have also poured money into attack ads focused on transgender policies, while Democrats have increasingly focused on criticizing the former president’s character.

Here are the some of the TV ads that the presidential candidates and their allies have spent the most on during the first three weeks of October, according to data from the ad tracking firm AdImpact.

1. FF PAC – ‘Not rich as hell’ (Pro-Harris)

The ad features a voter from Jacksonville, Florida, watching a clip of Trump at a 2023 Mar-a-Lago fundraiser, praising his “rich as hell” donors and promising, “We’re gonna give you tax cuts.” She reacts disapprovingly, saying, “I am not rich as hell. I work hard. I scrape to get by. Donald Trump wants to give tax breaks to billionaires, but Kamala Harris has plans to help us.”

2. FF PAC – ‘Fair Share’ (Pro-Harris)

During the first three weeks of October, FF PAC also put more than $20 million behind a similar ad, featuring the same clip of Trump at the Mar-a-Lago fundraiser but with a different voter, this one from battleground Pennsylvania, sharing his misgivings.

See more of the top presidential campaign ads aired nationwide here.

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a Souls to the Polls Sunday service at Divine Faith Ministries International Church in Jonesboro, Georgia, on October 20.

Vice President Kamala Harris addressed the congregation of the Church of Christian Compassion in West Philadelphia on Sunday, pointing to lessons from the Apostle Paul as a reminder of how God’s power works through people. Harris also told the congregation that with nine days left until the election they have the power to “fulfill the promise of America.”

“Paul understood something profound. I believe, pastor, that God’s power doesn’t just work for us, it also works within us,” Harris told the congregation.

“People feel real pain. But like Paul, we must remember that divine power works through our actions, and we have the power to move past division and chaos,” she said later after being interrupted by a protestor.

Harris also said that the next nine days until the election will “test” them, but that they have the power to decide their future.

“It is in and within our power to fulfill the promise of America, the promise to create opportunity for every child, to protect our basic freedoms, the power to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with our God,” Harris said.

After Harris’ remarks, the pastor told the congregation that there would be a bus outside to take people to the polls after worship today.

“There are 20 buses at places of faith all over the city of Philadelphia,” he added.

Mark Cuban speaks at a campaign event for Vice President Kamala Harris at University Wisconsin-La Crosse in La Crosse, Wisconsin, on October 17.

Billionaire businessman Mark Cuban, who has endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, said that it’s “not a stretch” to call former President Donald Trump a “fascist,” after Harris called Trump one during CNN’s town hall last week.

“Donald Trump is not a normal candidate, and I think it’s not a stretch to call Donald Trump a fascist,” Cuban said in an interview with ABC News’ “This Week” that aired Sunday.

Cuban also claimed that he hasn’t given Harris “a penny,” saying, “If I have a good idea and if I feel passionate about the candidate, I’ll help.”

“I don’t want them to work with me because I paid them to work with me,” he said.

Independent Senate candidate Dan Osborn speaks during his campaign stop at the Handlebend coffeshop in O'Neill, Nebraska, on October 14.

Independent Nebraska Senate candidate Dan Osborn declined Sunday to say who he was voting for in the presidential race and refused to say which party he would caucus with if he should win.

Osborn is running against Republican Sen. Deb Fischer. Osborn, who says he has been a registered independent since he could vote, has refused endorsements from any political figure or party.

Osborn refused to commit to caucusing with either the Democrats or Republicans should he win, saying, “I need to navigate down the middle because that’s what, that’s what the two-party doom loop means. It means we’re so far apart and politics is so polarized.”

Despite his insistence that he’s running without the backing of a national party, Osborn is benefiting from a competitive congressional race in Omaha with Nebraska attracting national investments from presidential contenders because of the way the state allocates electoral votes with major focus on the second district in Omaha. Trump won the district in 2016 but lost it in 2020.

Vice President Kamala Harris said her upcoming address on the National Mall with the White House behind her, the same place that ex-President Donald Trump spoke on January 6, 2021, will help visually sharpen her closing argument for voters ahead of Election Day.

During the interview with CBS News’ Norah O’Donnell airing Sunday, Harris also continued to press the case against Trump, saying that her “first priority” as president would be to restore a federal right to an abortion.

Harris told O’Donnell that her “first priority” if elected president would be to pass national legislation restoring abortion rights to the standard that existed under Roe v. Wade but would not explicitly say what, if any, restrictions she would then support as part of that legislation.

“I support Roe versus Wade being put back into law by Congress and to restore the fundamental right of women to make decisions about their own body. It is that basic,” she said when asked if she would support restrictions after fetal viability.

Pressed again, she said: “I’ve told you, let’s put back in place Roe v. Wade.”

While Roe v. Wade established a federal right to an abortion, the ruling did allow for restrictions after fetal viability.

Former GOP Rep. Liz Cheney pushed back Sunday on Ohio Sen. JD Vance’s assertion that she, and other conservatives who have endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, are motivated by a desire to draw America into additional military conflicts.

Cheney said the Republican vice presidential nominee’s statement is “completely divorced from any connection to the truth” and attacked Vance for attempting “contortions” to justify ex-President Donald Trump’s past dictatorial remarks.

Cheney said on CNN’s “State of the Union” that Vance’s comments during an interview that aired earlier in the show reflect an understanding by the Trump campaign, and its Republican allies, that Trump suggesting using the military on political opponents if he’s reelected is “damaging” for Trump’s campaign.

Cheney’s comments come after Vance suggested that she and other GOP Trump critics hope to push the US into more military conflicts abroad.

Cheney said Vance’s attacks on her foreign policy worldview show a lack of understanding of her position, which she characterized as preventing war by practicing “peace through strength” while attacking Trump for being willing to side with Russia over US allies.

Sen. Lindsey Graham speaks during a news conference at on July 31, in Washington, DC. 

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham criticized the former generals who have issued dire warnings about a second Trump presidency, including Trump’s former chief of staff retired Gen. John Kelly, saying they should have a “little self-reflection” about the job they did before they criticize the former president.

This comes after Kelly entered the 2024 fray in stunning fashion during a series of interviews published Tuesday, saying the former president fits “into the general definition of fascist” and that he spoke of the loyalty of Hitler’s Nazi generals.

In an interview on Sunday with CNN’s Jake Tapper, Ohio Sen. JD Vance pushed back hard against what has become a favored attack from the Harris campaign, which frequently notes that a growing number of prominent former Trump administration officials have said their old boss is unfit for office.

Vance claimed those former administration officials are targeting ex-President Donald Trump because he rebuffed their efforts to check his behavior and push to start “ridiculous military conflicts.” The group includes Trump’s longest-serving chief of staff, John Kelly, who told The New York Times last week that the former president fits the “general definition of fascist.”

Vance argued that Kelly’s concerns over Trump were based on policy and “not about personality.”

“No, (Kelly) agrees with Trump on most policy,” Tapper said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “He disagrees with Trump on how Trump views his role … and the fascism and the authoritarianism.”

Vance sought to shift the terms of the discussion from Trump’s behavior to the records of Kelly and other anti-Trump conservative Republicans.

“All these people, Jake, they came into office thinking that they could control Donald Trump, that when he said he wanted peace in the world,” Vance said.

“Mike Pence thought he could control Donald Trump? Really?” Tapper asked.

“Yes, he did. And when he found out that he couldn’t, they all turned on Donald Trump,” Vance said.

Read more about Vance’s defense of Trump amid a growing tide of GOP critics here.

Sen. J.D. Vance introduces former President Donald Trump during a rally at Herb Brooks National Hockey Center on July 27, in St Cloud, Minnesota.

Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance insisted that Donald Trump’s attacks on “the enemy within” were not directed at Democratic Party leaders but dissenting Americans he described as “far-left lunatics” poised to riot if the former president wins in November.

Grilled by CNN’s Jake Tapper on Trump’s use of the loaded phrase, Vance defended his ticket mate, saying the former president would not unleash the military on “Americans writ large.”

“He’s said publicly that he wants to use the military to go after the enemy within, which is the American people,” Tapper said in an interview that aired Sunday on “State of the Union.”

Trump earlier this month initially suggested the use of military force on Election Day to handle the “enemy from within,” referring to potential chaos sown by “radical-left lunatics.” Then, in a Fox News interview, Trump referred to California Rep. Adam Schiff and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as “an enemy from within.” Most recently, appearing on a podcast with Joe Rogan on Friday, Trump said “the enemy within” – Americans with differing politics – pose a greater threat to the US than nuclear-armed North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Read more about Vance’s reaction to Trump’s “enemy from within” comments here.

Top executives at some of the country’s largest tech companies have sought out Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump ahead of Election Day, looking to get an audience with the former president as the likelihood he returns to the Oval Office sits at a coin flip.

Trump and Apple CEO Tim Cook chatted last week about the iPhone maker’s ongoing legal issues in Europe, the former president divulged in an interview Thursday. Later in the day, Trump told a Las Vegas audience that the “head of Google,” who is CEO Sundar Pichai, called to marvel over the Republican nominee’s campaign stop slinging french fries at a Pennsylvania McDonald’s.

“He said, ‘This is one of the hottest things. We have never seen anything like this,’” Trump recalled. He retold the story Friday on Joe Rogan’s podcast and identified the executive as Pichai.

Google and Apple also face mounting legal headwinds overseas, where the European Union has slapped the companies with multibillion-dollar judgments for tax avoidance.

Trump on Thursday said he discussed the ruling with Cook, with whom he has fostered a relationship dating back to his first term. He suggested the outcome for Apple will change if he wins in November.

Read more about Trump’s rekindled relationship with tech moguls here.

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign rally at the Wings Event Center in Kalamazoo, Michigan, on October 26.

More than a thousand religious leaders endorsed Kamala Harris on Sunday, bolstering the Democratic presidential nominee’s push to emphasize how faith is informing her campaign ahead of next week’s election.

Among those backing the vice president is the Rev. William J. Barber II, a North Carolina-based faith leader who has pushed the Biden administration to call for a ceasefire in Gaza.

The endorsements come as Harris has been leaning on her faith – and her ties to Black faith communities – as she seeks to turn out Black voters in her closing pitch.

The vice president, who attended a Black Baptist church in Oakland growing up, appeared with her longtime pastor, the Rev. Amos C. Brown III of San Francisco’s Third Baptist Church, as part of a “souls to the polls” push in Georgia last weekend, a widespread effort to engage Black churchgoers in swing states.

Former President Donald Trump has also sought to court religious voters and encourage White evangelicals, longtime allies of the Republican Party, to vote.

Read more about campaign efforts to win over religious voters here.

Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.

Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are making their final pitches to voters as Election Day nears.

Both campaigns are urging supporters to cast their ballots early and attempting to reach the vanishingly small pools of undecided voters — or those who know which candidate they prefer but are not sure whether they will vote.

Here’s what each campaign will be up to on Sunday:

Harris: Harris will travel to Philadelphia, where she will hold a campaign event and is expected to make a series of local stops. Pennsylvania is a critical battleground in the race for 270 electoral votes — both members of the Republican presidential ticket spent time in the Keystone State on Saturday.

An interview with Harris and journalist Norah O’Donnell will also air on “CBS Sunday Morning” and “Face the Nation.”

Walz: Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz is set to hold campaign events in Las Vegas. Nevada is another key swing state, where the Harris-Walz campaign has focused significant efforts on rallying Hispanic voters to the polls.

Trump: The former president is returning to his hometown on Sunday for a rally in one of New York City’s most iconic landmarks: Madison Square Garden.

New York is a deep-blue state that Trump is seen as having no real chance to win, but his campaign believes widespread media coverage will reach into all seven swing states. And it could help the GOP in the battle for control of the US House of Representatives, with several New York-area seats currently held by vulnerable Republicans.

Vance: Trump’s running mate is expected to appear with him at the Madison Square Garden rally, as well as at a campaign fundraiser in New York before the big event.

Vance will also appear on CNN’s “State of the Union” this morning.

Read more about the candidates’ final pitches to voters here.