WASHINGTON (AP) — A divided America weighed a stark choice for the nation’s future Tuesday as a presidential campaign marked by upheaval and rancor approached its finale. Voters were deciding whether to send Republican Donald Trump back to the White House or make Vice President Kamala Harris the first female president. Polls closed Tuesday in Georgia and…… Continue Reading
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The presidential campaign comes down to a final sprint across a handful of states on the eve of Election Day. This year’s race has careened through a felony trial, an incumbent president being pushed off the ticket and multiple assassination attempts. Kamala Harris is spending all of Monday in Pennsylvania, whose 19 electoral votes offer the largest prize among the states expected to determine the Electoral College outcome. Donald Trump is making four stops in three states, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Michigan. He’ll end in Grand Rapids, where he completed his first two campaigns.… Continue Reading
GASTONIA, N.C. (AP) — When it comes to women, Donald Trump has stuck to a worldview in the campaign’s final days that his critics consider to be dated and paternalistic. The former president himself even acknowledges that some of that language has gotten him “into so much trouble” with a crucial group of voters. Trump says he’ll be the “protector” of women, whether they like it or not. The Republican presidential nominee has campaigned with men who’ve used sexist and crude language. And Trump has expressed alarm at the idea that wives might vote differently from their husbands.… Continue Reading
GASTONIA, N.C. (AP) — Donald Trump will rally supporters in North Carolina every day until Tuesday’s election. That’s a flurry of late activity in the only swing state that he won in both his 2016 and 2020 campaigns. Late in the campaign, Trump has looked to expand the electoral map and project strength with trips to New Mexico and Virginia, two Democratic states not widely viewed as competitive. But he’s also putting considerable time into North Carolina, which last backed a Democrat for president in 2008. Trump’s hope for victory is significantly more complicated if he were to lose North Carolina. The fast-growing state gave Trump his smallest margin of victory over Democrat Joe Biden four years ago.… Continue Reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — Top House Republicans are seeking documents and internal communications regarding President Joe Biden’s statement earlier this week in which he appeared to take a swipe at supporters of Donald Trump. White House press officials altered the official transcript of Biden’s statement, drawing objections from the federal workers who document such remarks for posterity. The lawmakers say “The White House cannot simply rewrite President Biden’s rhetoric,” and are questioning whether whether the decision to create “a false transcript and manipulate or alter the accurate transcript” produced for the National Archives and Records Administration was a violation of federal law.… Continue Reading
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Early in-person voting in North Carolina ends Saturday, but the number of people who’ve cast ballots by this method already has exceeded the total from four years ago. State Board of Elections Executive Director Karen Brinson Bell said that 3.71 million people had cast early in-person ballots as of early Friday. The previous record was 3.63 million people voting in fall 2020. Early in-person voting has become increasing popular in the presidential battleground state over several election cycles. State and national Republicans this year have encouraged supporters to vote early. Brinson Bell said voter turnout in counties affected by Hurricane Helene continues to outpace turnout statewide.… Continue Reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — White House press officials altered the official transcript of a call in which President Joe Biden appeared to take a swipe at supporters of Donald Trump, drawing objections from the federal workers tasked with recording the president’s remarks for posterity. That’s according to two U.S. government officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity and an internal email obtained by The Associated Press. The White House found itself scrambling to respond to a wave of queries from reporters after Biden appeared to refer to Trump supporters as “garbage” during a call with Latino activists. In that moment, there also was a difference of opinion between the press office and the official stenographers on just what Biden said.… Continue Reading
PHOENIX (AP) — Kamala Harris says Donald Trump’s comment that he would protect women whether they “like it or not” shows that the Republican presidential nominee does not understand women’s rights to make decisions about their own lives. Harris spoke Thursday in Wisconsin before setting out to spend the day campaigning in the Western battleground states of Arizona and Nevada. The remarks by Trump come as he has struggled to connect with women voters and as Harris courts women in both parties with a message centered on freedom. She’s making the pitch that women should be free to make decisions about their bodies and that if Trump is elected, more restrictions will follow.… Continue Reading
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Donald Trump is traveling to New Mexico and Virginia in the campaign’s final days. It’s a risky detour from the seven battleground states to spend time in places where Republican presidential candidates haven’t won in decades. The former president campaigned in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on Thursday during a swing that will also take him to the battleground states of Arizona and Nevada. He’ll be in Salem, Virginia, on Saturday. The Trump team is projecting optimism and thinks he can be competitive against Democrat Kamala Harris in New Mexico and Virginia.… Continue Reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — Across the U.S., people’s phones are pinging with text messages from Donald Trump, Kamala Harris and their allies. Both sides are working the texting pipeline aggressively in the presidential campaign’s last days. It’s a cheap and easy way to reach millions of potential donors and voters. It’s also an aggravation for many. At recent Harris and Trump rallies, some of the attendees said enough already. But the texting torrent is not bound to let up before Election Day next week, if it even does then.… Continue Reading