Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris arrives for a rally at the Resch Expo Center on Oct. 17, 2024 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The event was one of three Harris had scheduled in the swing state that day. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON — With 18 days until Election Day, the presidential candidates and their surrogates are hitting battleground states that have begun early voting, as well as sitting down for interviews with targeted audiences.
Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, will be in two swing states next week with two Democratic celebrities: former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama.
Harris and Barack Obama will head to Georgia, which has already begun early voting, on Thursday. She’ll then campaign in Michigan with Michelle Obama, as early voting starts Oct. 26.
Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, appeared Friday on a popular sports podcast by NFL commentator and host Rich Eisen, where Walz — a former high school football coach — provided an analysis of the upcoming Detroit Lions-Minnesota Vikings football game on Sunday.
Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, has his own surrogate in tech billionaire Elon Musk.
Musk, the Tesla CEO and owner of X, formerly Twitter, campaigned on behalf of Trump, attending rallies and holding a Thursday town hall in the battleground state of Pennsylvania. More town halls with Musk are planned in the coming days.
Musk, who is also an immigrant, complained about immigration during the town hall and said that he’s “pro-immigrant, I just want to be sure that people who come here are going to be assets to society.”
He has donated about $75 million to organizations supporting Trump’s reelection, according to recent campaign filings.
Al Smith dinner
Trump late Thursday attended the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner, a ritzy white-tie event that raises millions for Catholic charities in New York. Organizers invite the presidential candidates to share a stage before Election Day for some light comedic roasting.
Harris did not appear at the charity occasion due to campaigning in the critical battleground state of Wisconsin, but sent in a video. The Trump campaign criticized her for not attending.
“Kamala — who isn’t funny, despises Catholics, and was too afraid of being roasted by President Trump — became the first presidential nominee since 1984 to skip the event,” the campaign said in a statement. The National Catholic Reporter reports the Harris campaign says it is committed to engagement with Catholic voters.
The only presidential candidate to purposely skip the dinner was Democratic nominee Walter Mondale and presidential candidates were not invited in 1996 and 2004. In 1992, the dinner was on the same night as the presidential debate between Democrat Bill Clinton and Republican George H.W. Bush.
Pope Francis has criticized both candidates. “Both are against life, be it the one who kicks out migrants, or be it the one who kills babies,″ Francis said.
Harris campaign spokesperson Ammar Moussa said in a statement that Trump’s performance at the dinner was “unstable.”
“He stumbled over his words and lashed out when the crowd wouldn’t laugh with him,” Moussa said. “The rare moments he was off script, he went on long incomprehensible rambles, reminding Americans how unstable he’s become.”
Trump in friendly environs
Trump has largely stuck to media appearances with conservative outlets and appeared on podcasts geared toward young men.
He went on a “PBD Podcast” that aired Thursday where with the host, Patrick Bet-David, Trump again questioned Harris’ race.
This is not the first time Trump has publicly commented on Harris’ race, as he did in Chicago during the National Association of Black Journalists in July. Harris is Black and Indian; her father is Jamaican, and her late mother was Indian.
“They have a woman who is Black, although you would say she’s Indian, but she is Black … a lot of people didn’t know,” Trump said on the podcast.
Trump has also backed out of several interviews with traditional media outlets like CBS’ “60 Minutes” and CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”
Joe Kernen, co-host of the “Squawk Box” said Friday that Trump canceled a scheduled interview.
CNN offered to host a town hall with both candidates. Trump has not committed, but Harris will participate in the CNN town hall on Wednesday.
Trump objects to lessons on slavery
Trump appeared on “Fox & Friends” early Friday, where he called Harris a “Marxist” and pushed back against Harris’ criticism that he is “unstable.”
“I am the most stable human being,” Trump said.
On the show, viewers sent in questions. One asked how Trump would handle education policy. Trump said that he would support school choice and would get rid of the U.S. Department of Education.
He added that he would withhold federal funding from public schools that teach about slavery in U.S. history.
“If they wanna get cute, then you don’t send them the money,” Trump said, referring to public schools in states like California, which are Democratic strongholds.
One of the hosts, Brian Kilmeade, asked Trump how he plans to reach out to women in the final days of the election, as Harris is outperforming him with that voting bloc.
Trump said that he does “very well with women, and I think it’s all nonsense.”
Overall, women who are registered to vote support Harris by 52% compared to 43% for Trump, according to the Pew Research Center.
“You have one issue, you have the issue of abortion,” Trump said. “Without abortion, the women love me. They like me anyway.”
Trump has often taken credit for ending Roe v. Wade, which granted the constitutional right to an abortion, by appointing three conservative justices to the U.S. Supreme Court.
What’s next
Both campaigns have a busy weekend.
Harris will head to Detroit, Michigan on Saturday for a campaign event and then to Atlanta, Georgia. In the Peach State she will be joined by R&B singer Usher for a campaign rally, where she will focus on the importance of early voting.
Walz will travel to Chicago on Saturday to attend a campaign reception. Walz will then head to Omaha, Nebraska, for another campaign reception and will later give remarks at a rally.
On Saturday night, Trump will energize his base at a rally in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. He’ll also hold a town hall Sunday evening in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Trump’s running mate, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, is heading to Waukesha, Wisconsin on Sunday for a campaign event.