Election 2024 live updates: Trump rallies following Al Smith dinner; Harris visits Michigan

Harris asked rally attendees in Oakland County, Michigan, to shout their own names.

"That's what I'm talking about!" Harris exclaimed as supporters yelled their names. "'Cause it's about you! It's about your family. It's about you."

Trump suggested during tonight's roundtable in Oakland County that Catholic voters should back him because he showed up last night to the Al Smith dinner, an annual event benefitting Catholic charities.

"We should have gotten about 100% of the Catholic vote last night, because I showed up," Trump said.

The former president also criticized Harris for not attending "the big Catholic event" and took aim at her recorded video message to attendees, arguing it was “not an appropriate tape” for the occasion.

During a roundtable with voters in in Oakland County, Michigan, Trump harshly criticized his opponent, saying Harris is a "disaster" and that the country will be "finished" if she is elected president next month.

"This woman has no idea what she’s doing, and we can’t let her be president. I don’t want to be rude about it. We can’t let her be president. This country is finished if that happens," Trump said. "So we have to stop her."

During a Lansing, Michigan, campaign event courting union voters, Harris slammed Trump as "an existential threat to America's labor movement," a line she has previously used while campaigning.

She played a highlight reel of Trump criticizing the United Auto Workers union, saying he "used to hate to pay overtime," and arguing that "we could have our child" do certain assembly tasks.

"He's got his club," Harris said, arguing that "union workers are not part of his club."

While union voters remain a left-leaning voting bloc, Trump seems to be making inroads among union workers ahead of this year's presidential contest, with a handful of powerful unions declining to endorse Harris amid signs that their members were divided.

At a campaign office stop in Hamtramck, Michigan, Trump said it was “fake news” that he would deport legal immigrants.

The Democratic mayor of Hamtramck, Amer Ghalib, who endorsed the former president, told Trump onstage today that one thing Democrats “keep sending to our communities to scare” residents is messaging that they will be deported, even though some are second- and third-generation immigrants. When asked how he would respond to those accusations, Trump denied them.

“Fake news,” Trump said. “Every week, they have a different concept for me.”

Trump has often called for mass deportations, including in Springfield, Ohio, where many Haitian immigrants work and live legally under federal programs.

Nikki Haley is in talks to join Trump on the campaign trail, with the goal of reaching disaffected Republicans, Two sources familiar with the planning confirmed to NBC News.

The discussions include the possibility of a town hall, one of the people said.

The talks were first reported by The Bulwark.

Trump teased a potential event with Haley during an appearance on Fox and Friends on Friday morning. When asked if he would call his former primary opponent to help win over reluctant Republicans, Trump said, “I’ll do what I have to do.”

In the city of Green Bay, a new ballot drop box was ordered for this year’s election. It weighs 1,200 pounds and has been permanently installed outside City Hall.

Green Bay City Clerk Celestine Jeffreys said there has been no trouble with the drop box. A camera overlooks it and is recording 24/7. The footage is maintained for 120 days.

In Suamico, a village nine miles north of Green Bay, Clerk Michelle Bartoletti received an open records request for the surveillance footage of their ballot drop box.

The request from True the Vote, a Texas-based vote watch organization, was received on Oct. 3 and asked for all footage recorded from Sep. 19 through Nov. 5. 

GOP super PACs focused on Senate races are expanding their investments in Pennsylvania's hotly contested Senate race, according to figures shared first with NBC News.

Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC aligned with Senate Minority Leader, is adding $2.3 million to its buy in the Keystone State while American Crossroads is spending $1.1 million.

The figures are fractions of the tens of millions of dollars that have been spent on the airwaves in Democratic Sen. Bob Casey's race against Republican Dave McCormick. But the continued investments are signs that Republicans view the state as a top pickup opportunity.

Vice President Kamala Harris on Friday continued to steer clear of criticizing President Joe Biden, arguing that vice presidents not denigrating the commander in chief is an American tradition.

After she delivered remarks at an afternoon campaign rally, Harris was asked by NBC News to identify one policy she would have done differently from Biden over the last 3 1/2 years.

“To be very candid with you, even including Mike Pence, vice presidents are not critical of their presidents. I think that really, actually, in terms of the tradition of it, and also just going forward, it does not make for a productive and important relationship,” Harris said.

Read the full story here.

A Trump supporter who stormed the U.S. Capitol and assaulted law enforcement officers now says she was “duped” by the then-president’s lies about the 2020 election.

Dana Jean Bell was sentenced to 17 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Kelly yesterday. Federal prosecutors had sought 27 months in federal prison, saying Bell “belligerently pushed, grabbed, and verbally attacked countless U.S. Capitol Police (‘USCP’) and Metropolitan Police Department (‘MPD’) officers who were attempting to clear rioters from inside the United States Capitol Building.”

Bell pleaded guilty in July to one count of assaulting officers. Her behavior included giving “officers the middle finger while scowling at them and repeatedly yelling ‘F--- YOU’ towards them,” prosecutors said. 

Read the full story here.

Harris tore into Trump during her Grand Rapids, Michigan, rally this afternoon, denouncing his recent comments about Democrats and his opponents being "the enemy from within."

"Just months ago, the United States Supreme Court basically told the former president he is effectively immune no matter what he does in the White House," she said.

Harris continued: "Just imagine Donald Trump with no guardrails. Just imagine he who has vowed he would be a dictator on day one, he who calls Americans who disagree with him 'the enemy from within.' You know where that language comes from? 'The enemy from within,' talking about Americans. He who says he would use the military to go after them, American citizens. He who has called for the 'termination of the Constitution of the United States of America.'"

In Grand Rapids, Harris called Trump an "unserious man" who could cause "brutally serious" consequences if elected president. She also made critiques on Trump saying he had "concepts of a plan" during the debate last month.

"Donald Trump is an unserious man, and the consequences of him ever getting back into the White House are brutally serious. Brutally serious. So on that point about concepts of a plan. It’s funny. We thought it was ridiculously hilarious when we first heard it," she said. "But here's the thing about that: He is basically going to threaten the health insurance of 45 million people based on a concept."

Harris will join former President Barack Obama for a joint get-out-the-vote rally in Georgia on Thursday, during the early voting period in the state, the Harris-Walz campaign announced today.

Harris questioned Trump's energy on the campaign trail at her rally this afternoon in Grand Rapids, Michigan, wondering why he has opposed participating in more debates and why he's recently backed out of interviews.

"He is, as we have seen, only focused on himself, and now he is ducking debates and canceling interviews. Come on," Harris said, appearing to refer to interviews he had apparently agreed to on CNBC's "Squawk Box" and CBS' "60 Minutes."

Harris continued: "His own campaign team recently said it is because of exhaustion. Well, if you are exhausted on the campaign trail, it raises real questions about whether you are fit for the toughest job in the world."

As she entered the stage in Michigan, Harris was greeted by a loud crowd who sang "Happy Birthday" to her. She replied by saying thank you, but adding, "Let's get to work."

Harris turns 60 on Sunday.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Friday called the judge overseeing the Jan. 6-related federal criminal case against him “the most evil person,” despite threats U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan has already faced from his supporters.

Trump also called special counsel Jack Smith, who has faced threats from Trump supporters as well, “a sick puppy” — a term he frequently deploys against figures he dislikes — during a podcast with right-wing media personality Dan Bongino.

Trump slammed the judge for releasing hundreds of pages of documents Friday — most of them heavily redacted — that Smith had submitted in connection with an earlier filing arguing against Trump’s motion to dismiss the case.

After launching her “Mama Bear Initiative,” Kari Lake took questions from the media, where she did not commit to accepting the results of her Senate race against Democratic candidate Rep. Ruben Gallego.

“If this race is run, campaign is run lawfully, in accordance with the law, there’s nothing more than I want to do than accept that,” Lake said. “But I think people in Arizona are concerned about anything that could go wrong, and so we’re praying that things go well.”

Lake said her main priority, though, is encouraging people to vote, to which she said she is pleased with the turnout so far.

Former first lady Michelle Obama will join Harris on the campaign trail for the first time next Saturday for a joint get-out-the-vote rally in Michigan, the Harris-Walz campaign announced today.

Oct. 26 is the first day of early voting in the battleground state.

Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign is ramping up efforts to court male voters two weeks before Election Day with ads on platforms frequented by men who like fantasy sports, sports betting, sports news and video game websites.

Harris is fighting to win over voters within this key demographic, among which former President Donald Trump has an edge.

As part of the campaign’s plan to attract male voters, the vice president’s campaign launched a series of ads Friday on sports news sites like DraftKings and Yahoo Sports as well as video game sites like IGN and Fandom. Harris’ is the first campaign to advertise on DraftKings.

Walz will record an interview at 1 p.m. today with the sports talk show "The Rich Eisen Show" to discuss football, including his time as a high school football coach, a Harris-Walz campaign official said.

When the river began to rise in Asheville, North Carolina, last month, Lucious Wilson stood on a nearby hill and watched as his brewery slowly vanished in the floodwaters generated by Hurricane Helene.

“We need help,” he told NBC News this week, standing near the ruins of his business, Wedge Brewery. “We don’t need politics.”

But a key source of federal aid may not be available anytime soon for those affected by the recent hurricanes. About 54,000 have applied for low-interest loans from a disaster fund operated by the Small Business Administration, but the money has all dried up.

On Saturday, Harris will be joined by Lizzo in Detroit for a get-out-the-vote event and, later that day, by Usher in Atlanta for a rally, according to a Harris campaign official.

This comes as part of an effort to boost Harris’ turnout in early voting states. In-person early voting starts in part of Michigan tomorrow and it has already begun in Georgia.

Leslie Mercier and William Mercier volunteered with the Franklin County Republican Party at the Board of Elections early voting site in Columbus, Ohio, on Thursday afternoon.

“Early voting started last week and we want people to be informed. We want people to participate in the process regardless of affiliation,” William Mercier said.

A super PAC aligned with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is catching heat from conservative Senate Republicans for not investing in Senate races in Texas and Florida.

"There’s an inequity there," Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, told Semafor about the Senate Leadership Fund. "These guys are Republican colleagues, they’re in very close races in a general election, they could use help."

During an appearance on Mark Levin’s Fox News show on Sunday, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, went after SLF for not investing in his Senate race. "Mitch McConnell runs the largest Republican super PAC in the country and has $400 million, but that super PAC is used to reward the Republican senators who obey him and to punish those who dare to stand up to him," he said.

Eli Weisblat, 22, a student at Ohio State University drove from campus to the the Board of Elections to make his voice heard Thursday. This is his second time voting in a presidential election. “This is one of the most important elections, I think, of my lifetime,” Weisblat said.

Weisblat, a law student, cast his vote for Kamala Harris, Sherrod Brown and the rest of the Democratic ticket. He says his experience at the Franklin County Board of Elections showed him how secure the voting process is.

“You got one side that I think is firmly not living in a reality still thinking that the election was rigged. I think if you walked in there for two seconds and saw how secure everything was, you can clearly see that it is a process that is very safe and secure.”

He cites climate change as his top issue this election, referencing hurricanes Helene and Milton as front of mind at the polls. “I know people who are my age that don’t even want to have kids because they are afraid of what’s like what the world’s going to look like in 30 years.”

Sam Patchen, a second year studying environmental policy at Ohio State University, also voted for Kamala Harris. “I think President Biden made the right choice stepping aside because a lot of my peers definitely feel a lot better,” Patchen said.

In an ad released this morning, singer Marc Anthony declared his support for the Harris-Walz ticket. Anthony, whose parents came to the U.S. from Puerto Rico, targeted Trump in the ad, calling out his past comments on the U.S. territory.

"Even though some have forgotten, I remember what it was like when Donald Trump was president. I remember what he did and said about Puerto Rico, about our people," he said. "I remember after Hurricane Maria devastated our island, Trump blocked billions in relief while thousands died."

Anthony also mentioned Hurricane Maria and Trump's response, when the then-president claimed that Democrats manipulated the high death toll numbers "to make me look as bad as possible." A report by the Department of Housing and Urban Development's inspector general also found that the Trump administration withheld $20 billion in relief funds after the hurricane devastated the island in 2017.

The latest NBC News poll contains this good news for Democrats: They’ve essentially caught up to Republicans on enthusiasm about the upcoming election — after trailing on this measure while President Joe Biden was in the race.

The challenge for Democrats, however, is that key parts of their base are less fired up about the election than they were in previous cycles, as the party tries to rev up turnout for a close race between Harris and Trump.

Overall, the poll finds 74% of registered voters expressing high interest in the election, registering either a “9” or “10” on a 10-point scale.

That’s the lowest share expressing high interest for all other presidential cycles the poll has tested since 2004 at this same point in time — with the exception of 2016. 

The task of counting and announcing vote results from more than 100,000 precincts across the country — mostly within a few hours — requires a massive operation that involves hundreds of thousands of poll workers, election officials and observers. 

We may think of a presidential election as a single nationwide contest, but how elections are administered varies across the 50 states and Washington, D.C. Even within states, different jurisdictions — counties, cities and so on — could have different administrative practices or logistics in the election process. 

Read the full story here.

More than 353,000 North Carolinians voted yesterday, the first day of early voting in the state, according to the State Board of Elections.

The number set a new record for early votes cast on the first day of advance voting. The previous record was set in 2020, with over 348,000 votes cast on the first day of early voting that year.

Eddie Forbes, a 42-year-old truck driver from Phoenix, says he wants Trump to be able to finish what he started so the country can get back to basics.

“He’s already done this, it’s been proven,” he said. “So why did we stop that? Why would we get away from that?”

Forbes also said that as a truck driver, he cares about infrastructure and energy policies. “Because the cost of fuel is going up, it becomes a domino effect and trickles down,” he said. “If the one thing that Trump can do is ‘drill baby drill,’ as he says, and bring down fuel costs, everything else will follow.”

Forbes said he voted for Democrats for president up until 2016 — and that Trump was the first Republican presidential candidate he’d ever voted for. “The reason why I gravitated toward Trump was his consistency. I remember him from back in the late 80s and 90s — whatever he was saying back then, he’s saying today,” Forbes said. “And it’s not about how he’s saying things, it’s about what he’s saying. I don’t care how he says things — just get the job done. We all have potty mouths as truck drivers, right, but we get the job done. And that’s what we need.”

Vaniece Burnett, 40, an Amazon employee from Phoenix, says she’s skeptical of both candidates because they both say whatever they need to say to get elected and important policy changes will take place in Congress.

“If we don’t change Congress, nothing else will change,” she said, adding that she’s leaning toward voting for Harris because of her stances on abortion, education and housing.

"I think the government needs to help people more, especially after the pandemic,” she said. “Right now, it feels like everyone is going to be in poverty soon. We need something set in stone that will help people get back to where they need to be.”

Joe Smith, 43, an electrician from Phoenix, says he’s voting for Trump because of his policies on the economy and the border. “When [Trump] didn’t get back in office, I watched what happened to the country and it just didn’t sit right with me,” he said. “Everything’s gotten more expensive. And we have a gazillion people who — I wouldn’t say shouldn’t be here — but should’ve been vetted better.” 

Trumell Smiley, 42, a mental health worker in Tucson, says he cares deeply about voting for someone he trusts. He’s still on the fence about Harris even though historically, he’s a Democrat. “I don’t want to make the wrong decision,” he said. “I can tell you that if Trump was a Democrat, I still wouldn’t be voting for him. I just don’t believe in that guy.”

As Taylor Swift gears up to perform in Miami, the DNC has launched a Swift inspired "I Will Vote" campaign, which targets youth voters in swing states. The campaign has a Snapchat filter, billboards throughout Miami and a mobile billboard on a boat outside Hard Rock Stadium.

“This election will determine the future for young voters, from student loan debt relief and economic opportunity to whether they have fewer rights than their grandmothers did. Democrats are reaching out to young voters where they are, from concert venues to social media platforms, to make sure they have the resources they need to cast their ballot," DNC communications Director Rosemary Boeglin said in a statement.

The billboards will also include links on how to register to vote and how to find polling locations.

The Trump campaign made a new television ad buy yesterday in Walz's home state of Minnesota.

The buy of $850,000 between now and Election Day comes after the campaign has paid little attention to the state despite pronouncements this spring from Trump's campaign that winning the state was on the table. The campaign had previously spent $220,000 on ads there between the start of 2023 through yesterday, according to AdImpact.

But the spending still pales in comparison to the hundreds of millions spent on ads across the battlefield, and Democrats are still on pace to significantly outspend Trump in Minnesota.

Trump overcharged Secret Service agents protecting him and his family for rooms at his hotel in Washington while he was president, a new report from House Democrats alleges.

Trump also benefited from foreign and domestic officials, including people seeking jobs in his administration or pardons from him, who paid for rooms at what was then the Trump International Hotel in downtown Washington, according to the report, which was obtained by NBC News.

The allegations are part two of an investigation by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee into financial benefits Trump received in office, or, as the party puts it, Trump’s attempts to enrich himself, often at taxpayers’ expense.

Read the full story here.

Former GOP Rep. Barbara Comstock, a Harris backer, explained in an interview on CNN this morning that she believes there's a silent group of women who are supporting Harris for president.

"I’ve heard from, you know, a number of my former, you know, Republican women club members, and even presidents, who have said, I’m so glad I heard you out there. I’m voting for her too," said Comstock, who appeared with Republicans who have endorsed the vice president at a campaign event with her in Pennsylvania on Wednesday.

Trump said in a lengthy appearance on Fox News' "Fox and Friends" this morning that he doesn't like how the conservative network is running negative ads about him and his campaign.

"I’m going to see Rupert Murdoch. I’m going to tell him something very simple, because I can’t talk to anybody else: Don’t put on negative commercials for 21 days," Trump said in a seemingly half-joking way.

"I’m gonna say, 'Rupert, please do it this way,' and then we have a victory," Trump said.

PHOENIX — Harris is staking her hopes of vanquishing Trump in the pivotal state of Arizona by leaning on a familiar group of voters: moderate Republicans with an affinity for the late Sen. John McCain.

Concentrated in the suburbs of Phoenix, those voters were decisive in 2020 in delivering the state for Joe Biden, the first Democrat in a quarter-century to carry Arizona in a presidential race.

But Harris’ history of progressive positions is complicating her path to replicating her boss’ coalition in the former GOP stronghold.

“The McCain wing of this party is a conservative group. It just isn’t nuts,” said Phoenix-based Republican consultant Barrett Marson.

In a 45-minute appearance on Fox News' "Fox & Friends" this morning, Trump said that he saw migrants all over Madison and Fifth avenues in Manhattan earlier this week.

"I went down the streets of New York two days ago, and I'm looking at migrants all over Madison Avenue, all over Fifth Avenue. I've never seen anything like it. I'll tell you, I've never seen this in New York," Trump said. "You see empty stores. You never saw empty stores on Madison Avenue," he said.

Trump brought it up again later in the interview: " I'm telling you, I drove down Madison, and [it's the] first time I've ever seen vacant stores, and I see migrants from foreign countries, the people that came in, they're sleeping all over the street."

Trump went on to say he believes the border issue is more important than the economy and would again make it a top priority if he is elected to a second term as president.

Harris will hit the trail for the first time alongside the Obamas, who the campaign hopes will galvanize supporters in early voting areas in the waning days ahead of the election.

Harris is appearing alongside the political juggernauts at a crucial time when polling indicates that she and Trump are virtually tied in the final all-out push to Nov. 5.

Harris will hold a campaign event with former President Barack Obama in Georgia next Thursday, the first time the pair has campaigned side by side, a senior campaign official said. A week from Saturday, Harris will campaign alongside Michelle Obama in Michigan, the first time the former first lady has appeared on the campaign trail this cycle. The appearances are billed as get-out-the-vote events, according to the campaign official.

The campaign official said Harris advisers believe they can boost voter enthusiasm through the joint events, pointing to people who have signed up for nearly a thousand volunteer shifts during Barack Obama’s rally for Harris in Pennsylvania last week.

Read the full story here.

NORTHFIELD, Minn. — On average, about two-thirds of students on college campuses get out and vote during every presidential election cycle, according to Tufts University’s Institute for Democracy & Higher Education. But one college in Minnesota blows the rest out of the water.

St. Olaf College boasted an 87.6% voter turnout rate in 2020, taking home the top prize in the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge as the most civically engaged college campus in the country. The small liberal arts college reached that number with help from its “election ambassador program,” and this year, it is looking to break its own record. 

The school has about 120 nonpartisan election “ambassadors,” who are embedded in the St. Olaf community. They set up tables outside the main cafeteria to help students register and visit classrooms to answer questions about upcoming elections.

“We are all about interpersonal connections,” said junior Roxi Wessel, an election ambassador. “For example, I’m in a band that has 100 people in it, and so I get up every year that there’s an election, I stand up in front of everyone and I say, ‘Hi, you all know me.’” 

Read the full story here.

Former President Donald Trump declared he was “the father of IVF“ during a Fox News town hall that aired Wednesday, while also saying he just recently discovered what the decades-old procedure actually is.

When he was told he was getting a question about in vitro fertilization, Trump said: “Oh, I want to talk about IVF. I’m the father of IVF, so I want to hear this question.”

His questioner identified herself as a mother of three who has friends who are “very concerned that the abortion bans” sparked by the 2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade “will affect their ability to access IVF and other fertility treatments.” She asked what Trump would say to those women.

His answer included a number of mischaracterizations and inaccuracies — and a comment on the appearance of Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala.

Read the full story here.

LAS VEGAS — GOP candidate Sam Brown spent yesterday’s Nevada Senate debate taking shots at Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen as he still faces a polling deficit with Election Day creeping nearer. 

On three separate occasions, Brown called Rosen an “elitist” and an “insider” as he tried to cast himself as the outside force taking the people’s voice to Washington, D.C. In contrast, Rosen spent the evening focusing largely on her track record and roots in Nevada, hoping to stay above the fray and ride her polling lead.

Brown was so eager to attack Rosen that he even used a question about potential alien life to get in a jab in a theme that persisted throughout the debate.

The tension blew over early in the debate when the two candidates tackled the issue of housing, with rising prices making homeownership less attainable for Nevadans. Rosen proposed holding corporate investors accountable for buying up real estate and pricing people out.

Read the full story here.

The Florida group leading the push to pass an amendment on the November ballot that would enshrine abortion rights in the state’s Constitution said it raised more than $17 million in the one-week period ending last Friday.

The haul, first reported by NBC News, marks Floridians Protecting Freedom’s largest amount raised in a 7-day period over the course of its campaign.

Floridians Protecting Freedom will report raising $17.2 from Oct. 5-11 from nearly 3,000 unique donations in a financial filing it will file later toiday.

The latest sum brings the group’s total fundraising to $89.8 million, from more than 42,000 donors, and provides another cash injection as the campaign heads into its final two-week stretch.

President Joe Biden is set for a packed day in Germany, where he is set to speak at a ceremony and talk to the media alongside German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

Later, Biden will also participate in a meeting with Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

He will travel back to the U.S. later today.

Former President Barack Obama will campaign for Harris in Tucson, Arizona, today.

He's set to hit a string of swing states in the final stretch of the campaign, including Nevada, Michigan, Wisconsin and Georgia. The Georgia stop will be his first joint appearance alongside Harris during the campaign.

Both Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump will hold multiple campaign events in the crucial swing state of Michigan today.

Harris will make stops in Grand Rapids, Lansing and Oakland County, while Trump will stop in Oakland County and Detroit. It is unclear whether their timing will overlap in Oakland County.

Trump won Michigan in 2016, but Joe Biden flipped it blue in 2020.