Nov. 2 (UPI) — Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris appeared at an afternoon rally in Atlanta on Saturday and Republican opponent Donald Trump began the day in North Carolina as their neck-and-neck race entered its final three days.
Vice President Harris, making what could be her final stop in Georgia before Tuesday’s election in hopes of winning its crucial 16 Electoral College votes, held a star-studded rally at the Atlanta Civic Center featuring appearances by film director Spike Lee, hip-hop artist Monica and R&B star Victoria Monet.
Playing on the titles of some of his best-known movies, Lee told the crowd, “Sisters and brothers, we have to ‘Do the Right Thing.’ We have to make it ‘Mo Betta!'”
“No more playing in G-A! Vote for Kamala today!” Monica proclaimed after one of Georgia’s Democratic U.S. senators, Raphael Warnock, warned that Trump has shown he is unfit for the presidency and urged rallygoers to work in the final few days to get out the vote for Harris.
“I need you to tap into the hero inside of you,” he said. “I need to know that you are an avenger for goodness and mercy, for truth and justice and righteousness.”
Harris took the stage at 1:40 p.m., saying, “We have three days left in one of the most consequential elections of our lifetime, and we still have work to do … hard work is good work, and make no mistake, we will win.”
In front of crowd estimated at between 15,000 and 20,000 people, Harris urged Americans to “turn the page” on an “exhausting” decade of dealing with Trump.
“It’s time for a new generation of leadership in America,” she declared, adding, “I pledge to you to listen to experts and to listen to people who disagree with me, because unlike Donald Trump, I don’t believe that people who disagree with me are the enemy.
“He wants to put them in jail, I will give them a seat at the table. That’s what real leaders do. That’s what strong leaders do.”
Following her Atlanta appearance, Harris was scheduled to make an evening campaign stop in another possibly decisive swing state with a similarly star-powered event in Charlotte, N.C., bringing with her actress Kerry Washington, rock star Jon Bon Jovi and singer-songwriter Brittney Spencer.
The Republican nominee, meanwhile, began Saturday with an appearance at the Gastonia, N.C., Municipal Airport, located about 25 miles west of Charlotte, on the last day of early voting in the state.
During the rally he repeated his false claims of voter fraud in the 2020 election and criticized Harris and President Joe Biden about this week’s jobs report showing the economy added only 12,000 jobs in October, far below analysts’ expectations.
“We cannot take four more years of this calamity,” he said, adding, “These are Depression-like numbers.”
The Bureau of Labor Statistics, however, blamed the low October total on the ongoing Boeing machinists strike, which accounted for nearly all of the 46,000 in job losses in the manufacturing sector, and widespread disruptions in the Southeast due to Hurricanes Helene and Milton.
As he has throughout his campaign, Trump claimed without evidence that illegal immigrants are sparking a “crime wave” across the country while focusing on stories such as that of Jocelyn Nungaray, a 12-year-old who was slain in Houston earlier this year. Two undocumented male migrants from Venezuela have been charged with murder in the girl’s death, according to the Houston Police Department.
During Saturday’s rally, the former president played a video of the girl’s mother criticizing Harris’ stances on immigration and endorsing him.
Trump was scheduled to make another appearance in the state later in the day, delivering remarks at a rally in Greensboro at 7:30 p.m. EDT.
Also hitting the campaign trail Saturday was Biden, who traveled to his boyhood home of Scranton, Pa., for an appearance at the Carpenters Local 445 meeting hall. There, he touted his administration’s four-year record of funding of infrastructure projects and backing unions and praised Harris’ support for workers’ right to strike.
“The other guy, every picket line he sees, he wants to cross,” Biden said of Trump, adding, he “doesn’t care about us. Just look at what his mega-millionaire friends are saying about healthcare. They want to get rid of the Affordable Care Act.”
