Key events
Vice President Kamala Harris directed her remarks toward younger voters in the Pennsylvania crowd.
“Is Gen Z in the house?” she asked. “You are rightly impatient for change. You are rightly impatient. You who have only known the climate crisis, you are leaders in what we need to do to protect our planet.”
“You, who grew up with active shooter drills,” she said. “You, who right now know fewer rights than your mothers and grandmothers understand the importance of fighting for the right of a woman to make decisions about her own body and not have her government tell her what to do.”
Kamala Harris has started delivering her remarks at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.
The Vice President spoke about the war in Gaza less than five minutes into her speech.
“We must seize this opportunity to end this war and bring the hostages home,” she said. “I will do everything in my power to meet that end.”
Joan E Greve
Jacob Roberts, a 26-year-old voter from Westchester attending Harris’ rally in North Philadelphia, has already voted early for her.
He told the Guardian that he feels optimistic about the outcome of the election, even as polls show a tied race in Pennsylvania.
“I’m seeing a lot of Kamala yard signs around,” Roberts said. “I actually just drove out to western Pennsylvania. I didn’t see a lot of Trump signs on barns or anything, so I think we’re looking good.”
Asked whether he was disappointed to miss some of the Eagles game to attend the rally, Roberts said it was well worth it.
“This is our country we’re talking about,” Roberts said.
Joan E Greve
Brenda Exon, a 60-year-old voter from Wallingford known as the “Philly Pride Lady,” is at Kamala Harris’ rally in Philadelphia with her “timeline to liberty” apron.
The apron tells the story of Philadelphia, from the founding of Pennsylvania to the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the civil rights movement.
“Our Philly story is our nation’s story, and that’s what we’re fighting for really. We don’t want Donald Trump to take this away,” Exon said.
“We’re coming up on our 250th [anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence], and who should be president celebrating that in 2026? Kamala Harris.”
Brenda Exon, the “Philly Pride Lady,” is at the Harris rally with her apron, which tells the story of Philly starting with William Penn.
“Our Philly story is our nation’s story, and that’s what we’re fighting for really. We don’t want Donald Trump to take this away.” pic.twitter.com/SZIUROGtoV
— Joan Greve (@joanegreve) October 27, 2024
Hugo Lowell
Trump approved Rudy Giuliani to be on the stage tonight at the Madison Square Garden rally, according to a person familiar.
Giuliani walked into the stage at the Trump rally to the loudest cheers so far of the event and a standing ovation from a capacity Madison Square Garden.
Giuliani opened by referencing when Pope John Paul came to NY in 1995, a visit Giuliani presumably recalls because it took place while he was mayor.
It’s the kind of anecdote that will play well with most of the crowd here but there are many younger Trump supporters here who have no idea what that’s about.
Governor Tim Walz joined Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the congresswoman from New York, on a Twitch livestream as the two played the American football video game Madden and talked about the election.
The unconventional campaign appearance comes as the Harris-Walz campaign tries to drum up support among young male voters. In 2020, Ocasio-Cortez’s first appearance on Twitch was one of the platform’s most-watched events at that time.
Here’s Michael Sainato with more on the stream:
On the six-year anniversary of a shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, Kamala Harris and her husband Doug Emhoff have released statements acknowledging the mass shooting.
“Six years ago today, a white supremacist committed the deadliest attack on American Jews in our nation’s history,” Emhoff wrote. “We honor the lives of those lost on that horrific day by continuing our fight against antisemitism and hate in all its forms.”
Six years ago today, a white supremacist committed the deadliest attack on American Jews in our nation’s history. When I visited Tree of Life in June for the groundbreaking ceremony, I told the families that @VP and I would never let the world forget what the poison of… pic.twitter.com/vFVqqkYcef
— Douglas Emhoff (@SecondGentleman) October 27, 2024
A federal judge blocked the state of Virginia from removing suspected noncitizens from the voter rolls, CNN reported.
The court cited potential violations of a federal ban on “systematic” removals within 90 days of an election.
The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision paves the way for a potential Supreme Court battle as early voting begins in Virginia. Republicans, including former President Donald Trump, have rallied around the case, arguing that noncitizen voting is a significant election risk, despite its rarity.
The order clarifies that Virginia can still prevent noncitizen voting by canceling registrations on an individual basis or prosecuting noncitizens who vote.
Today so far
Thanks for joining us this morning. As I hand over to my colleague Coral Murphy Marcos, here are the main headlines we’ve been following today so far:
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In a bevy of Sunday morning talk show appearances, JD Vance defended Donald Trump against claims from former Trump staffers that the ex-president has authoritarian tendencies. Meanwhile, Kamala Harris described her choice to deliver her closing argument speech at The Ellipse, Lindsey Graham denounced attacks against Trump’s character and Bernie Sanders said Trump has “strong tendency toward authoritarianism”.
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This morning, Kamala Harris campaigned “neighborhood-to-neighborhood” in Philadelphia, kicking off the morning by attending services at a predominantly Black church before heading to a nearby barbershop to speak with young Black men. She’ll be stopping at a Puerto Rican restaurant later this afternoon before speaking at a rally this evening.
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Supporters of Donald Trump’s have already begun gathering at Madison Square Garden as the ex-president prepares to deliver his closing arguments there. Campaigning in Nevada today, Tim Walz has criticized the rally as “a direct parallel” to a Nazi rally held at the venue in 1939.
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Following the news that the Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times will not endorse a presidential candidate this year, the New York Times opinion section has published a full page image reminding readers that it endorsed Kamala Harris last month. Earlier this week, our own editorial page strongly endorsed Kamala Harris for president.
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In the final days of the 2024 election, Harris’s campaign has slowballed Joe Biden’s offers to campaign for his vice-president, Axios reports.
Hugo Lowell
We are now in the warmup act-phase of the rally. The jumbotron is playing super-cuts of Kamala Harris saying in TV interviews that she couldn’t think of any Biden administration policies she would change, which gets prolonged boos.
Expected to speak later in the program: Rudy Giuliani, the Trump lawyer and co-defendant in the Fulton county election interference case.
Joan E Greve
A long line of people are waiting to enter the venue in North Philadelphia where Kamala Harris will be addressing supporters this afternoon.
On the way into the venue, supporters can see signs reading “Philly for Kamala” and “We Choose Freedom”.
Long line to see Kamala Harris speak in North Philly this afternoon – a true sign of commitment from her supporters, given that the Eagles are playing. pic.twitter.com/1CpwpoZQ6M
— Joan Greve (@joanegreve) October 27, 2024
Hugo Lowell
With several hours to go until Trump’s scheduled speaking time at Madison Square Garden, the venue is already fully filled in the lower and mid sections. The difference today compared with some other Trump rallies is that there is seating, including for the space in front of the stage.
Overhead, the jumbotron is flashing Trump’s campaign slogans, such as “No Tax on Tips” and “Make America Wealthy Again”, but there’s also the occasional ad for people to buy Maga hats. Most people here are already wearing Maga hats so it’s unclear how many people are buying.
A day after Joe Biden visited Arizona to formally apologize for the federal government’s role in the American Indian boarding school system, Tim Walz visted the state to campaign in the capital of the Navajo Nation – a symbol of Native voters’ potential sway in the presidential election.
Wearing a turquoise necklace and horned toad pin, the Democratic vice-presidential candidate spoke yesterday alongside Arizona senator Mark Kelly as about 750 supporters held aloft signs reading “Sko Coach!” (slang for “Let’s Go Coach!”) and “Yíiyáh Man!” (Diné for “scary”) alongside a sillouette of Donald Trump.
“I understand that it is a privilege to be standing here on Navajo land,” Walz said. “I am grateful that you would see fit during the year as we talk about your vote to make Kamala Harris president of the United States, for your incredible hospitality.”
Walz also acknowledged the flags flying at half-staff in the Navajo Nation Veterans Memorial Park, where the event was held. “The Navajo Nation and the nation of the United States lost a treasure in John Kinsel Sr, one of the original Navajo Code Talkers,” Walz said, noting the code talker who died last week at the age of 107.
Democratic Vice Presidential candidate Tim Walz speaking in front of the Window Rock and acknowledging the late Navajo Nation Code Talker John Kinsel Sr. pic.twitter.com/3qbEbciYWU
— Arlyssa D. Becenti (@ABecenti) October 26, 2024
Navajo Nation president Buu Nygren, who invited the Harris-Walz campaign to visit the capital of the largest tribe in the United States, also spoke at the event. “Governor Walz coming here today recognizes the voice of Native Americans and the huge impact we will have at the polls this year,” Nygren said.
Tim Walz is in Window Rock, AZ today as the Harris Walz campaign stops on Navajo Nation. While driving here, I saw Trump supporters driving in Gallup with campaign flags attached to their vehicles. Here are some photos from what I’ve seen so far at this event. pic.twitter.com/ktQdMyhYFw
— Noel Smith (@nsmithdt) October 26, 2024
Walz’s visit to the Navajo Nation comes as Kamala Harris is trailing in the polls in Arizona, a state that Biden famously won in 2020, largely due to the support of Native American voters. If Harris wins the election, making Walz her vice-president, Minnesota Lt Gov Peggy Flanagan, a member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe, would become the first Native American woman to serve as a state’s governor.
Democratic leaders have tried to make inroads among Native voters in recent weeks. On Friday, Biden traveled to the Gila River Indian Community outside Phoenix to apologize for the US government’s role in forcing thousands of Native American children to attend Indian boarding schools – a policy which has been widely recognized as an element of genocide. And on Indigenous Peoples’ Day, the Democratic National Committee announced that it had launched a “six-figure ad campaign” aimed at turning out Native American voters in Arizona, North Carolina, Montana and Alaska. It is the party’s third Native-focused campaign this year, and “the most the DNC has ever spent on a campaign targeting Native voters”.
An array of big tech executives have spoken with Donald Trump in recent days, seeking to rekindle their relationships with the ex-president as the possibility of his return to office hangs by a narrow margin, CNN reports. In recent weeks, Apple’s Tim Cook, Google’s Sundar Pichai and Amazon’s Andy Jassy have all called Trump. Earlier this summer, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg also reached out to Trump after his attempted assassination in Butler, Pennsylvania.
“There are some that seem to be waking up to the fact that like: ‘Holy sh*t, this guy might get elected again. I don’t want to have him, his administration, going after us,’” a person close to Trump told CNN. “What he’s saying out loud, I think they hear, and they’re taking it seriously.”
As CNN reports: “Whoever is sworn in next year will immediately face decisions over whether to continue President Joe Biden’s crackdown on Big Tech.”
The Biden administration has gone after Apple and Google for violating antitrust laws in still pending lawsuits. Read more here:
Walz compares Trump rally and Nazi event both held at Madison Square Garden
Campaigning in Nevada today, Tim Walz has criticized Donald Trump’s planned rally at Madison Square Garden this evening as “a direct parallel” to a Nazi rally held at the venue in 1939. The comparison comes in the final days of a race where the Harris-Walz campaign has increasingly tried to draw attention to statements previous Trump appointees have made calling their former boss a “fascist”.
“Donald Trump’s got this big rally going at Madison Square Garden. There’s a direct parallel to a big rally that happened in the mid 1930s at Madison Square Garden. And don’t think that he doesn’t know for one second exactly what they’re doing there.” – Tim Walz in Henderson, NV pic.twitter.com/wQxz24YwcF
— Dylan Wells (@dylanewells) October 27, 2024
On 20 February 1939, in the lead-up to the second world war, 20,000 people attended a pro-Hitler rally at Madison Square Garden organized by the German American Bund.
“Donald Trump’s got this big rally going at Madison Square Garden. There’s a direct parallel to a big rally that happened in the mid 1930s,” Walz said. “Don’t think that he doesn’t know for one second exactly what they’re doing there.”
Earlier this month, New York Democratic state senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal, whose district includes the Garden, called on the venue to cancel the rally, saying: “Allowing Trump to hold an event at MSG is equivalent to the infamous Nazis rally at Madison Square Garden on February 20, 1939.”
Here’s Edward Helmore with more on the 1939 rally:
Ramon Antonio Vargas
Dan Osborn told ABC News on Sunday that he hopes to kick off a “national movement” if his run for a US senate seat in Nebraska as an independent candidate topples Republican incumbent Deb Fischer.
Describing himself as “frustrated” with US politics’ two-party system, Osborn has a slight edge – 47.8% to 46.4% – over Fischer, according to a polling index from the Hill/Decision Desk HQ. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report has shifted the contest toward Osborn, moving it from a solidly Republican race to one that now only leans in that direction, as the Hill noted.
Osborn has gotten to this point while refusing all party endorsements, even as Democrats have supported his first-time candidacy. He has also effectively portrayed the two-term Fischer as someone beholden to so many interests that in one campaign ad Osborn argued that she should wear sponsorship patches like racecar drivers do.
“I think this is the start of something special,” Osborn said Sunday on ABC’s This Week. “People are ready for it. And I want to be a part of it.”
Fischer’s backers include the Republican White House nominee Donald Trump, who won all five of Nebraska’s electoral college votes when he captured the presidency in 2016 and then took four as Joe Biden defeated him in 2020. The cornhusker state’s two US senators and three US House representatives are all Republicans, making Osborn’s credible challenge against Fischer that much more notable.
Democrats and Republicans are, respectively, trying to defend 23 and 11 US Senate seats during the 5 November presidential election. And as ABC also noted, if he wins, Osborn could help decide which party controls the chamber depending with whom he chooses to caucus.
Osborn is a Navy veteran and former union president who led a strike against the cereal giant Kellog’s in 2021.
Harris campaign slowballs Biden’s offers to campaign – report
In the final days of the 2024 election, Kamala Harris’s campaign has slowballed Joe Biden’s offers to campaign for his vice-president, Axios reports.
“President Biden wants to campaign for Vice President Harris in the last days before the election,” the outlet writes. “Harris’ campaign keeps responding: We’ll get back to you, three people familiar with the dynamic told Axios.”
Although it’s grateful for Biden’s service, Harris’s team is wary of aligning her with the increasingly unpopular president. “He’s a reminder of the last four years, not the new way forward,” a person familiar with the situation told Axios.
Yesterday, Biden began campaigning for Harris on his own, attending union events in Pittsburgh. There, he reportedly called Republican White House nominee Donald Trump “a loser as a candidate and … a loser as a man”, among other remarks.
Biden also called said the choice between Trump and Harris in the 5 November election was one of “decency versus lack of decency”.
Members of the president’s team told Axios they believe Harris’s campaign is underestimating the current president’s appeal among white, working-class communities in the state where he was born.
Ed Pilkington
Epic scenes outside Madison Square Garden in New York where thousands of Maga supporters have descended to hear the former president speak this evening.
Hours before Trump is scheduled on stage the streets of midtown Manhattan are packed. The main line of attendees, standing 20-wide, are filling an entire block of 33rd Street.
In line at the Trump Madison Square Garden rally in Manhattan. Six hours to go til Trump speaks and I’m already swamped in a vast crowd pic.twitter.com/8cP7gqEvaL
— Ed Pilkington (@Edpilkington) October 27, 2024
Periodically they chant “USA! USA!” and “Let’s Go Trump!”. Supporters are carrying placards saying “Pardon Trump Now” and “Never Surrender”.
A man paraded up and down the line carrying a sign saying “Fuck Kamala. We ain’t voting for that hoe (sic)”.
Later, an imitator of the North Korean supreme leader, Kim Jong Un, walked the line giving a regal wave.
A group of four women from Queens had travelled into Manhattan early, sitting for hours on camping chairs. Lori, who didn’t want to give her last name, said she was passionate about Trump because of “crime, inflation, the border, lack of respect”.
What did she mean by lack of respect? “If you have a different political opinion you shouldn’t be demonized.”
Lori said friends of hers in New York now shunned her after she became a Trump supporter. “You can’t be mean to people,” she said.
But what about Trump, who regularly demeaned and belittled his rivals? “He’s not mean, he’s joking. It’s like a nervous twitch,” she said.
Joan E Greve
Donald Trump will also air a campaign ad during the Philadelphia Eagles’ game today, competing with Kamala Harris’s new ad aimed at turning out Pennsylvania voters.
According to the Trump campaign, the two-minute ad will air during the third quarter of the Eagles’ game against the Cincinnati Bengals, which gets under way at 1pm ET.
The ad, entitled Never Quit, features the voices of Dana White, CEO of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, and Trump’s two elder sons.
“President Trump is literally putting his life on the line. and he’s willing to risk it all because he loves this country,” White says in the ad.
The dueling campaign ads come as polls suggest a neck-and-neck race in Pennsylvania, which could serve as the tipping point state in the electoral college.
