Former President Donald Trump on Monday appealed to religious voters in the southern swing state of Georgia while Vice President Kamala Harris made several campaign stops in Michigan, including a rally with singer-songwriter Maggie Rogers.
Millions of Americans have already cast their vote before the Nov. 5 election, which national polls and surveys in swing states show is a close race between Trump and Harris.
In Georgia, where in-person early voting ahead of Election Day is expected to total up to 70 percent of ballots, Trump courted religious voters during a National Faith Advisory Board event.
“I think this is a country that needs religion, it’s like the glue that holds it together, and we don’t have that,” Trump said.
He said religion was “under threat” in the United States.
Trump also held a rally at Georgia Tech in midtown Atlanta and urged his supporters to turn out to the polls however possible. He promised to defend the “hardworking patriots who built this country,” who he said could “save” the nation if they turned out for him at the ballot box.
“We will never give up, we will never back down, we will never surrender,” Trump said to the crowd. “November 5 will be the most important day in the history of our country.”
Georgia is one of seven competitive swing states expected to play a decisive role in an election that wraps up in eight days.
At stake in this election is stewardship of the world’s most powerful country. Harris and Trump diverge on support for Ukraine and NATO, tariffs that could trigger trade wars, abortion rights, taxes, and basic democratic principles.
Some 46 million Americans have voted already, according to the Election Lab at the University of Florida, including some 2.8 million people in Georgia and 1.9 million people in Michigan, where Harris arrived on Monday.
That trails the roughly 60 million people that had voted early by about this point in 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Harris Campaigns in Michigan
Harris visited Corning Inc’s Hemlock Semiconductor facility to talk to workers and tour the assembly line and talk about the importance of investing in manufacturing jobs.
The company recently received a preliminary investment of up to $325 million via the Chips and Science Act, which a Harris campaign official noted Trump had criticized and Harris helped pass.
“When we can find a way to have meaningful partnerships with the private sector, with industries, but to do the kind of work that is happening here, everybody wins,” she said.
Trump has argued his stewardship of the economy was stronger than that of President Joe Biden and Harris.
Under the Biden–Harris administration, persistently elevated prices have hammered consumers on everything from groceries to rent.
Harris has issued policy proposals to bring down prices and help alleviate the country’s housing crunch, while also contrasting her leadership approach with Trump.
On Monday evening, Harris appeared at a rally in Ann Arbor, Michigan with her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, that featured a performance by singer-songwriter Maggie Rogers.
“There is nothing more important than this election,” said Rogers, one of a number of celebrities who both campaigns have used to appeal to voters, as she warmed up an outdoor crowd in 50-degree temperatures.
Michigan had the highest youth voter turnout rate nationwide in 2022, with long lines stretching outside polling locations on college campuses. Democrats hope they can recreate that enthusiasm this year, with rallies such as the one Harris held in Ann Arbor, home of the University of Michigan, featuring Rogers.
“You can vote early now through Sunday, Nov. 3, and we need you to vote early, Michigan, because we have just eight days to go,” Harris said. “Eight days left in one of the most consequential elections of our lifetime.”
“And we will win,” she said. “We have an opportunity to turn the page and chart a new and joyful way forward.”
Early in her remarks, Harris was interrupted by over a dozen pro-Palestinian protesters. Hearing the chants of “Israel bombs, Kamala pays, how many kids have you killed today?’ she said, “Hey, guys, I hear you.”
“On the subject of Gaza, we all want this war to end as soon as possible and to get the hostages out and I will do everything in my power to make it so,” Harris said. The group was escorted out of the event shortly after their chants were drowned out by counter-chants of “Kamala.”
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.