US Election 2024 Updates: Biden casts vote for Harris; Trump says only 'lunatics call me Nazi'

The Nevada Supreme Court ruled Monday that mail-in ballots with smudged, indecipherable or missing postmarks can be counted for up to three days after polls close on Election Day.

The state’s highest court rejected a bid by state and national Republicans, former President Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and a voter, Scott Johnston, to block them from being counted. Among the GOP arguments was that mail ballots unfairly benefit Democratic voters.

The court challenge came after Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar, a Democrat, told county election officials in May that ballots without a visible postmark should be counted until 5 p.m. the Friday after Election Day. This year, that is Nov. 8.

At a rally with Bruce Springsteen in Philadelphia on Monday, Barack Obama passionately urged people to support Kamala Harris, saying, “It’s not just policies that are on the ballot, it’s who we are.”

“Do not sit back,” the former president advised, regardless of how this election is making you feel: eager, afraid, hopeful, disappointed, or everything else in between.

Obama, casual and with his sleeves rolled up, attacked Donald Trump with a mix of comedy and criticism while speaking in Pennsylvania, a pivotal swing state as Democrats make a last-ditch effort to garner support.

“We have to reject the kind of politics of division and hatred that we saw represented” at the rally in Madison Square Garden on Sunday, where a comedian who was Trump’s opening act made several racist remarks.

Across America, people are already voting in the US presidential election.

Nearly 29 million people have already voted in the 36 states that allow early voting.

Donald Trump and his allies, most recently Elon Musk, are already making spurious claims about voting machines.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, the billionaire owner of the Washington Post, said on Monday that his choice for the US newspaper not to endorse a candidate in the presidential election was “a principled decision” and denied it was linked to personal interests.

In an op-ed posted to the newspaper’s website, Bezos argued that with trust in news media falling, steps needed to be taken to address accusations of partisanship.

“What presidential endorsements actually do is create a perception of bias. A perception of non-independence. Ending them is a principled decision,” he wrote.

The editorial board of the influential Post has endorsed candidates for much of the last four decades — all of them Democrats — before deciding to stay on the sidelines in one of the most polarizing elections in US history.

Taking the stage at his Atlanta rally, the former president quickly took aim at the former first lady.

“You know who’s nasty? Michelle Obama,” Trump says at his Atlanta rally. “That was a big mistake that she made.”

“I always tried to be so nice and respectful,” Trump said, claiming that she had “opened a little bit of something,” without further explanation.

Obama spoke at a political rally with Harris over the weekend. She will headline an Atlanta rally for her nonpartisan voter engagement group on Tuesday.

Rogers performed five songs, including “Love You For A Long Time,” “Back In My Body” and “Don’t Forget Me” at Harris’ rally in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

“As I’m standing here with you today, I can’t ignore the headlines I have been seeing on my phone any longer,” Rogers said. “It is terrifying. … I don’t always know what to do with that feeling but there is something to me that is greater than fear, and that is action. … Voting is the key to the future.”

“In these next eight days, you can fight back against the fear of Donald Trump and everything he creates. You can take action against his darkness, you can choose the light,” she added.

Trump dismissed claims that he or his supporters were comparable to Nazis.

“I’m not a Nazi. I’m the opposite of a Nazi,” Trump told the crowd assembled at Georgia Tech. “Now the way they talk is so disgusting and just horrible.”

After his Sunday evening rally at Madison Square Garden drew widespread criticism from opponents for crude and racist remarks from several speakers, the event drew comparisons to a 1939 Nazi rally in the same venue.

“My father — I had a great father, tough guy. He used to always say, never use the word Nazi. Never use that word.”

He criticized Harris for “using the f-word.” Following comments from Trump’s former chief of staff John Kelly saying the former president met the definition of a fascist, Harris said she agreed with the assessment.

Trump said of Harris: “She’s a fascist, okay? She’s a fascist.”

Harris’ running mate, Gov. Tim Walz, sought to comfort Democrats on Monday in Michigan by highlighting how hard the party’s presidential campaign is working a few days before Election Day.

The event is a rare rally featuring both Harris and Walz, who often headline separate events.

“Eight days til the election and our team is running like everything’s on the line,” Walz said.

Walz directed part of his speech directly at men. “All of you who have that woman in your life that you love … Their lives are at stake in this election,” the Democratic governor said. “Be very clear about that.”

Trump described the U.S. as an occupied nation due to illegal immigration, claiming undocumented migrants were more invasive and dangerous than a hostile occupying military.

“I will rescue every city and town that has been invaded and conquered,” Trump said. “You know, they have been invaded,” Trump said of towns across the country, “just as though a foreign enemy was invading, a military was invading, and probably just as vicious or more vicious,” the former president said.

“And we will put these blood-thirsty criminals in jail or kick them out of our country,” Trump said.

He once again promised to seek the death penalty for any unlawful migrant who has killed an American, drawing cheers from the crowd.

Harris urged young voters Monday in Ann Arbor, Michigan, to take the baton from “generations of Americans” who preserved freedom and back her over Trump.

The pitch urged young voters, many of whom were in the audience from the nearby University of Michigan, to seize the power they want and protect a series of rights. Harris specifically called out abortion rights, a key issue for younger voters.

“Generations of Americans before us fought for freedom and now the baton is in our hands,” Harris said. “The baton is in our hands.”

“I love your generation,” Harris told the young audience. “You are rightly impatient for change.”

Trump concluded his rally at Georgia Tech in midtown Atlanta by urging 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.”

Trump spoke for just over an hour. The raucous crowd had begun thinning out just before the former president finished his remarks.

Vice President Kamala Harris worked to fire up college-age supporters at a rally and concert in battleground Michigan on Monday featuring singer-songwriter Maggie Rogers, who told the crowd that doing something like voting is “greater than fear” at a time when “the future feels so uncertain.”

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,” the Democratic presidential nominee said at an outdoor rally in 50-degree weather. “Eight days left in one of the most consequential elections of our lifetime.”

Donald Trump told supporters Monday he is “not a Nazi,” using a rally in the final week of a bitter White House race to push back on accusations of authoritarianism, including from a former chief of staff who branded him a fascist.

As he and rival Kamala Harris entered the final stretch of one of the closest US presidential elections in modern times, each candidate and their teams have ramped up the political rhetoric, bringing an already simmering campaign to a boil.

Democrat Harris, who has accused Trump of stoking divisions, was crisscrossing Michigan on Monday while Republican Trump headed to Georgia, another of the decisive swing states, where he said critics are accusing him of being a modern-day “Hitler.”

“The newest line from Kamala and her campaign is that everyone who isn’t voting for her is a Nazi,” Trump told a boisterous rally in Atlanta.

“I’m not a Nazi. I’m the opposite of a Nazi.”

More than 200,000 people have canceled subscriptions to The Washington Post since the newspaper announced its decision last week not to endorse a candidate for president, a published report said Monday.

NPR reported the figure, citing “two people at the paper with knowledge of internal matters.”

The reported loss of subscriptions of that magnitude would be a blow to a news outlet that is already facing financial headwinds. The Post had more than 2.5 million subscribers last year, the bulk of them digital, making it third behind The New York Times and Wall Street Journal in circulation.

The idea that Vice President Kamala Harris, whose mother was from Chennai, will be more distant to the Indian government is mistaken, a top Indian American adviser to President Joe Biden has said.

“Yeah, I find that so odd,” Neera Tanden, Domestic Policy Advisor to the US President told PTI when asked about the concerns of a group of Indian Americans about India-US relationship under the Harris administration.

“Because you were talking about a woman who’s actually been to India, who grew up, has experiences. She has memories of her grandfather who supported the independence movement. She took walks with her grandparents in the morning as they were talking about politics and the impact it can have really as it relates to the call for independence in India,” Tanden said.

“I mean, we’ve never had a leader who has experiences like that in American history. She’s a person who has Indian relatives. The idea that she’ll be less, more distant to the Indian government strikes me as so just mistaken,” she said.

So, I think people should really think about what that feels like to have a leader who understands our community in this really profound way, because again, her mom was many of our moms strong mother willing to really take on this unimaginable journey in order to really do better for her own life and her children’s lives, Tanden said.

Tanden said this is an important moment in American history.

Kamala Harris and Donald Trump’s presidential campaigns bring their families into the spotlight as they vie to become America’s next “first family.”

Spouses and children have historically played a pivotal role in US presidential races, offering personal glimpses of the candidates that resonate with voters. Harris and Trump’s differing life stories and family dynamics highlight contrasting paths to the White House, highlighting how each candidate’s inner circle is helping shape their campaign in this election showdown.

Puerto Ricans vented their anger after a comedian targeted them with racist jokes at a weekend rally for Donald Trump — and some warned the Republican former president could pay for it on Election Day.

On the same day that Democrat Kamala Harris unveiled plans to revitalize the US territory, Tony Hinchcliffe called it an “island of garbage” at a major Trump rally at New York’s Madison Square Garden.

Puerto Ricans living in the Big Apple, like 48-year-old Javier Diaz, said the insults would have “consequences for president Trump.”

“I’m going to vote for Harris,” Diaz, a paralegal living in Brooklyn’s Bushwick neighborhood, told AFP.

Denis Castro, a 60-year-old retiree living in the same area, said the comments made by Hinchcliffe and others at the rally qualified as “racism.”

Donald Trump told campaign supporters Monday in swing state Georgia that he is “not a Nazi,” pushing back on critics’ accusations that the Republican is seeking to be an authoritarian American leader.

“I’m not a Nazi. I’m the opposite of a Nazi,” Trump told a boisterous crowd in Atlanta, one day after he held a mega-rally in New York’s famed Madison Square Garden that was widely condemned for racist remarks that his allies made during the event.

Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner   (D) on Monday sued Elon Musk   and America PAC, the billionaire’s pro-Trump super PAC, over their daily $1 million giveaways to registered swing state voters.

“The Philadelphia District Attorney is charged with protecting the public from public nuisances and unfair trade practices, including illegal lotteries. The DA is also charged with protecting the public from interference with the integrity of elections,” The Hill quoted Krasner as saying in a statement.

“Today, the Philadelphia DA filed a civil legal action under Pennsylvania law,” he added.

The 2024 US election campaign has been marked by legal battles, incidents of violence, and high-profile gaffes, making it one of the most remarkable races in American history. As the final week unfolds, uncertainty looms with Kamala Harris and Donald Trump locked in a tight contest. The events of the coming days will be crucial in determining the outcome of next week’s election, with both candidates vying for a last-minute surge in support.

Vice President Kamala Harris criticised former President Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, highlighting the event’s racist and sexist remarks as evidence of why many Americans are “exhausted” by the GOP nominee. Harris emphasised that Trump seeks to divide people saying, “Donald Trump spends full-time trying to have Americans point their finger at each other, fans the fuel of hate and division, and that’s why people are exhausted with him.”

President Joe Biden also echoed Harris’s sentiments during remarks outside a polling station in Delaware, calling the rally “simply embarrassing” and indicative of why the upcoming election is crucial. He stressed the importance of character in leadership, noting that Trump’s comments consistently undermine that quality.

“Most of the presidential scholars I’ve spoken to talk about the single most consequential thing about a president is character,” Biden stated. “And he puts that in question every time he opens his mouth.”

Uncertainty reigns entering the final full week of the 2024 campaign with Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump locked in a fiercely competitive presidential contest. What happens in the coming days will be pivotal in deciding the winner of next week’s election.

Trump on Sunday held a rally at Madison Square Garden where several speakers made racist and crude remarks, including comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who described Puerto Rico as “a floating island of garbage.” Shortly after those remarks, Puerto Rican reggaeton artist Bad Bunny endorsed Harris.

Trump plans to hold a rally in Atlanta Monday evening while Harris will make several campaign stops in Michigan, including a rally with singer-songwriter Maggie Rogers.

Authorities were investigating Monday after early morning fires were set in ballot drop boxes in Portland, Oregon, and in nearby Vancouver, Washington, where hundreds of ballots were destroyed.

The Portland Police Bureau reported that officers and firefighters responded to a fire in one ballot drop box at about 3:30 a.m. and determined an incendiary device had been placed inside. Multnomah County Elections Director Tim Scott said a fire suppressant inside the drop box protected nearly all the ballots; only three were damaged, and his office planned to contact those voters to help them obtain replacement ballots.

A few hours later, across the Columbia River in Vancouver, television crews captured footage of smoke pouring out of a ballot box at a transit center. Vancouver is the biggest city in Washington’s 3rd Congressional District, the site of what is expected to be one of the closest U.S. House races in the country, between first-term Democratic Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez and Republican challenger Joe Kent.

A comic calling Puerto Rico garbage before a packed Donald Trump rally in New York was the latest humiliation for an island territory that has long suffered from mistreatment, residents said Monday in expressions of fury that could affect the presidential election.

Puerto Ricans cannot vote in general elections despite being U.S. citizens, but they can exert a powerful influence with relatives on the mainland. Phones across the island of 3.2 million people were ringing minutes after the speaker derided the U.S. territory Sunday night, and they still buzzed Monday.

President Joe Biden has cast an early ballot in the 2024 general election.

It’s a bittersweet moment for Biden, who decided to end his reelection campaign in July because of growing concerns about his health and Democrats’ worries about his chances of defeating former President Donald Trump. Biden voted on Monday at the state of Delaware Department of Elections, not far from his home outside Wilmington, Delaware at an early voting site, where voters were lined up down the street to cast ballots.

Biden chatted with voters as he waited in line to cast his ballot, and helped push an older woman in a wheelchair who was ahead of him. The president waited in line for about 40 minutes before he cast his ballot.

He handed his identification to the election worker, who had him sign a form and announced: “Joseph Biden now voting.”

As the 2024 US presidential election is almost certainly going to be decided by the six or seven swing states, the real result will be decided by a bunch of counties within these states, according to analysts.

1. Arizona’s Maricopa and Santa Cruz counties

Maricopa and Santa Cruz counties are considered to be the most important in Arizona, according to analysts.

Trump won Maricopa in 2016 but Biden flipped it in 2020 and Hillary Clinton won Santa Cruz in 2016 and Biden carried it in 2020.

Maricopa has around 62 per cent of Arizona’s population and has crucial demographic groups such as Hispanics and moderate Republicans. Santa Cruz has a significant Hispanic population and whoever wins here is expected to win the Hispanic vote nationally.

2. Georgia’s Fayette and Sumter counties

Trump won Fayette in both 2016 and 2020 elections where Hillary won Sumter in 2016 and Biden carried it in 2020.

To flip Georgia, Republicans are rooting to win these two counties.

3. Michigan’s Saginaw, Muskegon, and Grand Traverse counties

Trump won Michigan in 2016 but Biden flipped it in 2020.

To win the critical swing state, Trump would need to flip Saginaw County, which is indicative of who’d win the state.

To counter Trump, Harris would want to win Saginaw along with Muskegon county, according to the Cook Political Report.

4. North Carolina’s New Hanover and Cabarrus counties

Even though North Carolina is seen as the least competitive swing state, New Hanover County is a must-win for Harris and she’d also need to do well in Cabarrus County, according to Washington Examiner.

5. Pennsylvania’s Erie, Northampton, Lackawanna, Lehigh counties

Pennsylvania is the most important swing state and was central to Trump’s 2016 victory and Biden’s victory in 2020.

Erie County is seen as representing which way the election would go. Trump won the county in 2016 and Biden won it in 2020.

Another such must-win county is Northampton County, which has selected the winning presidential candidate in all but three presidential elections since 1912, according to Examiner.

6. Wisconsin’s Door, Richland, Marquette, Columbia, Lincoln counties

Wisconsin will see the tightest contest in the election and is another must-win state where both candidates are dedicating all resources.

Door County is seen as being representative of the state’s vote and it has selected the winner in last seven elections, according to Examiner.

As the focus has shifted completely to swing states in the final days of the campaign, Harris has turned to Michigan and Trump has eyes on Georgia.

Harris is traveling to Michigan on Monday to focus on the economy, while Trump is heading to Georgia to shore up support among religious voters, according to Reuters.

While Harris is ahead in Michigan, trump is ahead in Georgia, according to the latest Decision Desk HQ-The Hill forecast for swing states.

READ MORE: US election: Harris eyes Michigan voters, Trump turns to Georgia as White House races tightens

Trump’s conversation with conservative broadcaster Joe Rogan has drawn around 33 million views on YouTube.

Two years ago, Rogan called Trump “an existential threat to democracy” but has since become friends with the Republican nominee again.

Here are the top takeaways:

1. Trump’s Biggest mistake

Trump said his biggest mistake in the first term was to select some people for government roles he should not have picked. He said recruiting neo-conservatives, who favoured an interventionist foreign policy, as a mistake. This is in line with the isolationist turn that Trump and his far-right platform have taken in recent years.

Trump also called former NSA John Bolton an idiot and called his former chief of staff John Kelly a bully and a weak person.

2. 2020 election claims

Trump repeated the false claim that he won the 2020 election and the election was actually stolen from him. He called it the “most crooked” election of all times.

“I would bring in papers that you would not believe, so many different papers. That election was so crooked, it was the most crooked,” said Trump.

3. On Putin & Kim Jong-Un

Trump, who has fawned over authoritarian leaders over the years, again flaunted his ties with Russian leader Vladimir Putin and North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un.

Trump said he told Kim that he would build apartment blocs on North Korean beaches.

“By the time I finished we had no problem with North Korea…I said: ‘Do you ever do anything else? Why don’t you go take it easy? Go to the beach, relax. I said: ‘You’re always building nuclear, you don’t have to do it. Relax!’ I said: ‘Let’s build some condos on your shore,’” said Trump.

Trump said that he “used to talk to him all the time”. He further said that if he were the president, Russia would have never invaded Ukraine.

Most voters think that Republican nominee Trump will not accept defeat if he loses the US presidential election, according to the latest CNN-SSRS survey.

The vast majority of 70 per cent voters think that Trump will not accept defeat and will continue to deny the election result if loses, as per the survey.

In sheer contrast, the survey found that only 27 per cent voters think that Harris will not accept defeat.

If the voters’ fears turn out to be true, then the United States may see the repeat of 2020 when Trump and his far-right MAGA supporters said the election was stolen from them. For four years, Trump and his supporters have falsely said that Trump won the 2020 election and Joe Biden and Democrats stole the election from them.

On January 6, 2021, a mob egged on by Trump attacked the US Capitol in a failed bid to disrupt the certification of the election result and illegally certify the result in his favour. There are fears that Trump and his supporters could resort to similar violence this time.

Trump’s running mate JD Vance has doubled down on Trump’s ‘enemy within’ remarks.

Referring to Harris ally Nancy Pelosi, Vance said that the biggest threat to the United States is inside the nation and not abroad.

“What he said, and I do agree with this – what he said is that the biggest threat we have in our country, it’s not a foreign adversary, because we can handle these guys. We can handle foreign conflicts,” said Vance to NBC News.

“We can’t handle – look, under Nancy Pelosi’s long life in public leadership, the United States has gone from the preeminent industrial power of the world to second, next to China. That fundamentally belongs on Nancy Pelosi’s shoulders, and if we’re going to have a more prosperous country, we’ve got to recognise our own leadership is why we lost our industrial base to China. Our own leadership is failing to lead this country into peace and prosperity,” said Vance.

The racism at Trump’s Madison Square rally was such that even Republicans supporting have criticise it.

While Trump has had vulgar language and profanities a staple of his campaign for a long time now, his attacks have so far been largely personalised for Harris and her allies instead of generalised racism directed at certain demographics. For example, he called Harris “shit” recently and Nancy Pelosi and others as “enemy from within” and has said that military should be deployed against his critics.

At the Madison Square rally, however, Trump’s allies went on racist tirade against Puerto Ricans, Latinas, Blacks, and Arabs.

Rep. María Elvira Salazar said on X that she was “disgusted” by comic Tony Hinchliffe calling Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage”.

Salazar further said that such comments do not reflect the Republican Party’s values.

While Hinchliffe called Puerto Rico “garbage”, Trump’s childhood friend David Rem called Harris “the anti-Christ” and “Devil” and another ally, businessman Grant Cardone, called Harris a prostitute, saying she ”and her pimp handlers will destroy our country”.

The Republican Party is projected for an all-round victory in the 2024 US elections, according to two major pollsters.

While Trump is projected to win the US presidential election, the Republicans are also projected to win majorities in the Senate and House of Representatives.

As per the Decision Desk HQ-The Hill’s latest forecast, Trump has 53 per cent chance of winning the presidential election and the Republicans have 72 per cent chance of winning the Senate and 53 per cent chance of winning the House.

As per the FiveThirtyEight’s latest forecast, Trump has a 54 per cent chance of winning the presidential election and Republicans have 88 per cent chance of winning the Senate and 52 per cent chance of winning the House.

With just a week to go for US presidential election, Trump is ahead of Harris in four must-win swing states, according to the Decision Desk HQ-The Hill forecast.

Trump is ahead in Arizona, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Georgia, as per the forecast.

Harris is ahead in Michigan and the two are tied in Nevada, says the forecast.

Even though Harris was ahead of Trump for weeks after taking over the Democratic ticket and had revitalised the campaign, Trump has overtaken Harris in a number of polls with just days to go to voting on November 5.

Overall, the Decision Desk-Hill forecast says Trump has 53 per cent chances of winning the 2024 US presidential election.

The Washington Post recently departed from a longstanding tradition when it announced it would not endorse a candidate in the upcoming United States presidential election — a decision that has spurred intense criticism from readers and employees.

The announcement, framed by the paper as a return to its “roots” of non-endorsement, has ignited concerns over journalistic independence, the role of the press in democracy, and whether ownership influences editorial decisions.

With just little over a week left for the 2024 US Presidential Elections, the former US President held a star-studded rally at Madison Square Garden, on Sunday. With the rally which many called “provocative”, Trump kicked off the final full week of campaigning at the heart of Manhattan.

Intending to excite the crowd, the Trump campaign trotted out several high-profile speakers, including Trump’s wife and ex-First Lady Melania Trump. While Trump is not a favourite candidate in New York, the rally managed to garner significant media attention.

With seven days to go, the campaign for the US presidential election has entered the final week. Donald Trump hosted a rally at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, which ended with an 80-minute long speech where he hit out at his rivals, criticised immigrants and spoke of mass deportation. Along with the Republican nominee, grabbing headlines was the opening act filled with racist insults, crude remarks and vitriol.