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Oprah, Lady Gaga bring back the joy in Kamala Harris' final rally

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Oprah, Lady Gaga bring back the joy in Kamala Harris' final rally

Vice President Kamala Harris held her final rally of the campaign Monday night, 106 days after President Biden dropped out, with a heavy dose of celebrity, trying to bring back the joy that characterized her early weeks on the trail.

At a Philadelphia rally outside the Philadelphia Museum of Art, by the steps where Rocky Balboa ran in the “Rocky” movie franchise, she implored a raucous crowd to make a plan to vote.

“One more day, just one more day in the most consequential election of our lifetime,” she said. “And momentum is on our side.”

The rally was intended as a show of force — bringing celebrity firepower to the biggest city in the most important swing state that was also the birthplace of American democracy. It featured Fat Joe, Lady Gaga, Ricky Martin, the Roots, will.i.am and Oprah Winfrey.

The event was part of a simulcast that stretched more than four hours across multiple cities, including Las Vegas and Phoenix. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz addressed a crowd in Milwaukee. Sugarland performed in Raleigh. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer spoke from Detroit, where Jon Bon Jovi also performed.

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“You don’t know who you voting for?” said Fat Joe, who introduced a musical number by fellow Puerto Rican Ricky Martin in a Philadelphia speech that criticized former President Trump for having a comedian who insulted Puerto Ricans during his rally last week. “You gotta be kidding me at this point.”

Lady Gaga performed a soulful version of “God Bless America” and spoke about empowering women, revving up the crowd. Winfrey brought 10 first-time voters on stage and asked several why they cast their votes.

“We are voting for healing over hate,” Winfrey said.

The mood was celebratory but Democrats are tense. Polls show a toss-up race with Pennsylvania, the biggest of the seven battleground states, nearly even as well.

“Everyone’s a little bit high-strung, which is understandable,” said Sara Grimaldi, 22, who has been working on youth voter engagement for a feminist group throughout the campaign.

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She came to do some last-minute outreach and to release some of that anxiety with Lady Gaga, she said. “Screaming, when you’re stressed out, helps.”

Democrats are hoping their ground game, two years in the making, will push Harris over the top. The campaign said about 110,000 volunteers have worked in the state since Harris took over atop the ticket from Biden three months ago, and were on track to knock on 5 million doors.

Tal Tigay, a 43-year-old real estate developer, came with her 12-year-old daughter, Nina, and their friend Ella, also 12. Tigay had taken Nina to a Hillary Clinton rally eight years ago to see the first female presidential candidate.

“Unfortunately, we didn’t win that one, but it was important for my daughter to be here in this moment,” Tigay said.

Violet Perloff, a first-year student at George Washington University in Washington, rescheduled a test and came home on the train so she could celebrate voting for the first time. She brought a bejeweled “Harris” sign that she made in her dorm room.

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“I had the opportunity to show my support,” she said. “So I was like, I want to do it. I want to come out and show that I care about my rights and I care about the future of this country.”

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Trump gets last-minute round of big-name endorsements including Joe Rogan, son of Roberto Clemente

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Trump gets last-minute round of big-name endorsements including Joe Rogan, son of Roberto Clemente

On the eve of the U.S. election, President Trump received a round of last-minute endorsements from high-profile names, including Joe Rogan and Roberto Clemente Jr., son of the baseball legend. 

With less than 24 hours to go before the election, podcaster and comedian, Joe Rogan formally endorsed Trump for president, ending speculation. 

Posting on X, Rogan highlighted his nearly three hour interview with SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who has already supported Trump. 

“The great and powerful @elonmusk. If it wasn’t for him we’d be f—ed,” Rogan said. “He makes what I think is the most compelling case for Trump you’ll hear, and I agree with him every step of the way.” 

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Podcaster Joe Rogan endorsed Donald Trump on eve of election. (“The Joe Rogan Experience”)

And leaving no room for doubt, Rogan wrote: “For the record, yes, that’s an endorsement of Trump.” 

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Trump in Pittsburgh

Donald Trump gained several last-minute endorsements from some big names. (Getty Images)

Earlier Monday, Robert Clemente Jr., son of the Puerto Rican baseball legend, formally endorsed Trump in the city where his father played. 

Clemente Jr. joined Trump on stage in Pittsburgh where he praised the former commander-in-chief. 

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Roberto Clemente Jr. and Donald Trump at a rally

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump, left, greets Roberto Clemente Jr., right, at a campaign rally at PPG Paints Arena, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Matt Freed)

“For the first time, I had to take a step forward. It is very important for me to support this man, because I believe tomorrow is a change of time,” Clemente Jr. said. “My father, the name Clemente, what it means is goodwill and unity. I believe that your team is going to bring it all home. I believe in everything that you stand for right now,” he told Trump.

And earlier Monday, Randi Mahomes, the mother of star Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, endorsed Trump during a game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. 

Randi Mahomes in MAGA hat

Randi Mahomes, the mother of Chiefs star Patrick Mahomes, wears MAGA hat at game. (OutKick)

In an exclusive video to OutKick, Randi Mahomes, wearing a red “Make America Great Again” hat with a Chiefs sweatshirt revealed her endorsement of Trump. 

“Make America great again. Let’s do it. Woo!” Randi Mahomes said. 

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Additionally, Trump was joined on stage in Pittsburgh earlier Monday by podcast host Megyn Kelly, who touted the former president as a “protector of women.”

Fox News Digital’s Scott Thompson contributed to this report. 

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Russia remains 'active threat' in influencing 2024 election, likely to focus on swing states: U.S. officials

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Russia remains 'active threat' in influencing 2024 election, likely to focus on swing states: U.S. officials

American intelligence officials released a recent statement warning about Russian actors conducting “additional influence operations” to impact the upcoming election on Tuesday.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) published the latest update on its website on Monday evening. Speaking on behalf of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the ODNI detailed the latest intelligence findings.

Last week, officials said that they observed Russian actors creating and disseminating a fake video that showed individuals voting illegally, and a video accusing a politician of taking a bribe. Since then, the U.S. Intelligence Community (IC) has observed Russia and other foreign adversaries “conducting additional influence operations intended to undermine public confidence in the integrity of U.S. elections and stoke divisions among Americans.”

“The IC expects these activities will intensify through election day and in the coming weeks, and that foreign influence narratives will focus on swing states,” the statement read.

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Florida residents wait in line at an early polling precinct to cast their ballots in local, state, and national elections, in Clearwater, Florida, U.S., November 3, 2024.  (REUTERS/Octavio Jones)

Of all the foreign adversaries seeking to impact the election, the ODNI said that Russia “is the most active threat.”

“Influence actors linked to Russia in particular are manufacturing videos and creating fake articles to undermine the legitimacy of the election, instill fear in voters regarding the election process, and suggest Americans are using violence against each other due to political preferences, judging from information available to the IC,” the ODNI continued. “These efforts risk inciting violence, including against election officials.”

“We anticipate Russian actors will release additional manufactured content with these themes through election day and in the days and weeks after polls close.”

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Poll worker and voters in Massachusetts

A poll worker, center, works at a table as voters prepare to cast their ballots during early voting in the general election, Friday, Nov. 1, 2024, in Fall River, Mass. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

In recent days, Russian actors created an article reporting about false plans for swing state officials to orchestrate election fraud, and also made a recent video that “falsely depicted an interview with an individual claiming election fraud in Arizona.

Officials also believe that Iranian actors may be meddling with the election and disseminating false information, as they have done in the past. The meddlers may intend “to create fake media content intended to suppress voting or stoke violence, as they have done in past election cycles,” the ODNI noted.

The FBI encourages anyone who observes suspicious or criminal activity to call 1-800-CALL-FBI. Cyber incidents impacting election infrastructure can be reported to the CISA through the number 1-844-SAY-CISA.

The report came less than 24 hours before polls are set to open on Nov. 5, in what is expected to be a toss-up election between Vice President Harris and former President Trump. Swing states across the country have been on the lookout for fake ballots.

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Trump and Harris in North Carolina

Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris were neck-and-neck in polls on the eve of Nov. 5. (AP/Evan Vucci/Jacquelyn Martin)

On Monday, the chair of a Pennsylvania county election board announced that he had found 2,500 suspicious registration and mail-in ballot applications. At least 17% of the applications were fraudulent.

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At end of a long campaign, Harris and Trump spend bulk of final day in crucial Pennsylvania

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At end of a long campaign, Harris and Trump spend bulk of final day in crucial Pennsylvania

Former President Trump spent his last full day of campaigning Monday saying that only he can save America from an apocalyptic future dominated by out-of-control government, an “invasion” of criminal immigrants and amoral liberals — messages of dark foreboding much like the ones that have powered the Republican’s decade on the national stage.

Vice President Kamala Harris ended her campaign for the presidency with a series of rallies in which she promised to turn the page and put the U.S. on a more stable and hopeful trajectory, pledging not to seek revenge but to “spend every day working on my to-do list on your behalf.”

While the messages from the two presidential candidates diverged sharply, they nearly came together geographically, with both spending much of Monday in Pennsylvania, a state seen as critical by both sides in securing an electoral college victory.

The Keystone State awards more electoral votes to the winner — 19 — than any of the other states that are being most closely contested this year. Polls showed Pennsylvania in an apparent dead heat and the six other battlegrounds — Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia, North Carolina, Arizona and Nevada — also too close to call, as voting wraps up on Tuesday.

In a late afternoon rally at an arena in Reading, Trump waxed nostalgic about his time on the national stage, while continuing to rail against an establishment he accused of conspiring to keep him from power.

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“For the past nine years, we’ve been fighting against the most sinister and corrupt forces on Earth,” he told the crowd. “With your vote in this election, you can show them once and for all, that this nation does not belong to them. This nation belongs to you.”

Trump promised that his second term, coming four years after he lost the presidency to Joe Biden, would ring in a new “golden age” of peace and prosperity for Americans. “Nov. 5, 2024, will be Liberation Day in America!” Trump shouted, though he pledged that the “liberation” would begin on the first day of his presidency with the mass deportation of immigrants in the U.S. illegally.

“This is not sustainable by country,” Trump said of migration across the border with Mexico. “They’re taking over your towns, your schools, your hospitals,” he said, adding: “I will rescue every city and town that has been invaded and conquered.”

Immigration on the southern border skyrocketed in 2023 under the administration of President Biden and his vice president, Harris, but entries declined dramatically by this summer. Democrats and Republicans had worked out a compromise bill to stem the flow of migrants, but the legislation died when Trump came out against it.

The former president was scheduled for two more rallies in the state — in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia — before concluding the long campaign’s penultimate day.

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In a note of particular concern to some in the state, he raised doubts about whether Harris would continue to allow hydraulic fracturing, known as fracking, to extract oil and gas. Trump pledged to the estimated 500,000 Pennsylvanians employed in the petroleum industry that if elected, “we will frack, frack, frack and drill, baby, drill.”

He ended his hour-and-20-minute presentation with a now-familiar string of promises.

“We will make America powerful again. We will make America wealthy again. We will make America healthy again,” he began. “We will make America strong again. We will make America proud again. We will make America safe again. And we will make America great again!”

Kamala Harris at a rally Monday in Allentown, Pa.

(Susan Walsh / Associated Press)

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In another closing argument, Trump used his Truth Social platform to present a short video from his ally, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Kennedy contended in the video that the Democrats were “weaponizing” government agencies to crack down on dissent — an apparent reference to the administration’s attempt to stop disinformation on the COVID-19 pandemic from being spread online. The former environmental lawyer assured viewers that Trump is “going to be relying on me to help clean up that corruption.”

About the same time Trump spoke in Reading, Harris was appearing an hour’s drive away, in Allentown, where she delivered a 20-minute speech that included many of the crowd favorites from her whirlwind 105-day campaign for the presidency.

Harris returned to well-worn themes such as reproductive freedom, love for country and exhaustion with a decade of rancorous politics. As with Trump’s applause lines, those topics fired up the Democratic faithful, who applauded lustily and held aloft signs that said “USA,” and “WHEN WE FIGHT WE WIN.”

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“Pennsylvania, you know me — I am not afraid of tough fights,” she said before listing her successes as a prosecutor in California. “It is my pledge to you, if you give me a chance to fight on your behalf as president, there is nothing in the world that will stand in my way.”

Harris did not mention Trump by name, but noted that if elected, she would not concern herself with an “enemies list” — an apparent reference to the former president’s now-routine remarks in recent weeks about those he says have wronged him — and would instead “spend every day working on my to-do list on your behalf.”

Harris made sure to be very specific about what she wanted Pennsylvanians to do next: providing the hours that they could vote and urging them to get out and do just that. After a nearly four-month stretch unlike any other in modern American politics, Harris had a final message for supporters: “One day left!” she said.

The Democrats also made sure to remind residents of the state — including an estimated 300,000 Puerto Rican Americans — about controversial remarks that overshadowed the final days of the race. The words came in the form of a joke from comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who appeared for Trump at a Madison Square Garden rally last week.

The rapper Fat Joe reminded the Allentown crowd about the joke. “It was filled with so much hate … calling Puerto Rico an island of garbage,” said the musician, a Bronx native who is of Puerto Rican and Cuban descent. “My Latinos, where is your pride?”

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Referring to the Trump-JD Vance ticket, the rapper asked: “What more they got to do to show you who they are?”

Like Trump, Harris planned to end the long day of campaigning in Pennsylvania’s two biggest cities, with rallies planned for Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.

Harris’ campaign said her final stop would be outside the Philadelphia Museum of the Arts — the famous site of the steps where the title character finishes a triumphant run in the movie “Rocky” — to highlight the importance of democracy in the city where America’s founding documents were written. Scheduled to join Harris at the rally were Oprah Winfrey, Lady Gaga, the Roots and other pop culture luminaries.

Times staff writer Noah Bierman, in Philadelphia, contributed to this report.

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