2024 election updates: Trump and Harris enter the final stretch of the 2024 campaign

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Last updated: Monday, October 28, 2024 10:05PM GMT
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As we head into the final full week of campaigning before Election Day, the latest ABC News/Ipsos poll shows Kamala Harris with a slight 51-47% lead over Donald Trump among likely voters nationally -- but the polls in the battleground states remain essentially deadlocked within the margin of error.

Fallout continues over racist comments made at Trump's big rally on Sunday at Madison Square Garden and Harris is preparing for her "closing argument" Tuesday night on the Ellipse near the Capitol and White House in Washington.

ABCNews logo
Oct 28, 2024, 10:22 AM

Almost 42 million voters have cast a vote

Almost 42 million Americans have cast a vote through early voting methods, as of Sunday afternoon, according to data from the University of Florida's Election Lab.

The about 41.9 million recorded mail and early in-person votes were evenly split with about 21 million mail ballots returned nationally and about the same cast at in-person early voting polling sites across the country, the data showed.

Early voting options are now open to voters in 50 states and the District of Columbia. Many early voting periods will last until the weekend before Election Day.

ByWill McDuffie ABCNews logo
8:07 PM GMT

Harris touts CHIPS Act as she tours semiconductor facility

In a visit to a semiconductor facility in central Michigan, Harris praised the manufacturing work happening there and noted the importance of outpacing China.

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at the Hemlock Semiconductor Next-Generation Finishing facility in Hemlock, Mich., Monday, Oct. 28, 2024.
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at the Hemlock Semiconductor Next-Generation Finishing facility in Hemlock, Mich., Monday, Oct. 28, 2024.

"Look, we've got to win the competition for the 21st century," she said at Hemlock Semiconductor in Saginaw. "We're not going to have China beat us in the competition for the 21st century, and that's about, then, doing the work that Corning is going to be doing about manufacturing of these solar panels, together with the work that you are doing here."

Harris cited the CHIPS Act and the Inflation Reduction Act as ways she has tried to boost America's manufacturing power.

"I want to thank you all for what you're doing here, as a great example of what was a vision that we had -- the president and I and Congressman -- we're going to create a meaningful public investment in America's private industries through the CHIPS act, through the Inflation Reduction Act, and we're going to infuse it with billions of dollars, knowing that if we do that, as that old saying comes, if you build it, they will come," she said.

Harris used the opportunity to slam Trump for "how he'd get rid of the CHIPS Act." Trump criticized the bipartisan law while on Joe Rogan's podcast last week.

ByBenjamin Siegel and Soorin Kim ABCNews logo
6:28 PM GMT

Elon Musk's America PAC posts, then deletes, video calling Harris a 'C-Word'

Elon Musk's America PAC deleted a video that called Harris a "C-Word," using a wordplay to suggest an expletive, but instead calling her a "communist."

Elon Musk and former first lady Melania Trump listen as former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at Madison Square Garden, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024, in New York.
Elon Musk and former first lady Melania Trump listen as former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at Madison Square Garden, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024, in New York.

The ad began with a warning: "WARNING This ad contains multiple instances of the C word. Viewer discretion is advised."

"Kamala Harris is a C word. You heard that right? A big old C word. In fact, all of the other C words think she's the biggest C word of them all," a narrator said in the video.

Then with an image of a cat in a Soviet officer's uniform and an altered image of Harris wearing a Soviet hat, the video revealed the word in question was "communist," even though the video was clearly hinting at the expletive.

"That's right. She's a tax hiking, regulation loving, gun-grabbing communist. And the worst part, she's proud of it," the narrator says.

ABC News has reached out to America PAC about the video.

ByJustin Gomez ABCNews logo
5:38 PM GMT

Biden calls Trump's rally 'embarrassing' and 'beneath any president'

President Joe Biden criticized Trump's rally at Madison Square Garden, where he and other speakers ramped up anti-immigrant rhetoric.

President Joe Biden criticized Trump's rally at Madison Square Garden, where he and other speakers ramped up anti-immigrant rhetoric.

"It's embarrassing. Just simply embarrassing. It's beneath any president, but that's what we're getting used to," Biden said. "That's why this election is so important. You know, most presidential scholars I've spoken to talk about the single most consequential thing about a president is character. Character. And -- and he puts that in question every time he opens his mouth."

With just over a week to go until Election Day, Biden was asked if he'd be on the trail with the vice president this week, but he made no mention of any joint events, which have been rare this election. Instead, he said he's been on the trail where the campaign thinks he can help the most and will be in Pennsylvania this week.

And for the first time, he spoke out on Elon Musk's $1 million giveaway to registered voters who sign a petition supporting the First and Second amendments, at first sarcastically saying, "Tell him I'm registered," before calling it "totally inappropriate."

ByOren Oppenheim ABCNews logo
5:33 PM GMT

Nearly 25% of Michigan's active registered voters have cast their ballot

More than 250,000 voters cast ballots during the first two days of in-person statewide early voting in the swing state, and over 1.5 million Michigan voters have submitted absentee ballots, Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson announced at a press conference on Monday.

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump gestures to supporters after speaking at a campaign rally, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024, in Traverse City, Mich.
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump gestures to supporters after speaking at a campaign rally, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024, in Traverse City, Mich.

Benson said that 24% of the state's active registered voters have by now already cast their ballot.

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, left, and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer watch as a beer is poured at the Trak Houz Bar & Grill in Kalamazoo, Mich.
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, left, and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer watch as a beer is poured at the Trak Houz Bar & Grill in Kalamazoo, Mich.

Benson also highlighted some demographic breakdowns about who has voted early in Michigan so far. Almost two-thirds of Michigan citizens who voted by mail are older than 60, but 61% of those who early voted so far are under 60, and 13.5% of early voters are under 30. Benson added that "of all the votes cast to date in Michigan's elections, 55% are from women and 44% are from men."