Election 2024 Latest: Trump and Harris lean into the campaign’s last leg with less than a week left

WASHINGTON | Donald Trump and Kamala Harris crisscrossed several swing states on Wednesday, passing each other in Wisconsin, where the former president appeared in Green Bay with a one-time local icon, retired NFL quarterback Brett Favre. Mumford & Sons, Gracie Abrams, Remi Wolf and members of the band The National appeared at Harris’ rally Wednesday night in Madison. Harris on Tuesday sought to remind Americans what life was like under Trump and then offered voters a different path forward if they send her to the White House, in a speech billed as her campaign’s closing argument.

Donald Trump and Kamala Harris crisscrossed several swing states on Wednesday, passing each other in Wisconsin, where the former president appeared in Green Bay with a one-time local icon, retired NFL quarterback Brett Favre.

Mumford & Sons, Gracie Abrams, Remi Wolf and members of the band The National appeared at Harris’ rally Wednesday night in Madison.

Harris on Tuesday sought to remind Americans what life was like under Trump and then offered voters a different path forward if they send her to the White House, in a speech billed as her campaign’s closing argument.

Follow the AP’s Election 2024 coverage at: https://apnews.com/hub/election-2024.

Here’s the latest:

Harris strikes open tone in Wisconsin

Vice President Kamala Harris, as she has done all day on the campaign trail, struck a conciliatory tone in Wisconsin on Wednesday, telling voters she is looking for “common ground” with people who disagree with her.”

As president, I will seek to find common ground and common sense solutions to the problems you face,” she said. “I’m not looking to score political points, I am looking for progress.”

Harris has spent considerable time in the close of her campaign reaching out to one-time Trump voters and those who disagree with her on certain issues.

She has had former Trump supporters introduce her at events. And has touted that she wants to put a Republican in her would-be cabinet.”Unlike Donald Trump, I don’t believe that people who disagree with me are the enemy,” she said in Wisconsin.

Trump thanks Brett Favre for his support at Wisconsin rally

Trump thanks NFL legend Brett Favre for endorsing him during a rally in Green Bay, the Wisconsin city where he led the Packers to a Super Bowl victory and was the league’s Most Valuable Player three times.

“Thank you, Brett. What a great honor. What a great champion,” Trump said. He joked that he’s “a little upset because I think he got bigger applause than me, and I’m not happy.”

Favre has been in the news lately for a welfare scandal in his home state of Mississippi. Favre, 55, is not facing any criminal charges, but he is among more than three dozen people or groups being sued as the state tries to recover misspent money.

“He’s got a little problem for himself and I thought it was very brave of him to came out,” Trump said.

Harris confronted pro-Palestinian protesters at all three of her events today

Harris has confronted pro-Palestinian protesters at all three of her events on Wednesday, using each interruption to fire up her supporters.

At her rallies in North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, a group of people protested on behalf of Palestinians, criticizing Harris for the Biden administration’s handling of the war between Israel and Hamas.

“We all want the war in Gaza to end and to get the hostages out and I will do everything in my power to make it heard and known,” Harris said in Wisconsin. “And everyone has a right to be heard, but right now I am speaking.”

Harris’ supporters erupted at her comment, a reference to what she told then-Vice President Mike Pence during their debate in 2020. The reaction largely drowned out the protesters.

Historians for Harris sign open letter endorsing her candidacy

Ken Burns, Ron Chernow and Jon Meacham are among hundreds of historians who have signed an open letter endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris for president.

Calling themselves “Historians for Harris,” the signees condemned Republican nominee Donald Trump as “openly hostile to democracy and to American constitutional customs,” and praised Harris for dedicating “her life to affirming the rule of law and democracy.”

“We believe, based on our study of the past, that the nation stands at an unprecedented historical as well as a political crossroads,” the letter reads in part. “We appeal to our fellow citizens, whether conservative, independent, or liberal, regardless of party affiliation, to vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz.”

Organizers of the letter, published Wednesday, include Burns, Chernow, Meacham, Beverly Gage, Sean Wilentz and Sidney Blumenthal. Supporters also include such Pulitzer Prize winners as Eric Foner, David Blight, Rick Atkinson and Stacy Schiff.

Trump distancing himself from anti-Puerto Rico joke

Trump distanced himself from a comedian whose joke disparaging Puerto Rico set off a firestorm, but he did not denounce the remark referring to the territory as a “floating island of garbage.”

“I don’t know anything about the comedian,” Trump told reporters in Green Bay, Wisconsin. “I don’t know who he is. I’ve never seen him. I heard he made a statement, but it was a statement that he made. He’s a comedian, what can I tell you. I know nothing about him.”

Trump made the comment while seated in the passenger seat of a garbage truck, hoping to draw attention to Biden’s comment that seemed to compare Trump supporters to “garbage.”

“I love Puerto Rico and Puerto Rico loves me,” Trump said.”Nobody’s done more for Puerto Rico than me,” he added. “I took care of them when they had the two hurricanes. And nobody gets along better with Puerto Rico and the Puerto Rican people than me. They love me and I love them.”

Harris tells protester they have ‘right to be heard,’ but ‘right now I am speaking’

Vice President Kamala Harris, faced by a protester at her rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on Wednesday, said the person who yelled “Free Palestine” had a “right to be heard” but “right now, I am speaking.”

The comment, a call back to what Harris said when then-Vice President Mike Pence attempted to interrupt her during their debate in 2020, earned huge applause from the supportive crowd.”

Here is the thing, let me say something, we are six days out from an election, we are six days away from an election and ours is about a fight for democracy and your right to be heard,” Harris said after the protester shouted.

“That is what is on the line in this election. That is what is on the line in this election.” She added: “Look everybody has a right to be heard but right now I am speaking.”

Harris has faced pro-Palestinian protestors at a series of events during the close of her campaign.

Harris urges voters to cast ballots early and talk to family and friends

Vice President Kamala Harris stressed the importance of early voting during a rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on Wednesday, urging her supporters to not only cast their own ballot, but to encourage family and friends to do the same.

“Pennsylvania, if you still have a ballot you can take it to a ballot drop box or an election office in your county by 8 p.m. on Election Day,” she said. “Let’s spread the word.”

Pennsylvania is a key state to both Harris and former President Donald Trump. Polls show a tight race in the commonwealth and both campaigns have spent considerable time in Pennsylvania in the final weeks of the campaign.

“I’m visiting this afternoon because we need your vote, Pennsylvania, we need your vote. Because we have just six days left in one of the most consequential elections in our lifetime,” Harris said.

Suspect in ballot drop box fires is an experienced metalworker, investigators say

Investigators say the man suspected of setting fires in ballot drop boxes in Oregon and Washington state is an experienced metalworker and may be planning additional attacks.

Portland Police Bureau spokesman Mike Benner said Wednesday that authorities believe the man who set the incendiary devices at ballot boxes in Portland and nearby Vancouver, Washington, had a “wealth of experience” in metal fabrication and welding.

The suspect is described as white and 30 to 40 years old, balding or with very short hair. Police previously said surveillance video showed the man driving a black or dark-colored 2001 to 2004 Volvo S-60. The vehicle did not have a front license plate, but it did have a rear plate with unknown letters or numbers.

Some voters in Washington and Oregon are still waiting for their ballots

Election officials in Washington state and Oregon say the U.S. Postal Service has not delivered ballots to some voters.

In Coos County, along Oregon’s western coast, an unknown number of ballots have not been delivered, and frustrated voters are inundating the clerk’s office with phone calls, County Clerk Julie Brecke said.

Coos County has about 50,000 active and registered voters.

“There’s no way to know the total number of ballots affected, because we only know there’s a problem if voters tell us,” Laura Kerns, a spokesperson for the Oregon Secretary of State’s office, said in an email Wednesday.

In Whitman County, Washington, Auditor Sandy Jamison said up to 300 ballots had not been delivered, mostly to post office box holders in the town of Garfield, about 55 miles southeast of Spokane.

Officials are urging residents in the two vote-by-mail states to reach out for replacement ballots ahead of next Tuesday’s election.

The Postal Service did not immediately return messages seeking comment.

Michigan removes 2 township clerks after they expressed plans to hand-count votes

Two Michigan township clerks in the Upper Peninsula have been removed from their election duties after expressing plans to hand-count votes in the upcoming November election, according to a letter sent by the state’s Bureau of Elections director.

In the directive dated Oct. 28, Director Jonathan Brater said that Rock River Clerk Tom Schierkolk and Deputy Clerk David LaMere were barred from administering elections until further notice.

Schierkolk and LaMere did not respond to messages the Associated Press left at their office.

The letter was first reported by the New York Times.

Michigan uses electronic voting machines to tabulate ballots and a hand-count would be unlawful, Brater said.

Research shows that hand-counting is slower and more prone to errors than using machine tabulators. Rock River is about 27 miles from Marquette, Michigan, and home to just over 1,200 people, according to the 2020 Census.

Harris distances herself again from Biden’s ‘garbage’ comments

The Democratic nominee for president told ABC in a Wednesday interview, “I strongly disagree with any criticism of the people based on who they vote for.”

Harris’ response, made after speaking at a rally in North Carolina, echoes her earlier comments about Biden setting off a firestorm when he responded Tuesday to a comedian at a recent Trump rally calling Puerto Rico “a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean.” Biden said, “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters. His demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it’s un-American.”

Biden and the White House rushed to explain that the president was talking about the rhetoric on stage, not Trump’s supporters themselves.

Nicky Jam withdraws his endorsement of Donald Trump

Puerto Rican reggaeton singer Nicky Jam has withdrawn his endorsement of Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election a month after appearing at a rally for the candidate.

Tony Hinchcliffe, a comic who called Puerto Rico “garbage” before a packed Trump rally in New York appears to be the catalyst.

“The reason why I supported Donald Trump was because I thought he was the best for the economy in the United States, where many Latinos live, many of us Latinos live, myself included, many immigrants who are suffering because of the economy and him, being a businessman, I thought it was the best move,” Jam said in Spanish, in a video statement posted to his official Instagram page.