Trump caps off day of campaigning in North Carolina, Virginia

Former President Trump wrapped up the last Saturday before Election Day by campaigning in North Carolina, praising the state’s voters for voting early and urging those who had not voted to cast their ballots on Tuesday. 

“I hope to hell you get you’re going to get your a---es out and vote,” Trump told a crowd of supporters in Greensboro on Saturday evening. 

Trump’s rally came as early voting came to a close in North Carolina on Saturday. According to the State Board of Elections, the number of people who voted in the state so far exceeded early vote totals in 2020. As of Thursday, over 50,000 more registered Republican voters than Democratic voters had cast their ballot early in the state. 

“You broke the all-time record, thus far,” Trump said. 

The former president touched on his main talking points, including the economy and immigration. 

“I will keep American communities for American citizens. We're gonna have American people in our communities now,” he said. 

Trump also defended his stance on in vitro fertilization, referring to himself as “the father of fertilization.” 

The former president’s rally in Greensboro started shortly after 9 p.m. Trump came straight from a rally in Salem, Va. Earlier in the day, Trump campaigned in Gastonia, N.C. 

While the vast majority of public polling shows a razor-thin race between Trump and Harris, the former president negated the notion of a close race. 

“They’re saying it’s very close. It’s not very close,” Trump said. “We’re leading in all seven swing states.” 

The Hill’s Decision Desk HQ average shows Trump leading Harris by just under three points in Arizona and by just under two points in Nevada and North Carolina. In Georgia, he leads by just over two points, while in Michigan, Harris leads by 0.2 percent. In Wisconsin, Trump leads by 0.5 percent and in Pennsylvania he leads by 0.7 percent.  

The former president then went on to claim his campaign was doing well in Virginia and leading New Jersey, despite the majority of public polling showing Harris up by double digits in both states. 

“I just had a little birdie tell me we’re leading in New Jersey. What’s that about?” he said. 

A Rutgers-Eagleton poll released last week showed Harris leading Trump in the blue state 55 percent to 35 percent. 

Shortly before Trump’s rally in Greensboro, findings from the latest Des Moines Register/Mediacom survey were published, showing Harris leading Trump by three points in red-leaning Iowa. The same poll also showed Harris with a 28-point lead among Independent women. 

However, the Trump campaign referred to the Des Moines Register poll as an “outlier” and pointed to an Emerson College poll out of Iowa showing Trump up by 10 points in the state.