It all comes down to this: President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden have one last day to make their closing arguments before Americans head to the polls on Election Day – but with over 97 million Americans having already voted, time is running out for the campaigns to make their closing statements.
The candidates are seeking to lead a nation at a crossroads, gripped by a historic pandemic that is raging anew in nearly every corner of the country and a reckoning over race. It could take longer than usual for elections officials to process the historic surge in early and mail-in ballots, leading to
Both campaigns insist they have a pathway to victory, though Biden’s options for picking up the required 270 Electoral College votes are more plentiful. Trump is banking on a surge of enthusiasm from his most loyal supporters while also threatening legal action to stop vote counting in some crucial states, including Pennsylvania.
The Republican president’s final day has him sprinting through five rallies, from North Carolina to Wisconsin. Biden, meanwhile, was devoting most of his time to Pennsylvania, where a win would leave Trump with an exceedingly narrow path. Biden was also dipping into Ohio, a show of confidence in a state where Trump won by 8 percentage points four years ago.
Their surrogates will also be on the road Monday: Biden's old boss, former president Barack Obama, will be campaigning for Biden in Georgia and Florida; both running mates, Sen. Kamala Harris and Vice President Mike Pence, will be stumping in Pennsylvania; first lady Melania Trump will be in North Carolina.
Follow along for live updates throughout the day from the campaign trail.
"I have a feeling, we're coming together for a big win tomorrow," Biden told supporters in Pittsburgh, promising a "simple" message about the election.
"The power to change this country is in your hands," Biden said. "In your hands!"
"I don't care how hard Donald Trump tries, there is nothing, nothing that will stop the people of this nation from voting, period."
Before Biden spoke, his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, asked supporters a question: "Are you ready to tell Donald Trump: You're fired?"
In Wisconsin, Trump made a stop in Kenosha, the city where a series of protests broke out after Jacob Blake, a Black man, was shot by police.
Trump touted his success at ending violence and destruction connected with those protests, but when violence broke out in Kenosha, Trump’s demand that National Guard troops be used came a day after the Democratic governor had already activated them, according to an AP fact check.
Trump spent much of his time in Wisconsin dealing with audio issues, and lobbing jokes at the expense of the audio production team for the rally.
“This is the worst microphone I’ve ever used in my life,” Trump said at one point.
"You know what that means? That means we don't have to pay for the microphones, because they did a bad job," he added.
In Philadelphia, Democratic Mayor Jim Kenney kicked off a stadium car rally set to feature vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris on a brisk Election Day eve.
Kenney told people listening from their cars outside Citizen Bank Park on Monday that the country needs “a strong, sound and sane president in the White House.”
Anastasia Austin, a Philadelphia educator, wore a sweatshirt to the Harris event boasting of her affiliation with Zeta Phi Beta, one of the Divine Nine sororities to which Harris also belongs.
Austin and her husband took their 3-year-old daughter with them when they voted early in Delaware County.
“As an African American woman raising a daughter … for my daughter to see somebody that looks like her in leadership, creating change,” Austin said, “it brings me to tears.”
Austin, like Harris, has Jamaican heritage, and said she looks forward to leaders who embrace people from different backgrounds, not ostracize them.
Sen. Kamala Harris delivered an urgent message for people to vote to repair the nation’s divides and protect its democracy.
Harris told the crowd that justice, equality, opportunity, decency and character are among the values on the ballot in Tuesday’s contest.
“Let’s vote, and vote with conviction and confidence and hope,” she said.
"We will confront, not condone, white supremacy," Harris added. "We will begin the work of healing and repairing and uniting our nation."
Some of the loudest honks from supporters at the drive-in rally came as Harris spoke of the need for better health care, women’s rights and a criminal justice system that embraces a person’s dignity.
"We have witnessed the greatest failure of a presidential administration in America's history," Harris said of Trump's coronavirus pandemic response.
In Pittsburgh, one of Biden's star-studded surrogates, Lady Gaga, told voters that "turnout is gonna be critical."
"Now is your chance to vote against Donald Trump," the "Paparazzi" singer told the crowd. "A man who believes his fame gives him the right to grab one of your daughters, or sisters, or mothers or wives by any part of their bodies."
"Vote for Joe Biden," she added. "He's a good person."
Biden told the gathered crown to "honk your horn" if they thought President Trump's repeated claim that he's done more for the African American community of any president since Lincoln was "a bunch of malarkey."
"This is the same man who started the birther movement against my buddy, Barack Obama" Biden added. "This is the man who, when the first black woman is running for vice president, he looks at her and he calls her a monster."
Biden is heavily focusing on turning out Black voters down the stretch. Activists say that the Black vote could be crucial to deciding who wins the Keystone State, a key swing state for both campaigns.
On Twitter, Trump wrote that "the Supreme Court decision on voting in Pennsylvania is a VERY dangerous one," claiming without evidence that, "it will allow rampant and unchecked cheating and will undermine our entire systems of laws," as well as "induce violence in the streets."
Trump has spent months claiming without evidence that the votes would be ripe for fraud and refusing to guarantee that he would honor the election result.
At least 97.9 million people have already voted, according to the U.S. Elections Project.
In Philadelphia, Democratic Mayor Jim Kenney kicked off a stadium car rally set to feature vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris on a brisk Election Day eve.
Kenney told people listening from their cars outside Citizen Bank Park on Monday that the country needs “a strong, sound and sane president in the White House.”
Anastasia Austin, a Philadelphia educator, wore a sweatshirt to the Harris event boasting of her affiliation with Zeta Phi Beta, one of the Divine Nine sororities to which Harris also belongs.
Austin and her husband took their 3-year-old daughter with them when they voted early in Delaware County.
“As an African American woman raising a daughter … for my daughter to see somebody that looks like her in leadership, creating change,” Austin said, “it brings me to tears.”
Austin, like Harris, has Jamaican heritage, and said she looks forward to leaders who embrace people from different backgrounds, not ostracize them.
Former president Barack Obama had pointed criticism for his successor during a campaign rally Miami on Monday night, referring to Trump’s series of packed rallies in the lead up to the election a “COVID spreader tour.”
“Nothing is more important to (Trump) than crowds to make him feel good,” Obama said. “Last night he told his supporters, 'don't tell anyone but I'm gonna fire Dr. Fauci after the election.'”
“Don't boo — vote," Obama added as the audience responded to Trump’s latest attack on Fauci.
Obama also attacked Trump’s relations with world leaders, accusing the president of “coddling dictators for the last four years.”
“Trump said this, he said Putin, Xi, Kim Jong Un, they want him to win. Yes, we know!" Obama exclaimed, later adding: “Now he says he might declare victory before all the votes are counted tomorrow ... that's not something you want to hear in Little Havana, or Little Haiti. That's not something the leader of a democracy does."
The former president has visited Florida numerous times in support of Biden’s campaign, as it is a state that some say is the single most crucial pathway to victory for either presidential candidate.
Obama encouraged Floridians to ensure that the outcome of Tuesday’s election be so resoundingly in Biden’s favor that even the president wouldn’t be able to contest the results.
“The president's declared that, you know, he's basically planned to announce victory no matter what the numbers are,” Obama said. “Well, you know what? If we beat him soundly, he won't be able to do it."
"We are better than what's been reflected these last four years in our politics,” Obama concluded.
Mike Pence warmed up the crowd for President Trump at an evening campaign rally in Michigan, where the former vice president touted the Trump administration’s efforts to protect religious freedom.
“Under President Donald Trump we’ve stood for that first freedom, religious freedom strong,” Pence said. “And it was President Donald Trump who ended the assault on the Little Sisters of the Poor, and the Supreme Court made it permanent.
Pence said that “foundational aspects'' of the country are on the ballot, including economic recovery, reproductive rights, and patriotism.
“You can bet Joe Biden will lock down the economy if he makes it to the White House. Right at the moment when the American economy is getting back on its feet, Joe Biden said this summer he would shut it down,” Pence said. “Under President Trump, we’re going to defeat the virus and the best is yet to come!”
Biden has not proposed to completely shut down the economy should he be elected president. Instead, Biden is promising to step up the fight to contain the spread of the coronavirus, including a mask mandate on federal property and pressure on governors to apply it in their states, and pledging to follow the advice of public health professionals on potentially strict safety rules.
President Trump landed in Traverse City soon after Pence concluded his address, tweeting about the “big crowd” waiting for him.
Biden, meanwhile, kicked the star-power up yet again in the final days of his campaign, stepping out alongside Lady Gaga to greet students at the University of Pittsburgh. The two are scheduled to appear together alongside Biden’s wife, Dr. Jill Biden, later this evening.
"I’m Joe Biden. I work for Lady Gaga," the former vice president joked to volunteers.
After their brief tour of the city, Biden delivered a fiery address at a Get Out The Vote event.
“We’re done with the chaos. We’re done with the racism. We’re done with the tweets, the anger, the hate, the irresponsibility,” Biden said, adding: “When America votes, the message is going to be heard, it’s going to be out loud and clear: it’s time for him to pack his bags and go home.”
The former vice president said the upcoming election can shape the future of the country for decades to come.
"We are really at one of those inflection points. This is going to be more than just who governs the next four years," Biden said. "What happens now, what happens tomorrow, is going to determine what this country looks like for a couple of generations."
Biden also energized voters with ideas for the middle class, saying he wants to give first-time homebuyers a $15,000 down payment and raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour.
"Under my plan I commit to you, no one making less than 400,000 is going to see a penny in tax raises. But for a change, the wealthiest and the biggest corporations will," Biden said. "91 of the Fortune 500 companies pay zero in taxes, after making billions of dollars. Well guess what, under a Biden administration, they're going to start paying their fair share."
First lady Melania Trump stumped for of her husband in Huntersville, North Carolina, on Monday, a visit that came just 24 hours after her husband held a campaign rally at the Hickory Regional Airport.
North Carolina is a key battleground President Donald Trump needs to win to boost his prospects of defeating Democratic nominee Joe Biden.
The first lady claimed the United States would be safer under another four years of the Trump administration than it would be under his opponent, Joe Biden.
“It was under (the) president’s leadership that our country took down two of the world's most dangerous terrorists,” she said. “As long as there are evil people who want to do us harm, my husband and our great military will hunt them down and protect our country.”
“Why should we trust Joe Biden when he suggests he could do a better job?” The first lady later asked, eliciting a round of laughter from the audience. “All you have to do is look back on his 47 years in political life to determine if you think he’s suddenly capable of putting the American people first.”
Melania Trump also said she and President Trump have faith in judges and the legal system to rule justly — a statement that appears out of step with her husband.
At an event Monday in Pennsylvania, the president assailed as “very dangerous” a decision by Pennsylvania’s top court to allow mailed ballots received in the three days after Tuesday’s election to be counted.
Later Monday, while addressing the crowd in Huntersville, the first lady expressed faith in the doctors, nurses and scientists working on the coronavirus pandemic.
Trump suggested Monday that he might fire Dr. Anthony Fauci after the election.
Trump has disagreed with pandemic advice from Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious-disease expert and member of the White House coronavirus task force.
Trump and Biden made their second stops of the day across the state of Pennsylvania from one another, with the president appearing in Avoca and the former vice president speaking in Monaca.
The president continued his attacks on “Big Tech” companies during his address, saying his opponent “is bought and paid for by big tech, big media, and powerful special interests.”
Trump also painted an apocalyptic vision of the United States under a Biden administration, saying his opponent is “not equipped mentally” for the job.
“Joe has no clue, Joe’s not calling the shots. And I guarantee he won’t be calling them for very long,” Trump said with a laugh.
Trump reminisced over his previous win in Pennsylvania, a state that he won by a little over 44,000 votes in the 2016 presidential elections.
“We got Pennsylvania, we got everything, we got it,” Trump said.
The president also assailed a decision that allows Pennsylvania’s elections officials to count mailed ballots that are received in the three days after Tuesday’s election.
Trump falsely blamed the U.S. Supreme Court when, in fact, Pennsylvania’s top court ordered the extension until Nov. 6, even if the ballot doesn’t have a clear postmark, as long as there is no proof it was mailed after the polls closed. The U.S. Supreme Court then refused to block Pennsylvania’s decision.
Trump called the situation “very dangerous, and I mean dangerous, physically dangerous.”
He argued that “you can’t extend dates” and claimed — without evidence — that cheating goes on in the Democratic stronghold of Philadelphia.
Trump has said that once the polls close Tuesday, “we’re going in with our lawyers” to try to stop Pennsylvania from counting the mailed ballots received after the election.
Across the state, Biden made his own pitch to Pennsylvanian voters.
“You all know the stakes have never been higher,” the former vice president said to a group of union workers and labor leaders. “You have the power to make all the difference.”
“What happens now, what happens tomorrow, is going to determine what this country is going to look like for a couple of generations,” he continued. “There’s so damn much at stake.”
The majority of Biden’s address appealed to middle-class voters, who the former vice president referred to as the “backbone” of the country.
“I see the world from Scranton, I see the world from working class towns all around this state,” Biden continued, leaning on his hometown heritage to court voters. “For the first time in a long time, we’re going to start rewarding work, not wealth.”
In a direct bid to his union audience, Biden said: "The only way we can deal with corporate greed in America is union power. That's a fact. You're the only ones that keep the barbarians on the other side of the gate, man."
He further reiterated his promise not to ban fracking, an important pitch in a region home to the large Shell Petrochemical Complex.
Former president Barack Obama stumped for Biden in Georgia on Monday, a state that has increasingly become a draw for Democrats as turnout increases among Black voters and the Atlanta suburbs tilt away from the GOP.
Obama was introduced in part by Stacey Abrams, who joked that "I applied for a job and didn't get it so I've had some time to work.”
Abrams, who served in the Georgia House of Representatives between 2007-2017, earned the Democratic nomination for governor in 2018. The longtime politician ultimately lost to Brian Kemp in an election marred by accusations of voter suppression committed by the now-governor.
In her concession speech at the time, Abrams announced the formation of her voter access organization, Fair Fight, along with her intention to sue Kemp for running what she alleged was an unfair election. (The suit is ongoing.)
Abrams on Monday implored those casting their ballots in-person to submit their votes no matter what, insisting: “Stay in line! Stay in line! If we … don't get out of line, then we will get what we deserve, and that is a government for the people, by the people, and made so by the state of Georgia.”
“The future is blue. The time is now,” Abrams continued. “So Georgia, lets get it done!”
The event ratcheted up the star power in support of Biden, with Grammy-award winning singer Monica and Hip-Hop artists YelloPain and 2 Chainz either speaking or performing – or, in some cases, both. A number of down-ballot Democratic candidates competing in various races across the state also appeared ahead of the former president.
When Obama finally took the stage, he touted Biden’s qualifications for president, saying: “He’s (Biden) got the character and the experience to make ua a better country.”
Obama also repeatedly and enthusiastically endorsed Jon Ossoff and Rev. Raphael Warnock, both in attendance at the event. The candidates are respectively running against incumbent Republican senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, who Obama lambasted as “like Batman and Robin gone wrong.”
“Joe Biden and Kamala Harris can get on top of this pandemic, and if we can get two new senators from Georgia we can get a government that's going to make that happen,” he continued, later adding: "Georgia, something's gotta go. It's either your Senators or your healthcare. I'd choose your Senators.”
And while Obama said he understood those who have grown disillusioned with government, he implored them to participate in the democratic process anyway.
"If you have not dropped off your ballot yet, please do not wait any longer,” Obama said.
The former president will travel to Miami, Florida for an Election Eve rally in support of Biden.
Vice President Mike Pence spent Election Eve focusing on Pennsylvania voters, speaking at a series of "Make America Great Again! Victory Rally” events in Latrobe and Erie.
During his first stop, Pence touted the record economic growth — estimated in a Commerce Department report last week — as a huge win for President Trump.
"With four more years of President Donald Trump in the White House we're going to bring this economy all the way back, bigger and better than ever before,” Pence said on Monday. “It's kind of like the President tweeted last week. He said it's the biggest and best economic growth in history — not even close."
The U.S. economy grew at an estimated 33% from July to September, according to the report. That's the highest jump in quarterly GDP recorded since 1947.
However, economists cite slowdowns in hiring and federal stimulus funds running out as signs the economy is weakening again.
In their first stops of the day, both Biden and Trump said they want to invest in America — although their ideas on how to do so differed greatly.
Biden, appearing in Cleveland, opened with a sweet moment as he introduced four of his grandchildren who joined him on the penultimate day of the campaign. “They’re my good luck charms,” the former vice president said.
Biden laid out his own plan to encourage companies to invest in the United States, saying he would add a 10% surtax on those who send American jobs overseas. He then slammed the president for putting his own investments above the interest of the country he serves.
“Who does this guy think he is? My policy is going to hold China accountable,” Biden said, comparing his and the president’s economic policies. “I'll end the Trump tax loopholes that incentivized companies to ship jobs overseas.”
Biden could not pass up the chance to hammer the president for his recent suggestion that he may fire Dr. Anthony Fauci after Tuesday’s election, as his rift with the nation’s top infectious disease expert widens while the nation sees its most alarming outbreak of the coronavirus since the spring.
Speaking at a campaign rally in Opa-locka, Florida after midnight Monday, Trump expressed frustration that the surging cases of the virus that has killed more than 231,000 people in the United States this year remains prominent in the news, sparking chants of “Fire Fauci” from his supporters.
On Monday, Biden had a different plan.
"Last night Trump said he was going to fire Dr. Fauci, isn't that wonderful?” Biden sarcastically asked supporters in Ohio. "I’ve got a better idea ... I'm going to hire Dr. Fauci! And we're going to fire Donald Trump!"
"Tomorrow we have an opportunity to put an end to a presidency that’s divided this nation,” Biden continued. “Tomorrow we can put an end to a president who has failed to protect this nation."
Speaking at his first of five rallies beginning in North Carolina, Trump offered his own agenda to invigorate the American economy.
"With your vote we will continue to cut your taxes, cut regulation, support our great police, support our fantastic military, care for our veterans, protect your Second Amendment, defend religious liberty and ensure more products are proudly stamped with that wonderful phrase 'Made in the USA,'” the president said in Fayetteville.
Trump also projected confidence and declared at his rally that “we’re going to win anyway” despite investigations he says were launched as part of an attempted takedown.
The eve of Election Day had Trump openly wondering what the political landscape would have looked like “had it been legit.”
He was referring to the special counsel’s investigation into ties between his 2016 presidential campaign and Russia and his impeachment by the Democratic-run House. Special counsel Robert Mueller found multiple links between the Russian government and the Trump campaign, but ultimately did not establish that the Trump campaign conspired with Russia to interfere in the election.
Trump said it’s all “fake stuff.”
The president spent much of his stop bemoaning his treatment at the hands of “Big Tech,” saying platforms like Twitter are attempting to sway the election in favor of Joe Biden.
“I see it on Twitter, trending, trending, trending, right? It’s not trending, they put the most boring things,” Trump said of his opponent's social media presence. “Anything bad about me, number one in the world on trends. Boring stuff, as opposed to affairs, scandals, they don’t even put that stuff up.”
“It’s a fix,” Trump added.
Trump also continued his attacks on the efficacy of mail-in voting, another imaginary snag the president claims will steal the election away from him. In the midst of a flurry of lawsuits in the leadup to the elections, the Supreme Court ruled last week that both Pennsylvania and North Carolina — both states the president is visiting on Monday — may extend their deadline to receive ballots.
Under the Supreme Court’s order, mailed ballots in North Carolina postmarked on or before Election Day must be received by 5 p.m. on Nov. 12 in order to be counted.
"What a horrible thing that they've done ... I'm going to start getting into it, because they're hurting our country very badly," Trump said of the decision.
Speaking to reporters before campaigning in Pennsylvania, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) responded to President Trump's attempts to cast doubt on the election results.
"I honestly believe that he's doing it to distract from the fact that he actually has no record to run on," she said.
"I've said this many times, we have witnessed the greatest failure of any presidential administration in the history of America," she added, "and so he wants to scare people, he wants to distract people, confuse people, but, you know what? He doesn't understand that the American people are smarter than that."
The Trump campaign issued a statement Monday claiming that "Biden’s political operatives have already been distributing talking points and research to delegitimize Election Day results by coaching surrogates to refer to the President’s Election Day success as a ‘Red Mirage.’"
Heading into the closing 24 hours, Trump and Biden each painted the other as unfit for office and described the next four years in near apocalyptic terms if the other were to win.
“The Biden plan will turn America into a prison state locking you down while letting the far-left rioters roam free to loot and burn,” Trump thundered Sunday at a rally in Iowa, one of the five he held in battleground states.
Biden said America was on the verge of putting “an end to a presidency that’s fanned the flames of hate.”
“When America is heard, I believe the message is going to be clear: It’s time for Donald Trump to pack his bags and go home,” Biden said in Philadelphia, the biggest city in a state that could decide the presidency.
As the candidates close out the campaign, the pandemic, which has killed more than 231,000 people nationwide and caused nearly 20 million to lose jobs, reached a new peak in infection rates, threatening yet another blow to lives and livelihoods of voters.
The election caps an extraordinary year that began with Trump’s impeachment, the near collapse of Biden’s candidacy during the crowded Democratic primary and then was fully reshaped by the coronavirus outbreak.
A record number of votes have already been cast, through early voting or mail-in ballots, which could lead to delays in their tabulation. Trump has spent months claiming without evidence that the votes would be ripe for fraud while refusing to guarantee that he would honor the election result.
In the starkest terms yet, Trump on Sunday threatened litigation to stop the tabulation of ballots arriving after Election Day. As soon as polls closed in battlegrounds such as Pennsylvania, Trump said, “we’re going in with our lawyers.”
It was unclear precisely what Trump meant. There is already an appeal pending at the Supreme Court over the counting of absentee ballots in Pennsylvania that are received in the mail in the three days after the election.
The state’s top court ordered the extension and the Supreme Court refused to block it, though conservative justices expressed interest in taking up the propriety of the three added days after the election. Those ballots are being kept separate in case the litigation goes forward. The issue could assume enormous importance if the late-arriving ballots could tip the outcome.
Under the shadow of possible legal battles, Pennsylvania loomed as most important battleground.
For Biden, who lives in neighboring Delaware, Pennsylvania has long been the focus of his campaign, a bulwark to block Trump from securing the electoral votes needed for reelection. Both he and his running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris, and their spouses will crisscross the state Monday — hoping to deliver a knockout blow to Trump without potential Pennsylvania legal challenges.
Trump once led comfortably in Ohio. Biden’s trip there comes after his ticket’s pushes into other formerly reliable Trump strongholds including Georgia, where the Democrats’ most popular surrogate, former President Barack Obama, was campaigning Monday.
But even as Biden enjoyed strong poll numbers, the move to expand the map revived anxiety among Democrats scarred by Trump’s 2016 upset over Hillary Clinton, whose forays into red states may have contributed to losing longtime party strongholds. Biden planned a Pittsburgh drive-in event with Lady Gaga on Monday night, reminiscent of Clinton’s rallying with Bruce Springsteen and Jon Bon Jovi in Philadelphia on the eve of an election she was favored to win but didn’t.
Short on campaign cash, Trump has been unable to compete with Biden over the airwaves and has relied on rallies to fire up his base. Those events, arguably the most dominant political force of the last five years, could draw to a close Monday with stops in North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and two in Michigan. The last will be in Grand Rapids, the same city where Trump held his finale four years ago.
Trump is focusing his last rounds of stops on states he won four years ago, playing defense in a campaign that has become a referendum on his handling of the pandemic. Both parties say the election holds outsize importance.
Adam Jentleson, a progressive strategist and former top aide to ex-Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada, said the election will be the most important of the country’s collective lifetime because it “is about restoring the basic structure of a functioning, multiracial democracy that can be responsive to the will of its people.”
Republican strategist Alice Stewart said the pandemic, the economy and race relations in America have all coincided in unprecedented ways, but that Election Day’s outcome won’t bring an immediate fix no matter what happens.
“If 2020 is the most consequential election of our lifetime, heaven help us for 2024,” Stewart said. “I’m calling Noah and we’ll start building the ark.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.