Trump on being ‘dictator’; Beyoncé joins Harris

Just 11 days until Election Day.

Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump have spent months courting pivotal swing state voters that could ultimately decide the election. On Friday, Trump will return to one of those states, holding a rally in Traverse City, Michigan. He’ll also sit for an interview with Joe Rogan on his mega-popular podcast.

Harris is set to appear at a rally in Houston, Texas, on Friday. The Lone Star State’s widely expected to ultimately vote for Trump, but the vice president is expected to take the stage with Beyoncé to support Democratic Senate candidate Colin Allred, who is trying to unseat Republican Sen. Ted Cruz.

Keep up with the USA TODAY Network’s live coverage.

Mississippi mail-in ballot law struck down. Swing state Nevada has similar law

A federal appeals court struck down a Mississippi law that allowed mail-in ballots received within five days of the Nov. 5 election to be counted.

Sign-up for Your Vote: Text with the USA TODAY elections team.

A panel of three judges determined Friday that the law was in tension with federal law designating a “day for the election,” and therefore must be struck down. The lawsuit was brought by the Republican National Committee and the Mississippi Republican Party.

“The State’s problem is that it thinks a ballot can be ‘cast’ before it is received,” wrote Judge Andrew Oldham of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. 

Judges James Ho and Kyle Duncan joined the opinion. All three judges were appointed by former President Donald Trump.

Many states allow ballots to be counted that arrive after Election Day, including Nevada, a swing state that requires mailed ballots to be received within four days of the election. In July, a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by the Republican National Committee and Nevada Republican Party to get Nevada’s four-day allowance struck down.

– Aysha Bagchi

Harris to say Texas officials seeking to restrict abortion rights are ‘out of their minds’

Vice President Kamala Harris will be in Houston this evening, along with popstar Beyonce, at a rally focused on abortion rights.

Her speech will center around the lack of reproductive freedom in Texas, which has some of the most restrictive abortion laws in the country.

Her campaign released excerpts of her speech ahead of the rally.

“In America, freedom is not to be given. It is not to be bestowed. It is ours. By right. And that includes the fundamental freedom of a woman to make decisions about her own body and not have the government telling her what to do,” she will say.

Harris is in Texas in support of Democratic Senate candidate Rep. Colin Allred, who is running against Republican Sen. Ted Cruz.

“The Attorney General of Texas is suing the United States Government so that Texas prosecutors can get their hands on the private medical records of women who leave the state to get care,” according the excerpt.

“So, see what is happening: Donald Trump won’t let anyone see his medical records. But these guys want to get their hands on yours? Simply put: They are out of their minds.”

–Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy

Can Colin Allred pull off a victory against Ted Cruz? Democrats hold their breath

Former NFL linebacker and Rep. Colin Allred is facing off against Republican Sen. Ted Cruz in the closely watched Texas Senate race. Cruz, a Trump-endorsed two-term incumbent, has held the seat since 2013. 

Though Republicans are confident that Cruz will prevail again this year, some polls show it’s going to be a tight race as both candidates are in a virtual dead heat less than two weeks out from Election Day, which is Nov. 5. An Emerson College Poll released Oct. 23 found that 48% of likely Texan voters support Cruz while 47% support Allred.

In the final homestretch of the race, both candidates are trying to court undecided and middle of the road voters, brand themselves as bipartisan and defend their immigration records (a top issue in the state). 

Harris is coming to Houston Friday to rally with Allred and speak on abortion rights. Famous pop star Beyonce is expected to make an appearance.

−Sudiksha Kochi

Long line to attend Harris Houston rally

HOUSTON − The line to see Harris snaked thousands deep around the city’s major league soccer arena called Shell Stadium hours before start time.

Sitting in the shade of a stand of crepe myrtles along the arena’s west wall were cousins Jacqueline Sevier and Tracey Mason-Moore.

As Black women who came of age in the 1980s, Mason-Moore and Sevier didn’t dream they would have the opportunity to vote for a woman of color in a presidential election. They are now in their 60s.

“This is going to go down in the history books,” Mason-Moore said.

Both women said abortion rights topped their priorities in the election.

“What about someone who is molested or raped?” Mason-Moore said, referencing Texas’ near-total abortion ban. Sevier cut in, “Especially if it’s life or death.”

Asked if the expected performance by pop superstar Beyoncé factored into their decision to wait on what had quickly become a very long line.

“I’m here for Harris, and that’s all,” Sevier said. “I’m too old to care about Beyoncé.”

-John Moritz

Trump denies disputing funeral costs for murdered soldier; attacks Atlantic magazine

Trump took time Friday to deny news reports that he balked at the funeral costs of a slain soldier, and described other dead veterans as “losers” and “suckers.”

“Phony stories,” Trump told supporters gathered at the airport in Austin, Texas, including members of a family who have also criticized reporting on the 2020 slaying of 20-year-old Army private Vanessa Guillén.

The Atlantic reported this week that Trump complained about the cost of the funeral, allegedly saying “it doesn’t cost 60,000 bucks to bury a f—— Mexican!”

At the event in Austin, Trump noted that members of the family were also in the audience and have criticized the reporting of the death. “We love you,” Trump told them. “Thank you.”

This was the same Atlantic story that reported Trump once said, “I need the kind of generals that Hitler had.”

Trump has denied making that statement as well, but did not address the Hitler issue during his Austin remarks.

Trump did attack the magazine for having reported the comments about “suckers” and “losers” that Trump has also denied making.

-David Jackson

Harris assails Trump for calling US the world’s ‘garbage can’

Vice President Kamala Harris slammed Republican nominee Donald Trump on Friday for calling the United States the world’s “garbage can,” accusing the former president of disparaging the American people. 

“It’s just another example of how he really belittles our country,” Harris said to reporters in Houston, where she’s set to hold a campaign rally Friday night featuring music star Beyoncé. 

“This is someone who is a former president of the United States, who has a bully pulpit. And this is how he uses it? To tell the world that somehow the United States of America is trash?”

Harris added the president “should be someone who elevates discourse and talks about the best of who we are and invests in who we are. Not someone like Donald Trump who’s constantly demeaning and belittling who the American people are. America deserves better.”

Trump made the remarks during a campaign rally Thursday night in Tempe, Arizona, as he discussed migrants who have entered the country at the U.S.-Mexico border. 

“When Kamala came in, she dismantled our border and threw open the gates to an invasion of criminal migrants from prisons and jails, from insane asylums and mental institutions, from all over the world,” Trump said.

“We’re a dumping ground,” Trump added. “We’re like a garbage can for the world. That’s what’s happened. That’s what’s happened to our – we’re like a garbage can. You know, it’s the first time I’ve ever said that.

-Joey Garrison

Trump stresses border issues – and Harris – in remarks to Texas supporters

Trump used a Friday pit stop in Austin, Texas, to meet with supporters and blast Harris over immigration policy in a border state that leans Republican.

Texas “has been turned into ground zero for the worst border invasion in the history of the world,” Trump told backers gathered at an Austin airport.

Harris is also in Texas for a campaign event on abortion rights featuring Beyonce and Willie Nelson; Trump criticized Harris for campaigning with “woke celebrities.”

Trump held the mini-rally after taping Joe Rogan’s podcast; no word on when that will be released. The former president plans to travel to Traverse City, Mich., for a Friday evening rally.

– David Jackson

Harris to blitz Philadelphia Sunday targeting Black, Latino voters

Looking to shore up support from two core Democratic constituencies, Vice President Kamala Harris is set to fan out across Philadelphia on Sunday in an appeal to Black and Latino voters.

The visit will take Harris away from the large campaign rallies at arenas into more intimate settings in different local neighborhoods.

Harris will attend service at a predominantly Black church in West Philadelphia on Sunday morning before going to a barbershop in the neighborhood, a senior campaign official confirmed to USA TODAY. The visits are part of the campaign’s “Soul to the Polls” get-out-the-vote efforts aimed at Black voters.

The vice president will later go to a Puerto Rican restaurant in North Philadelphia and a youth basketball facility in the northwestern part of the city. Harris will use the visit to discuss her economic polices and to urge supporters to “make a plan to vote,” the campaign official said.

Polling has shown Republican nominee Donald Trump has made small inroads among Black and Latino voters that could prove costly for Harris in a razor-close election.

Harris’ visit to Philadelphia will mark her 14th trip to Pennsylvania, a critical battleground state, since she launched her presidential bid on July 21.

– Joey Garrison 

Conservative GOP leader wants NC legislature to award Electoral College votes to Trump: Politico

A Maryland Republican lawmaker who runs an ultraconservative coalition in Congress says North Carolina’s legislature should award its 16 electoral votes to Donald Trump before the state’s election results are counted, according to Politico.

Rep. Andy Harris, the chairman of the Freedom Caucus, made the comments Thursday, saying the idea “makes a lot of sense” because people in the western part of the state, a rural area where Trump is popular, are still dealing with the impact of Hurricane Helene.

The U.S. Supreme Court last year struck down an attempt to widen state legislatures’ power over elections, based on a case out of North Carolina.

In the Tarheel State, after the election is complete, the Board of Elections performs a canvass and then issues a certificate of election. The secretary of state then tells the governor which party’s electors have been chosen. The governor prepares certificates of ascertainment declaring the winner of the presidential race, and the secretary of state convenes the Electoral College.

North Carolina Secretary of State Elaine Marshall told USA TODAY earlier this month that she would not be intimidated into changing Electoral College votes. “If I were to get a call about switching electors, I mean, I wouldn’t do it,” she said. “There is no authority for that. And it’s just not going to happen on my watch.”

– Erin Mansfield

More winners of Elon Musk’s $1 million giveaway after DOJ warning letter

Elon Musk’s super PAC is continuing with its daily million-dollar giveaways after the Justice Department has reportedly warned him it could violate federal election law.

Musk has donated more than $118 million to the America PAC, which backs former President Donald Trump, according to Federal Election Commission filings. Last Saturday, Musk announced he would give $1 million a day to a registered voter who signs an online petition in support of the Constitution, which aims to get signatures from registered voters in swing states.

Multiple media outlets reported Wednesday that the DOJ’s election crimes branch sent a warning letter to the America PAC’s lawyer, saying it is against the law to offer anything of value to sway votes.

No winner was announced Wednesday, but as of Thursday night, the America PAC posted two winners, one from Michigan and one from Wisconsin, as the initiative is apparently charging forward.

– Kinsey Crowley and Sudiksha Kochi

Hillary Clinton says Trump is ‘more unhinged, more unstable’ than in 2016

Hillary Clinton said in an interview on CNN’s “The Source” that Trump is not the same presidential candidate in 2024 as he was eight years ago when she lost to him in 2016’s razor-thin White House campaign.

“I think he’s more unhinged, more unstable,” Clinton said on Thursday. “I think you see that all the time in both his rallies and his kind of word salad after word salad speeches. But you also see it in the interviews he does do, which are primarily with, you know, friendly outlets where he can’t follow, you know, the question – doesn’t really answer the question.”

Clinton added that she thinks Harris is running her presidential campaign based on a “lot of the lessons that we have learned over the last eight years.”

“First and foremost, how incredibly dangerous Donald Trump is. That wasn’t maybe as clear as it should have been back in 2016. But it sure is now,” said Clinton, a former first lady, New York senator and Obama-era secretary of state.

– Sudiksha Kochi

Top GOP leaders briefed on threats to Trump, call for more security

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said in a joint statement Friday that they’ve been briefed on the “ongoing and persistent threats” concerning Republican nominee Donald Trump’s safety and criticized Harris for her rhetoric about the former president. 

In the weeks since a second assassination attempt against Trump, the top two GOP leaders on Capitol Hill said that Harris has “fanned the flames” and the risk of political violence.

During a CNN town hall on Thursday, Harris was asked whether she believes Trump is a fascist. She replied, “Yes, I do.” Her remarks come after Trump’s ex-White House chief of staff John Kelly said this week that the former president “falls into the general definition” of a fascist.

“Labeling a political opponent as a ‘fascist,’ risks inviting yet another would-be assassin to try robbing voters of their choice before Election Day,” Johnson and McConnell said in the statement.

They called on Harris to “take these threats seriously, stop escalating the threat environment, and help ensure President Trump has the necessary resources to be protected from those threats.”

– Sudiksha Kochi

Is Joe Rogan a Trump supporter? 

Donald Trump is scheduled to sit with Joe Rogan for an interview on his podcast Friday. The show is one of the most listened to in the country. Its wide audience includes some Republicans who flocked to the podcast when Rogan began questioning vaccines and lockdowns during the COVID pandemic. 

The host praised Robert F. Kennedy Jr. when he appeared on the podcast before suspending his presidential campaign and endorsing Trump. Rogan later clarified he did not endorse Kennedy. 

Rogan isn’t a fervent Trump supporter either. In 2020, he supported Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary. The same year during a podcast, he said he would rather vote for Trump than Joe Biden. However, he later said he voted for Libertarian Jo Jorgensen in the 2020 general election. 

– Rachel Barber

Join USA TODAY journalists Aysha Bagchi and Sarah Wire for an election Reddit AMA on Oct. 25 at 3 p.m. ET on the r/law subreddit.

Federal judge halts Virginia voter registration purge of suspected noncitizens

A federal judge in Virginia stopped the state on Friday from removing suspected noncitizens from the voter rolls and returning ones who were removed because of how close it is to the Nov. 5 election, in a similar decision to another federal court in Alabama recently.

U.S. District Judge Patricia Giles ruled an executive order Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed Aug. 7 violated a federal law that prohibits removing names from voter rolls within 90 days of an election. Voters who were removed since that date must be notified and have their registration restored, Giles ruled.

Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares vowed to appeal the decision.

– Bart Jansen

Election Day is Nov. 5. Sign up for USA TODAY’s On Politics newsletter for breaking news and exclusive analysis.

New poll shows Harris and Trump tied in the popular vote 

Trump and Harris are locked in a dead heat in the popular vote, according to a poll by the New York Times and Siena College released Friday. The poll of 2,516 voters nationwide showed the candidates are tied 48% to 48%. The results are within the poll’s margin of error, which is +/- 2.2 percentage points. 

Trump lost the popular vote to Hillary Clinton, despite winning the Electoral College in 2016. He also lost the popular vote to Joe Biden in 2020. 

– Rachel Barber and Kinsey Crowley

Trump: ‘I’m not a dictator’ (and my former military officials are lying)

It’s not just John Kelly. Trump is having to defend himself against a host of former military leaders  – officials he appointed – who are saying the former president has fascist and authoritarian tendencies.

“If I fire somebody, they’ve got every newspaper in the world talking to them to see if they can get them to say something bad,” Trump told WABC/New York radio hosts John Catsimatidis and Rita Cosby in an interview broadcast Thursday.

Kelly, a retired general who was Trump’s White House chief of staff, told The New York Times that “he certainly falls into the general definition of fascist, for sure.”  Kelly also said: “He certainly prefers the dictator approach to government.”

Former Defense Secretary Mark Esper, asked on CNN if the considers Trump a fascist, told CNN: “He certainly has those inclinations.”

And Mark Milley, whom Trump nominated to be chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told book author Bob Woodward: “We have got to stop him! … He is the most dangerous person ever. I had suspicions when I talked to you about his mental decline and so forth, but now I realize he’s a total fascist.”

Trump’s response: Invective.

In his radio interview on the “Cats & Cosby Show,” Trump used personal terms to attack Kelly (“a stupid person”), Esper (“a weak guy”), and Milley (“a total dope”).

As for his election opponent, Harris, Trump said about one of her recent interviews: “All she could do is talk about Trump whenever she was asked the question: ‘Well, I think Trump is a dictator’… I’m not a dictator. It’s just incredible. This is their new thing.”

– David Jackson

How to watch Beyoncé perform at Harris rally 

Superstar Beyoncé is expected to take the stage at Vice President Kamala Harris’ rally in Houston, Texas, Friday evening. 

When Harris launched her first campaign video ad, Beyoncé’s 2016 hit “Freedom” played in the background. Beyoncé’s mother, Tina Knowles, endorsed Harris in July. 

USA TODAY will stream the “Texas Hold ‘Em” singer’s performance live on its YouTube channel. 

– Rachel Barber

What other presidential candidates has Beyonce performed for?

Beyonce has previously endorsed former President Barack Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and President Joe Biden for their presidential bids.

The famous pop star performed the national anthem at Obama’s inauguration for his second term as president in 2013. Beyonce, along with other artists, also performed at a get out to vote concert and rally for Clinton in 2016, when the Democrat ran against Trump.

She is expected to appear at Harris’ rally in Houston Friday.

– Sudiksha Kochi

The gender gap is getting wider and deeper − and more powerful.

The differences between how men and women view the state of the nation, the issues that matter, and the candidates is the defining divide in American politics today, shaping the outcome of the presidential race now just 10 days away.

In the latest USA TODAY/Suffolk University national poll, women decisively backed Democrat Kamala Harris, 53% to 36%. That’s a mirror image of men’s overwhelming support for Republican Donald Trump, 53% to 37%. If those margins hold until Election Day, it would be the biggest disparity since a gender gap emerged more than four decades ago, in 1980.

– Susan Page, Sudiksha Kochi and Maya Marchel Hoff

New poll finds the key to mobilizing young voters could be peer pressure

From podcast appearances to celebrity endorsements, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump have been pulling out all the stops in the final days of the 2024 presidential campaign to woo young voters to the polls. 

For Harris, those efforts appear to be working.  

The Harvard Youth Poll, published Friday, showed Harris leading Trump nationally by 20 points among registered voters under age 30. Across the seven major swing states – Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Nevada, and Wisconsin – where the race is more competitive, Harris’ lead dropped to 9 points. 

– Karissa Waddick

When will Trump be on Joe Rogan’s podcast?

Former President Donald Trump is set to appear on podcasting giant “The Joe Rogan Experience” on Friday. Rogan is set to interview Trump in his studio based in Austin, Texas, as reported by Politico.

This would mark Trump’s first appearance on Rogan’s wildly popular podcast. Vice President Kamala Harris is also making her own podcast appearances, including one on “Call Her Daddy” hosted by Alex Cooper.

– Sudiksha Kochi and Fernando Cervantes Jr.

Presidential election polls 2024: Latest surveys on Harris vs. Trump

Polling released Thursday reaffirms what has been clear for weeks now: It is an incredibly close race between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. The slice of the electorate who can be swayed by candidates is growing smaller and smaller, as more people around the country head to the polls for early voting.

Trump was leading Harris by two percentage points in a poll by The Wall Street Journal released on Thursday, within the survey’s margin of error. However, Harris led Trump by three percentage points in Tipp’s Tracking Poll.

– Kinsey Crowley

Ask us anything! Want to learn more about how election results are certified as the 2024 election gears up? Don’t miss your chance to ask us your pressing questions about election law on r/law for a Reddit AMA on 10/25 at 3 p.m. ET.

What’s on Harris’ schedule Friday?

Harris will be in the Republican state of Texas. She will be joined by Senate hopeful Colin Allred at a rally in Houston that will focus on the loss of reproductive freedom – a central issue in both candidates’ campaigns.

Harris is expected to be joined at the campaign stop by global superstar Beyoncé, who’s from Houston.

– USA TODAY Network

What’s on Trump’s schedule Friday?

Trump will hold a rally in Traverse City, Michigan, on Friday, delivering remarks in a crucial battleground.

Trump is also set to appear on podcasting giant “The Joe Rogan Experience.” Originally reported by Politico, Rogan will interview Trump in his studio based in Austin, Texas.

– Fernando Cervantes Jr., Marina Pitofsky