November 4, 2024, presidential campaign news

Our live coverage of the presidential race has moved here.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, looked to sell Kamala Harris’ vision for America to women voters in Michigan Monday over their opponent, Donald Trump, who has faced a widening gender gap in his support.

It’s the latest battleground state stop for the Minnesota governor, who has crisscrossed the country touting Harris’ vision for America.

Michigan’s political landscape: Michigan is one of the critical “blue wall” states Democrats are hoping to pick up in order to win the presidential race. Nearly 3.2 million people have already voted in the state, which amounts to about 44% of active registered voters.

This post has been updated with additional remarks from Walz.

When Americans cast their votes on November 5, they are not directly electing the presidential candidates themselves. Voters are casting ballots for competing slates of “electors” who will in turn cast the actual votes for president and vice president on December 17.

Collectively, the electors from all 50 states and the District of Columbia are referred to the “Electoral College.” The presidential candidate who wins the majority of the popular vote on election night does not necessarily win the White House. In order to win the presidency, a candidate must win a majority of votes in the Electoral College.

The Electoral College is comprised of 538 electors who represent all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Each state has between three and 54 electoral votes. A candidate needs a majority of electoral votes – 270 – to win.

In 48 states and the District of Columbia, all electoral votes are awarded to the candidate who wins a plurality of the popular vote in that state. This is known as the “winner-take-all” system. Two states – Maine and Nebraska – do not award their electoral votes according to a winner-take-all system.

Read more about the Electoral College below:

Read more about how the US election works.

A poll worker in central Georgia was arrested on federal charges Monday for making bomb threats to other poll workers in a letter mailed to the Jones County Elections Superintendent, the Justice Department said.

Nicholas Wimbish, 25, of Milledgeville, Georgia, has been charged with mailing a bomb threat, conveying false information about a bomb threat, mailing a threatening letter, and making false statements to the FBI.

Wimbish was serving as a poll worker at the Jones County Elections Office on October 16 when he allegedly had a verbal altercation with a voter, according to a criminal complaint. The following day, Wimbish mailed a letter addressed to the Jones County Elections Superintendent that he “allegedly drafted to make it appear as if it came from a voter,” the complaint said.

Prosecutors said the letter threatened that Wimbish and others “should look over their shoulder,” that “I know where they go,” and also threatened to “rage rape” the “ladies” and warned them to “watch every move they make and look over their shoulder.”

The letter concluded with a handwritten note, “PS boom toy in early vote place, cigar burning, be safe,” according to the complaint.

CNN did not immediately identify an attorney for Wimbish. If convicted, he faces a maximum of 25 years in prison.

“It is disturbing,” Gabriel Sterling, chief operating officer with the Republican Georgia secretary of state, told CNN about the incident.

“These are your neighbors, your fellow Americans, fellow Georgians. These guys are just doing their jobs. They are being threatened this way and it’s not fair. I also know that particular office and all of our offices are resilient, and nothing will stop them from doing their job,” Sterling said.

The FBI Atlanta Field Office is investigating the case.

Former President Donald Trump gestures after speaking at a campaign rally in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on Monday, November 4.

Former President Donald Trump continued pushing unfounded claims of cheating on the eve of the election as he called the Democratic Party “vicious machine” and claimed states are an “agent of the federal government.”

Trump, who regularly lies about the outcome of the 2020 election, said it was “the worst thing that ever happened to the country.”

“They wanted to make a deal so badly and then we had that bad election, that horrible disgusting, worst thing that ever happened to the country was that election,” Trump said.

Trump said the race against Vice President Kamala Harris was “really not tight” as polls show the two candidates deadlocked nationally.

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign rally in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on Monday, November 4.

Vice President Kamala Harris continued to mobilize Pennsylvania voters the night before the election, telling a crowd in Pittsburgh that they “will make the difference in the election.”

During a roughly 11-minute truncated stump speech, Harris reiterated that “momentum is on our side,” as she vowed to offer a new generation of leadership.

“I am ready to offer that leadership as the next president of the United States,” she said.

Similar to her prior events today, Harris avoided mentioning Donald Trump by name, instead outlining her vision of moving past “a decade of politics driven by fear and division.”

“We have an opportunity in this election to finally turn the page on a decade of politics driven by fear and division,” Harris said. “We are done with that. We’re done. We’re done. We’re exhausted with it — and Pittsburgh, we are not going back.”

The nominees on the Republican and Democratic tickets spent the final day of an extraordinary US presidential campaign rallying supporters in critical battleground states.

The dash to motivate voters in what appears to be a toss-up election was happening as election officials were beefing up security amid a warning from US intelligence agencies of “global efforts to manipulate US public opinion.”

Here’s what to know:

Kamala Harris: The vice president spent the day in different parts of Pennsylvania as her campaign officials projected optimism about what they’ve frequently called an aggressive ground game in the state while acknowledging it’s going to be a close race.

Here’s what Harris did today so far today: The campaign concludes later tonight with a rally in Philadelphia. So far, she’s gone door-knocking in Reading, presented a vision of unity and togetherness to people canvassing for her in Scranton and declared her long-standing commitment to Puerto Rico in Allentown.

Tim Walz: The Minnesota governor kicked off his last day of campaigning with a celebratory send off in his hometown of Minneapolis with dozens of supporters, including high-ranking Minnesota Democratic allies.

He spent his day in different parts of Wisconsin: He touted Harris’ record, credited her for bringing “back joy to the politics,” and projected optimism for tomorrow, when voters get to “shape the future for generations to come.” he said at a rally in Milwaukee.

Donald Trump: The former president hit three battleground states. In his rally in North Carolina, Trump said he was visiting to urge people to “get out and vote,” adding, “if we get everybody out and vote there’s not a thing they can do.” In Reading, Pennsylvania, he suggested Harris should be put “in the ring” with former heavyweight champion boxer Mike Tyson, while in Pittsburgh, the former president hailed a late endorsement from influential podcaster Joe Rogan. Trump is scheduled to hold his final rally tonight in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

JD Vance: The Ohio senator also jetted around across the country to urge people to get out the vote. In La Crosse, Wisconsin, he criticized Harris’ work on immigration. In Flint, Michigan, he said leaders like Harris have “failed to do their job” and Trump could usher in a “golden age of American prosperity.” In Atlanta, he pointed to President Joe Biden’s narrow margin of victory in 2020, and urged people to go vote.

Legal challenges:

Disinformation:

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign rally in Pittsburgh, Monday, November 4.

Vice President Kamala Harris is speaking at a rally in Pittsburgh as she continues on a campaign blitz in the key battleground state of Pennsylvania.

Her stop in Pittsburgh is her third in the state on the eve of Election Day after rallies in Scranton and Allentown and ahead of her final stop in Philadelphia where she will be joined by Oprah Winfrey and Lady Gaga, among other celebrities, musicians and elected officials. That state is considered one of the most important battlegrounds this election cycle.

Popular podcast host Joe Rogan officially endorsed Donald Trump on the eve of the election, a move Trump’s team swiftly touted as a major win in the final hours of their campaign.

Advertising a recent interview with Elon Musk on X, Rogan said the billionaire “makes what I think is the most compelling case for Trump you’ll hear, and I agree with him every step of the way.

At a rally in Pittsburgh Monday, Trump hailed an endorsement from Rogan.

“It just came over the wires that Joe Rogan just endorsed me, is that great. Thank you, Joe. That’s so nice. And he doesn’t do that, and he tends to be a little bit more liberal than some of the people in this room now,” Trump said.

Trump last month appeared on Rogan’s podcast, which is consistently the No. 1 podcast across the globe, after years of Rogan saying he would not have the former president on his podcast and recent attacks from Trump himself.

“I’m not a Trump supporter in any way, shape or form. I’ve had the opportunity to have him on my show more than once. I’ve said no every time. I don’t want to help him. I’m not interested in helping him,” Rogan said on the Lex Fridman Podcast in 2022. Rogan seemingly endorsed progressive Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders for president in 2020.

The interview was months in the making for the Trump campaign and viewed widely by the former president’s advisers as the crowning achievement of their media strategy to target young men and low propensity voters by having Trump appear on podcasts catering to the demographic.

Last week Rogan posted on X that he had declined an offer from Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign to do an interview.

“Also, for the record the Harris campaign has not passed on doing the podcast. They offered a date for Tuesday, but I would have had to travel to her and they only wanted to do an hour. I strongly feel the best way to do it is in the studio in Austin,” Rogan said. “My sincere wish is to just have a nice conversation and get to know her as a human being. I really hope we can make it happen.”

The Harris campaign declined to comment on Rogan’s post.

CNN’s Kate Sullivan and Shania Shelton contributed to this report.

When CNN hosted a town hall with undecided voters in Pennsylvania two weeks ago, Pam Thistle was still debating which candidate to support. Now, on the eve of the election, Thistle tells CNN she plans to officially make up her mind tomorrow, but is leaning toward voting for Vice President Kamala Harris.

Thistle is a Pennsylvania realtor who recently lost her husband and, as a widow with children to support, said the economy and paying her bills is her top concern. She’s approached her 2024 choice through a pragmatic lens, often listening closely for the specifics on policies and expressing dismay at personal attacks lobbed during the race.

Thistle said she prefers former President Trump when it comes to handling the economy or dealing with foreign policy. But abortion is also an important issue for her and, in the end, she may just feel more comfortable with Harris as the next commander-in-chief. Thistle added that she “adores” Harris personally.

Thistle told CNN Monday night that she remains undecided but is leaning toward Harris. She’s not 100% decided and will make a final call when she wakes up — on Election Day.

In a last-ditch effort to make voters aware of alleged foreign interference in the 2024 election, the US intelligence community issued a statement late Monday warning about global efforts to manipulate US public opinion and the possible violence that could come as a result.

The US intelligence community “has been observing foreign adversaries, particularly Russia, conducting additional influence operations intended to undermine public confidence in the integrity of U.S. elections and stoke divisions among Americans,” the FBI, Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said in a joint statement hours before Election Day 2024.

The new statement comes after the intelligence community warned last Friday of a fake online video purporting to depict a Haitian citizen boasting about illegally voting in the state of Georgia.

CNN reported earlier Monday that an American man who lives in Massachusetts and is a pro-Trump social media influencer said he was the one behind that fake video and that he was paid $100 by a pro-Kremlin propagandist to post it online.

“Russia is the most active threat,” the new statement warns. “Influence actors linked to Russia in particular are manufacturing videos and creating fake articles to undermine the legitimacy of the election, instill fear in voters regarding the election process, and suggest Americans are using violence against each other due to political preferences, judging from information available to the IC. These efforts risk inciting violence, including against election officials. We anticipate Russian actors will release additional manufactured content with these themes through election day and in the days and weeks after polls close.”

In addition to warning about Kremlin-backed interference, the US intelligence community said Iran “remains a significant foreign influence threat to U.S. elections.”

Megyn Kelly speaks at a campaign rally with former President Donald Trump in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on Monday, November 4.

Former President Donald Trump brought out prominent talk show host Megyn Kelly at his Pittsburgh rally tonight.

“Hi everybody. It’s great to see you. Can you believe this guy? Can you believe the energy and the stamina on this guy at his age? I’m ready to go to sleep over there,” Kelly said, standing next to Trump.

Kelly’s support for Trump comes after she feuded with the former president during his first presidential run. In 2015, Trump said that the then-Fox News host had “blood coming out of her wherever” when at a Republican debate Kelly pressed Trump about misogynistic, sexist comments he made in the past, such as calling some women “fat pigs.”

“President Trump gets it,” Kelly said at Monday’s rally. “He will not look at our boys like they’re second-class citizens. And ladies out there who want a bit of girl power in this election, let me tell you something. How can you win when the sons and the husbands and the brothers and the dads you love are losing? It’s not a win.”

Kelly last month also criticized Trump’s campaign last week on “The Megyn Kelly Show,” calling for Trump to “clean up the bro talk” so he doesn’t alienate women following the racist and vulgar rhetoric from speakers at his Madison Square Garden rally.

Sen. JD Vance speaks during a campaign rally on Monday, November 4, in Newtown, Pennsylvania.

Ohio Sen. JD Vance continued his closing attacks on Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday, calling her a “disaster” in front of hundreds of a supporters at a rally in Newtown, Pennsylvania.

“Do you like being unable to afford groceries that vote for Kamala Harris? Are you excited about World War III? Because that’s what’s going to happen when Kamala Harris is the president of the United States. Do you love that wide open southern border given to you by … Kamala Harris. Then tomorrow is your one opportunity to say ‘we’ve had it.’ Tomorrow is your one opportunity to say to ‘Kamala Harris, you’re fired. Get the hell out of Washington. Go back to San Francisco, where you belong,’” Vance said.

Vance made stops in Atlanta, Georgia; Flint, Michigan, and La Crosse, Wisconsin on Monday.

Pennsylvania’s political landscape: In 2020, President Joe Biden beat former President Donald Trump in the Keystone State by more than 80,000 votes, rebuilding the so-called “blue wall” along with Wisconsin and Michigan, that Trump flipped in 2016. Recent CNN polling shows that Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are tied in Pennsylvania.

President Joe Biden will spend Election Day behind closed doors with no public events on his schedule.

The president voted last week in Wilmington, Delaware.

Law enforcement responded Monday to address a briefly tense situation with poll observers at an elections office in Cobb County, Georgia.

Election observers refused to move from seats that were reserved for voters and election officials called on law enforcement to respond, according to Cobb County Communications Director Ross Cavitt. By the time deputies arrived, the situation had been diffused, Cavitt said.

A nonpartisan election observer who did not wish to be named described the GOP poll observers as “confrontational” with staff. In one incident, election staff intervened to try to stop observers from photographing a voter, the observer said.

The observer praised election staffers for working in stressful conditions to address issues with poll watchers, saying, “I think there has been a great deal of work trying to prevent this from having any intimidating or uncomfortable effect on voters.”

Salleigh Grubbs, the chair of the Cobb County GOP who has shared falsehoods about the 2020 election, pointed the finger at local officials, saying the situation was tense because “there’s definitely an attempt by some people with the board of elections to not have people observe like they should.” She said the incident was about an observer trying to capture a photo of a ballot they found to be “unusual.”

Former President Donald Trump gestures during a campaign rally in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on Monday, November 4.

Former President Donald Trump is holding a rally in Pittsburgh the day before the election.

Trump’s rally comes as both he and Vice President Kamala Harris criss-cross Pennsylvania, considered the most crucial battleground state, in the closing hours of this campaign.

While not his final rally of the evening, aides of former President Donald Trump are describing his speech in Pittsburgh as his “closing message” to the American people.

In the remarks expected to occur this hour, Trump is expected to focus on the issues that his campaign believe can help propel him to the White House including inflation, immigration and crime.

Trump’s event in the critical battleground state will also feature some high-profile speakers like former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Megyn Kelly.

Following the final keystone state rally, Trump will end his campaign in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he ended both his 2016 and 2020 campaigns. That speech is now not expected to occur until at least 11:30 p.m. ET because Trump has been running late.

Gov. Tim Walz speaks during a campaign rally on Monday, November 4, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz on Monday said this election will allow voters to shape the future.

He said the last 107 days of the Harris campaign have been “an incredible journey,” and credited the vice president for bringing “back the joy to politics.”

Throughout her career as a prosecutor, an attorney general, a senator and a vice president, Harris has had “one client the entire time — the people of this country,” Walz said.

In his remarks, Walz reflected on his background growing up in rural Nebraska and connected the values he was raised with to those that guide Harris, acknowledging their shared working-class roots.

“Those are the values that animated Kamala and my service. That’s the values that after tomorrow, we’ll be able to take to the White House for the rest of this,” he said.

This post was updated with more of Walz’s remarks. CNN’s Aaron Pellish contributed to this report.

Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz is speaking at a rally in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Remember: Wisconsin is a key battleground state. Four of the last six presidential elections were decided in the state by less than a percentage point on the presidential level. One of the most politically divided states in the nation, Wisconsin reelected Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and Republican Sen. Ron Johnson in 2022.

Democrats are hoping to maximize turnout in Milwaukee and Madison, while cutting the margins in the “WOW” counties – the Republican stronghold counties of Waukesha, Ozaukee, and Washington that surround Milwaukee.

Former President Donald Trump on Monday suggested his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, should be put “in the ring” with former heavyweight champion boxer Mike Tyson.

During a rally in Reading, Pennsylvania, Trump was discussing the controversy involving women’s boxing at the Olympics this year. He falsely said two boxers were men who “transitioned into womanhood.”

“Did you see the two boxers? Did you see the two boxers - they were men, they transitioned into womanhood. And they fought a very good Italian. They have women’s boxing in the Olympics. They fought a very good Italian young lady, and boom, she got hit with just the left jab,” Trump said.

Trump was apparently addressing the controversy surrounding Algerian boxer Imane Khelif, who became the subject of a storm of online abuse after she defeated Italian boxer Angela Carini in just 46 seconds in a preliminary match.

Khelif, who is not transgender, was subject to a storm of transphobic abuse because she had failed a so-called “gender test” by a now-discredited boxing federation. Her country, Algeria, has strict anti-LGBTQ laws. A boxer from Taiwan, Lin Yu-ting, was subject to a similar controversy over baseless allegations she is transgender.

Trump continued: “Oh, they could fight Iron Mike. I’ll tell ya – Iron Mike would say ‘This is not a good thing.’ I know Iron Mike, and he’s a great guy, Mike Tyson. He’s a good man. Mike’s been through a lot but he could fight, let me tell ya. That guy could fight.”

Trump continued: “Can you imagine Mike - “ before, apparently responding to someone from the audience, he said: “Oh, he says, ‘Put Mike in the ring with Kamala.’ That will be interesting.”

Tyson has a history of violence against women, including being convicted of rape in the early 1990s, for which he served time in prison, and his first wife alleged that he abused her before they divorced.

Trump has long supported Tyson, including saying that the boxer didn’t deserve to go to prison on the rape charges.