Harris makes surprise trip to New York in final days of US election campaign

NORTH CAROLINA - Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris flew unexpectedly to New York on Nov 2 amid a rumour she would appear on the Saturday Night Live TV programme, just three days before her election showdown with Republican Donald Trump.

The New York Post reported that Ms Harris would appear during the popular comedy show’s opening skit. A Saturday Night Live appearance would add a surprise jolt to ahead of the

presidential election on Nov 5.

Ms Harris’ campaign declined to say why they were travelling to New York, rather than Detroit, Michigan, as originally planned. NBC, the network that airs the show, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Earlier in the day, Ms Harris was greeted by an unusual sight as she arrived for a rally in North Carolina: Trump’s red-white-and-blue airplane.

As Ms Harris descended from the vice-presidential airplane Air Force Two at the Charlotte airport, Trump’s private Boeing 757 was parked on the tarmac nearby. The close encounter was a dramatic illustration of how the two candidates are focusing on a handful of states where Nov 5’s US presidential election will ultimately be won or lost.

It was the fourth day in a row that the candidates campaigned in the same state. Only seven states, including North Carolina, are seen as truly competitive.

Ms Harris was arriving in Charlotte for a rally with rock star Jon Bon Jovi. Trump campaigned in suburban Gastonia a few hours earlier, and it was not clear whether he was on his plane when Ms Harris arrived.

Trump and Ms Harris stuck to familiar themes at their appearances.

Trump said he would deport millions of immigrants if elected and warned that if Ms Harris wins, “Every town in America would be turned into a squalid, dangerous refugee camp”.

Campaigning in Atlanta, Ms Harris said Trump would abuse his power if he returns to the White House.

“This is someone who is increasingly unstable, obsessed with revenge, consumed with grievance, and the man is out for unchecked power,” she said.

More than 72 million Americans have already cast ballots, according to the Election Lab at the University of Florida, short of 2020‘s record early-voting pace during Covid-19, but still indicating a high level of voter enthusiasm.

Some fou million votes have already been cast in North Carolina. The state’s western counties that were devastated by Hurricane Helene appeared to be voting at roughly the same rate as the rest of the state, according to Catawba College political science professor Michael Bitzer.

Trump criticised the federal government’s response to the disaster and repeated his false claim that aid had been diverted from the state to help immigrants entering the country.

‘Beautiful white skin’

At a later rally in Salem, Virginia, a state that analysts say he is unlikely to win, Trump said he ran for office to rescue the economy from “obliteration,” even though it would have been easier to relax at one of his oceanfront resorts.

“I didn’t need tooe Biden’s administration and provides over US$50 billion (S$66.3 million) in subsidies to companies for semiconductor chip manufacturing and research in the United States. Democrats have seized on the remarks.

“It is further evidence of everything I’ve actually been talking about for months now, about Trump’s intention to implement Project 2025,” Ms Harris said Nov 2, referring to a conservative blueprint to remake US government and policies that was written with the help of many of Trump’s closest advisers.

Mr Johnson revised his remarks later on Nov 1, saying the act would be streamlined to eliminate regulations. REUTERS