‘Election is ours to lose’ says Donald Trump as US prepares for tightest election in 20 years
DONALD Trump declared the election “ours to lose” last night as America prepared to go to the polls in the tightest race in more than two decades.
Kamala Harris had a wafer-thin poll lead on the eve of voting as she hammered the crucial swing state of Pennsylvania yesterday.
But in reality, the numbers were well within the margin of error, with Mr Trump insisting he is on the eve of an historic comeback.
Speaking to thousands of reporters in Raleigh, North Carolina, one of the seven battleground states, he said: “If we get everybody out and vote, there’s not a thing they can do.”
He also vowed a 25 per cent tariff on all goods from Mexico on his first day in office should he win tonight.
Both teams last night claimed they were “feeling good” about their numbers after an unprecedented 78 million voters had already gone to the polls early.
His senior adviser Jason Miller told reporters: “The numbers show that President Trump is going to win this race.
“We feel very good about where things are.”
But Ms Harris’s Democrat campaign believes the sheer size of its voter mobilisation efforts will swing it for them.
Campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon hit back: “We are feeling very good about where we are right now.”
The two contenders pulled out all the stops — including A-List celebrities — as they spent the past 24 hours zig-zagging across the northern swing states.
Mr Trump, who survived a near-death shooting in July, attended three battleground states as the curtain comes down on the two-year election battle.
He spent the day in North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Michigan as he aimed to become only the second defeated leader to win a non-consecutive term.
Meanwhile, Vice President Harris made her final pitch to supporters in Pennsylvania with the support of pop stars Lady Gaga and Katy Perry to try to get her over the line.
The pair are battling over the 538 electoral college votes in the state-by-state race — with one of the candidates needing the magic 270 to win the Presidency.
But Mr Trump has admitted that he could lose the fight and has spent much of the last week trying to discredit the election.
When asked if he could lose the two-horse race, he said: “Yeah, I guess, you know, I guess you could lose, can lose.
“I mean, that happens, right?
“But I think I have a pretty substantial lead, but, you could say, yeah, yeah, you could lose.
“Bad things could happen.
“You know, things happen, but it’s going to be interesting.”
On the campaign trail, the issue of abortion could well be a defining one that ultimately puts Ms Harris into the White House.
It’s the first national election since the Supreme Court overturned the Roe v Wade case, which protected the right to abortion.
Democrats are pinning their hopes on a surge of female Republican supporters switching to them on the issue.
Last night, CNN’s polling aggregates had Ms Harris edging over the line to the 270 Electoral College votes needed.
Mr Trump was leading in the Sun Belt of Arizona, North Carolina, Georgia and Nevada.
But without winning one of Michigan, Pennsylvania or Wisconsin, he would fall short.
Were Ms Harris to take all three of those so-called Rust Belt states, she would be the next President.
Lawyers and campaigners were preparing for a potential pitched legal battle in those states, where all the polls have predicted a virtual dead heat.
The last time an election was projected to be this close was Al Gore v George W. Bush in 2000, when the result was not declared until December.
The campaigns went all the way to the Supreme Court, with Mr Bush ultimately winning.
Meanwhile, workers on construction sites in Washington DC have been told to lock away anything that can be stolen and thrown as a weapon as election results come in tomorrow night.
Shops are being boarded up and fences erected in the area where Kamala Harris will watch TV coverage at Howard University where she studied.
Cops say they aren’t responding to any specific threat but are making sure they are prepared for any unrest.
More than 3,000 police officers are working on 12-hour shifts with the majority of leave cancelled until after the election fall-out.
Christopher Rodriguez, Washington’s assistant city administrator, said preparations began after the Capitol Hill riots on January 6, 2021.
The disorder followed Mr Trump’s attempt to overturn the last election result when he lost to Joe Biden.
US ELECTION EXPLAINED – YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED
THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE IS KEY
IT’S set to be one of the tightest elections in history as America goes to the polls to decide its next President.
Nearly 70 million people have already cast their votes early — either in person or through the mail.
But it’s not a simple case of whoever wins the most votes across America becomes President.
In fact, more people (65.8 million) voted for Hilary Clinton in the 2016 election than Donald Trump (62.9).
Trump is just one of five presidents in US history to walk into the White House without winning the popular vote.
That’s because of something called electoral college votes.
Almost all of America’s 50 states receive a share of 538 electoral college votes — generally allocated according to the size of their populations.
The largest state, California, has 54 votes while smaller states, such as Alaska, have as few as three.
If a candidate wins a state they collect all the electoral votes in that state — except in Maine and Nebraska, which have a slightly different “split vote” system.
The only thing that really matters for the future President is reaching that magic number of 270 states or more.
Here, we look at what to watch out for on the big night — and the messy days which may follow.
WHAT ARE THE SWING STATES?
MOST American states — 43 of 50 — vote in the same way at each and every election — either Democrat (Kamala Harris) or Republican (Donald Trump).
If both candidates win the states that history suggests are certain to vote for them it will leave Harris needing 44 votes for victory while Trump will require 51.
The outcome will therefore depend on just seven remaining key swing states.
These are Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — where there are a total of 93 electoral votes up for grabs.
The seven states which will unlock the door to the Oval office are grouped into two different parts — the Rust Belt (worth 44 votes) in the north east and the Sun Belt (worth 49) in the south.
Residents in the Rust Belt — Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin — live in the US’s decaying former industrial heartland.
They traditionally vote Democrat because of their long history with the unions.
But in 2016 they flipped to crown Trump.
If Harris gets them she is likely to win.
If Trump triumphs he will still need to pick up at least one more state elsewhere.
If Trump takes the Sun Belt states — Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and North Carolina — then just like with the Rust Belt he would still need another state to prevail.
COULD IT DRAG ON?
RIGHT now the key states are so close that recounts might well delay the results for days.
In 2020, Democrat Joe Biden wasn’t declared the winner for four days until the result in Pennsylvania became clearer.
In 2000, the election battle between Republican George W Bush and Democrat Al Gore lasted a month as the two campaigns warred over tight voting in Florida.
The US Supreme Court voted to end the state’s recount process, which kept Bush in the Oval office.
WHAT IF DON LOSES?
IF Donald Trump loses he has already indicated he will challenge the result as he did at the last election in 2020 — triggering chaos across the United States.
The former President recently said he “shouldn’t have left” the White House after he was defeated.
His departure in January 2021 led to rioting at the US Capitol in Washington DC by his supporters.
A recent poll showed a quarter of Americans even fear that this election could lead to a post-election American civil war.
STATE OF PLAY NOW
THE latest polling shows all seven swing states too close to call with Trump and Harris both making slight ground in some.
Pollsters have put Trump ahead in Arizona, Nevada, Georgia, North Carolina and Pennsylvania.
Harris is said to be ahead in the Midwestern states of Michigan and Wisconsin.
The margins between the pair are so slim in any of these “toss-up states” that either candidate could still win the race to the White House on just a few thousand votes.
WHEN WILL WE KNOW?
IN some elections we know who has won hours after the first states close voting at midnight UK time.
So if you’re getting in the popcorn to watch tonight it’s going to be a late one.
Georgia will be among the first to count the ballots while Hawaii and Alaska will continue voting until 5am on Wednesday.
At 12.30am North Carolina will close its polls followed by the other key states, Pennsylvania (1am), Michigan and Wisconsin (2am), Nevada (6am) and California (6am).