The Latest: Trump and Harris court Latino voters as early voting starts in key battleground states

With just over two weeks before the 2024 presidential election, Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are hitting the campaign trail in strategic battleground states.

Follow the AP's Election 2024 coverage at: https://apnews.com/hub/election-2024.

Here's the latest:

Obama says America doesn't need ‘older, loonier' version of Trump in office

Obama took the stage in Detroit alongside rapper Eminem, joking that he doesn't often get nervous but that he ''noticed my palms are sweaty,'' in a reference to Eminem's song ''Lose Yourself.''

Obama focused the opening of his remarks on Donald Trump, saying that the country doesn't need to see an ''older, loonier,'' version of Trump ''with no guardrails.''

Trump concludes North Carolina rally with familiar refrains

Trump wrapped up the packed event by asserting that world events such as Russia's invasion of Ukraine or the Hamas raid of Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, would never have happened if he were in office.

''All these things never would have never happened,'' Trump claimed.

''I will end the war in Ukraine very quickly, I will stop the chaos in the Middle East and I will prevent World War III from happening. We're so close,'' Trump said.

Tulsi Gabbard says she's now a Republican

Former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard says she is officially joining the Republican Party.

She says during an appearance at his rally in North Carolina that Trump is ''our best and only hope in this election.''

Former Trump chief of staff John Kelly says the former president fits the ‘general definition of fascist'

Former Trump chief of staff John Kelly says the former president — his former boss — ''certainly falls into the general definition of fascist, for sure.'' Speaking to the New York Times, Kelly, a retired Marine Corps general, told the paper that Trump ''certainly prefers the dictator approach to government.''

They marked the former top aides' most extended public comments about the former Republican president and the party's 2024 nominee for the White House. Kelly declined to endorse any candidate for the White House, but told the paper, ''it's a very dangerous thing to have the wrong person elected to high office.''

Trump lashes out at Liz Cheney

Trump says of Cheney that ''her father brought years of war and death to the Middle East.'' He was referring to former Vice President Dick Cheney, who served under President George W. Bush.

He asserted that Harris would do poorly in Michigan for aligning with Cheney.

''Why would a Muslim or why would an Arab want to vote for someone that has Liz Cheney as her hero,'' Trump said.

Trump has a long history of Islamophobic rhetoric, including, at one point, calling for a ban on Muslims entering the country during his 2016 campaign.

Eniminem joins Harris rally in native Michigan

Trump campaign focuses on immigration and border security in campaign's final stretch

Trump in a campaign rally is focusing heavily on border security and claiming that illegal immigrants are taking jobs from African Americans and Hispanic Americans.

Economic data shows Black and Hispanic unemployment at the lower end of recent decades. In September, the unemployment rate stood at 5.7% for Blacks and 5.1% for Hispanics, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The unemployment rates for both populations have plummeted since the pandemic.

Just before the pandemic, the unemployment rate for African Americans was 5.6% in December 2019 and 4.2% for Hispanics that same month.

Trump says that Madison Square Garden isn't the only big city mega rally he's hoping to hold as he closes out his third campaign for the White House.

He says his staff are looking at booking big arenas in Atlanta as well as Philadelphia, after his event in liberal Manhattan this coming Sunday.

Trump is also waxing nostalgic that his campaigning days are coming to a close.

''It's sad because we're sort of wrapping it up,'' he says. ''We're wrapping up something that has been incredible.''

He adds: ''It's been great to be with you and now we want to close it out with a beautiful bang.''

Trump campaign sizes on Biden's ‘lock him up' remark

Trump's campaign is seizing on President Joe Biden saying ''lock him up'' in reference to Trump during an appearance in New Hampshire.

''Joe Biden just admitted the truth: he and Kamala's plan all along has been to politically persecute their opponent President Trump because they can't beat him fair and square,'' said Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt, calling on Harris to ''condemn Joe Biden's disgraceful remark.''

Biden, during his appearance, had been casting Trump as a threat to Democracy when he made the remark.

''Politically lock him up,'' Biden continued. ''Lock him out, that's what we have to do.''

Trump says North Carolina will be ‘wasteland' under Harris but data says otherwise

Trump is portraying the nation's economy as in shambles during a campaign stop in Greensboro, N.C. He claims that ''with four more years of Kamala Harris, North Carolina will be an economic wasteland.''

But that's in contrast to a CNBC study earlier this year that named North Carolina as the second best state to do business, and it's been in the top three of CNBC's survey for five years in a row.

The state's Department of Commerce says that since 2017, North Carolina has announced more than 115,300 jobs and promised capital investments of $53.45 billion. Major projects have been announced by companies including Apple, Toyota and Wolfspeed.

Trump urges rallygoers to vote and — again — floats election conspiracies

He's calling the country ''a failing nation'' and saying this election ''is a choice between whether we will have four more years of incompetent failure and disaster, or whether we'll begin the four greatest years in the history of our country.''

''We're going to take care of you. We're going to work together''

Trump is urging those who were displaced by Hurricane Helene to visit his campaign's website to see how they can vote.

Trump's team and Republicans have backed a series of modifications to make it easier for those in the state to vote, despite having railed against changes so that people could more safely vote during the pandemic.

He says his supporters need to make the election ''too big too rig.''

Trump is speaking to supporters at a rally in Greensboro, North Carolina, saying he's seen a lot of the state lately and has followed the destruction caused by Hurricane Helene.

Trump began his rally complaining that the state's residents ''haven't had much help from our government in Washington. I can tell you that.''

He says that following Jan. 20th, ''you're going to be seeing a lot of me. We're going to fix it up and make it better than ever.''

Harris says she will build an economy that 'supports the working class'

In an interview with Telemundo, Harris said she will help construct an economy that ''supports the working class.''

And she said she would focus on bringing capital to community banks to help Latino men get small business loans

Harris says Biden is ‘capable in every way' to be president

Harris says she still believes Joe Biden is ''capable in every way'' of being president, after his disastrous debate against Trump forced him to abandon his reelection campaign, clearing the way for her to become the Democratic nominee for president.

Speaking to NBC News, Harris says ''you'd have to ask him if that's the only reason why'' he dropped out of the race, but that she has ''no reluctance'' in saying he's up for the job.

Harris says she won't entertain hypotheticals about a Trump pardon

Asked if she thought pardoning Trump would help the country move on, she says, ''Let me tell you what's going to help us move on. I get elected President of the United States.''

Harris says she doesn't want religious exceptions in restoring abortion access

Harris tells NBC News she doesn't believe that religious exceptions should be granted as Democrats look to restore a national right to abortion. Harris says she's not ''going to engage in hypotheticals'' about negotiations with Congress, but appears to reject having a carve-out for providers with a religious objection to providing abortions. ''I don't think we should be making concessions when we're talking about a fundamental freedom to make decisions about your own body,'' she says.

Harris says she's not focused on highlighting historic candidacy

Harris says she's not focused on pointing out the historic nature of her candidacy. She tells NBC News: ''I'm clearly a woman, I don't need to point that out to anyone.''

''I will never assume that anyone in our country should elect a leader based on their gender or their race, instead that that leader needs to earn the vote based on substance and what they will do to address challenges and to inspire people,'' she said.

Harris says lowering costs will be feature of her administration

Vice President Kamala Harris says that if elected she will be more focused on lowering costs for American families than President Joe Biden.

Speaking to NBC News, Harris says: ''Mine will not be a continuation of the Biden administration. I bring my own experiences, my own ideas to it, and it has informed a number of my areas of focus.'' She added that those focus areas are on ''lowering costs.''

Biden says Trump is a ‘genuine threat to democracy'

Biden gave a speech focused on prescription drug prices but used the end to suggest that world leaders are terrified of a second Trump term. He said they often pull him aside at summits and quietly wonder what a Trump return to the White House will do to democratic rule around the world.

Biden got so wrapped up in his criticism that he declared at one point of Trump, ''lock him up,'' echoing similar calls that some supporters make at the rallies of Vice

''Politically lock him up,'' Biden continued over applause from attendees. ''Lock him out, that's what we have to do.''

More than 19 million people have already cast ballots in the presidential election

Record numbers of people are voting early, driven partly by a surge of Republicans convinced to do so by Donald Trump. Trump previously turned his party off voting early with his election lies, but he's changed direction this year and now encourages it.

▶ Meanwhile, you can see who's voting in your state here.

Biden urges people to vote, saying ‘so much at stake'

Biden veered into talking about the election as he closed his prescription speech in New Hampshire.

''Folks, there's so much at stake so please call your neighbors, get your friends, get your relatives,'' the president said, urging people to vote in the presidential election.

Biden made veiled references to Trump when he said that every world leader he meets pulls him aside to tell him they don't want Trump to win.

Biden goes after Trump on health care policies

Biden is criticizing Trump on the issue of health care, specifically the former president's attempts to unravel the Affordable Care Act.

The president is in Concord, New Hampshire, to talk about prescription drug savings under the Inflation Reduction Act he signed into law.

Biden noted that Trump recently said he has ''concepts of a plan'' when he was asked about his plans for health care in the United States.

Said Biden of Trump, ''He has no concept of anything. No plan.''

h voter safety initiative ahead of Election Day

Florida-based voter advocacy group Equal Ground launched its Pastors at the Polls community initiative intended to ensure voter safety throughout the final leg of this year's election season.

Community pastors in Florida will receive various training sessions including poll monitoring and de-escalation training. Then, over the final two weekends of early voting, they'll be deployed and stationed at precincts across the state with higher voter intimidation risks.

The 2024 election marks the first presidential since three major voter suppression laws have gone into effect. Florida is one of several states where Republicans have enacted voting restrictions that created or enhanced criminal penalties and fines for those who assist voters. A federal judge blocked portions of a Florida measure earlier this year, including the one targeting felons and those who are not citizens.

Even so, the law initially had a direct effect on the operations of Equal Ground and other voter advocacy organizations in the state before the ruling.

Former President Barack Obama tells a Wisconsin audience ''you'd be worried if grandpa was acting like'' Donald Trump.

Campaigning for Vice President Kamala Harris, Obama honed in on Trump's actions at some of his rallies as well as calling himself the ''father of IVF,'' or in vitro fertilization.

''I have no idea what that means. You don't either,'' Obama said.

Obama said to the crowd when it comes to Trump that they would call up their brother or cousin, and ask 'have you noticed?''

''This is coming from somebody who wants unchecked power,'' Obama said. ''So, Wisconsin, we do not need to see what an older, loonier Donald Trump looks like with no guardrails. America is ready to turn the page.''

Tim Walz campaigning in Wisconsin is mocking billionaire Elon Musk for his appearance at a campaign rally for Donald Trump, saying ''Elon's on that stage jumping around, skipping like a dipsh——t on the stage. You know it.''

The Madison audience roared its approval in response.

Walz said Musk is ''literally the richest man in the world, spending millions of dollars to help Donald Trump buy an election.''

He asserts that Musk is doing so because Trump has ''already promised that he would put Elon in charge of government regulation that oversees the businesses that Elon runs.'' Trump has said he would create a government efficiency commission to audit the entire federal government, an idea suggested by Musk, who would lead it

Obama said at a campaign rally in Wisconsin that his plane was leaking oil in Chicago just before he was to fly to Madison

The drive from Chicago to Madison takes around three hours. Obama took the stage about two hours after the rally started.

Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz preceded Obama, along with a host of Wisconsin candidates and officeholders.

Trump will tape an interview with Joe Rogan for his popular podcast Friday

That's according to a person familiar with the plans who spoke on condition of anonymity to confirm the taping.

Trump and Rogan have a complicated history. While the two shook hands and spoke briefly at a UFC fight, Trump criticized Rogan after he said that then-candidate Robert Kennedy Jr. was the only one running who made sense to him.

Both Trump and Harris have appeared on a slew of popular podcasts — with Trump's typically aimed at young men.

— Jill Colvin

Justice Department launches a webpage to help ensure residents affected by Helene and Milton are able to vote

The webpage provides information for voters in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia, who may be confronting lost identification, relocated polling places or other disruptions because of the hurricanes.

The Justice Department has compiled information about changes states have made to aid those affected by the storms. The page answers questions such as how people who've been displaced can get a ballot mailed to their new location and how residents can check to see if the place where they usually cast their ballot is open for voting.

Groups in Russia created and helped spread viral disinformation targeting Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz, a senior U.S. intelligence official said Tuesday.

The content, which includes baseless accusations about the Minnesota governor's time as a teacher, contains several indications that it was manipulated, said the official with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

Analysts identified clues that linked the content to Russian disinformation operations, said the official, who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity under rules set by the office of the director.

Digital researchers had already linked the video to Russia, but Tuesday's announcement is the first time federal authorities have confirmed the connection.

The disinformation targeting Walz is consistent with Russian disinformation seeking to undermine the Democratic campaign of Vice President Kamala Harris and Walz, her running mate. Russia also has spread disinformation aimed at stoking discord and division ahead of voting, officials said, and may seek to encourage violent protests after Election Day.

Trump's roundtable with Latino leaders ended with a prayer

The participants gathered around Trump with their hands on his shoulders. Trump remained seated and had his eyes closed.

They asked God to continue to protect Trump and give him strength. And to ''make America godly again.''

Trump again rails against green power sources

He claimed that switching to all-electric trucks would require rebuilding every one of the country's bridges and that solar fields kill rabbits.

''It's all steel and glass and wires. And it looks like hell,'' he said. ''You see rabbits, they get caught in it.''

Trump often rails against wind power, saying the turbines ''kill all the birds'' and confuse whales. He's been more complimentary of electric cars since he received the backing of Tesla CEO Elon Musk.

But he is criticizing their range and weight at an event with Latino supporters Tuesday, claiming the nation would need to rebuild every one of its bridges if truck fleets swap diesel for electric vehicles to handle the extra weight.

Trump criticized the Biden administration for the leak of secret documents detailing Israel's preparation for a potential retaliatory attack on Iran

He called it a ''bad thing.''

''We just can't stand for this incompetence anymore.''

The FBI said Tuesday that it's investigating the unauthorized release of these documents.

At his event, Trump compliments Goya, the largest, Hispanic-owned food company in the country

The company's CEO, Bob Unanue, is a vocal supporter.

''It's actually quite good out of the can,'' Trump says of the company known for its beans and other products.

Bruce Springsteen is holding campaign concerts for Kamala Harris starting Thursday in Atlanta

Former President Barack Obama will also be there.

Springsteen will hold another concert with Obama on Monday in Philadelphia.

A senior campaign official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said more concerts will be announced in the coming days.

— Chris Megerian

At the event, Trump said Harris is ''slow'' and has a ''low IQ.''

''We don't need another low IQ person,'' he said.

Trump criticized Harris for her schedule Tuesday, which includes meetings in Washington and interviews with Telemundo and NBC, but no public events

''She's sleeping right now,'' he said. ''This is not what you want.''

Trump's jabs come after Harris tried to cast him as ''exhausted'' after he pulled out of several interviews — though Trump has had a busy schedule of interviews with conservative outlets and podcasts.

In the opening remarks, notable Florida Republicans including Miami Mayor Francis Suarez and U.S. Sen. Rick Scott proclaimed Trump's record in supporting the Hispanic community during his previous term.

Suarez was one of three Florida Republicans running for president in the earlier campaign cycle, but despite running against Trump, the mayor endorsed the former president in March. Suarez said that under Trump's term, Hispanics experienced the lowest unemployment and the biggest reduction in poverty.

Scott, who's running for reelection, emphasized Trump would be the best to handle Latin American conflicts and fight against dictatorial regimes, where the families of many voters in the crowd escaped from.

Miami is home to one of the largest Hispanic communities in the country, with about 70% of Miami-Dade County's population identifying as Hispanic according to 2023 Census data.

Trump is starting his day at a roundtable with Latino leaders at his Doral golf club in Florida

US Sen. Rick Scott spoke to a crowd of about 100 Hispanic voters at the Trump National Doral Miami

Scott's main message to Hispanic voters was that under Trump's presidency, Hispanic voters were better off, because the border was more secure and inflation was lower.

Scott is saying Harris' policy will institute price controls, which is socialism. He said her administration would raise taxes.

''The Hispanic vote is the deciding factor. If you want someone to fight for Latin America, Trump's going to do it,'' Scott said.

Those early Zoom meetings got people fired up for Harris. Now they're trying to get them to vote

Now organizers are trying to turn that burst of digital enthusiasm into traditional get-out-the-vote efforts like phone banking and door knocking. They've created a loose constellation of volunteer networks operating independently of the Harris campaign, all geared toward marshaling local or online communities behind the vice president.

People are sending postcards, texting friends, canvassing battleground states, making friendship bracelets with campaign messages, and sometimes surprising themselves by getting involved in ways they've never done before.

The question is whether the Zoom meetings that drew so much attention during the summer — for Black women, Black men, white women, white dudes, cat ladies, Taylor Swift fans and more — will turn out to be a short-lived phenomenon or a powerful catalyst for Harris to beat Republican nominee Donald Trump.

▶ Read more about Zoom organizing by Democrats.

With less than two weeks before Election Day, Kamala Harris is heading Friday to the reliably red state of Texas

Harris will seek to show how Texas' restrictive abortion ban is creating increasing medical distress for women. During her campaign, the Democratic presidential nominee has often highlighted the increasingly perilous landscape for women since the fall of Roe, and she links it to Donald Trump, who appointed three of the Supreme Court justices who overturned the landmark abortion rights ruling.

But it's unusual for her to do it from a state she's highly unlikely to win. Campaign officials say the plan is a nontraditional way to capture the attention of voters in battleground states who are inundated with campaign ads and run-of-the-mill campaign events.

But Harris also thinks the issue is resonating with Republican voters, too, particularly women.

In hard-fought Pennsylvania, fast-growing Hispanic communities present a test for Harris and Trump

Pennsylvania is arguably the hardest fought of the battleground states and happens to have one of the fastest-growing Hispanic communities in the country, in what is known as the 222 Corridor, after the highway that connects small cities and towns west and north of Philadelphia.

''This is the epicenter for Latino voters in Pennsylvania,'' said Victor Martinez, who is of Puerto Rican descent and lives in and broadcasts his show from Allentown. ''I like the fact that Kamala Harris has to keep sending people over here to listen to us and talk to us. I like it. I like the fact that JD Vance has to keep coming back. I like it, because that means that they have to pay attention to us.''

Pennsylvania's Latino-eligible voter population has more than doubled since 2000 from 208,000 to 579,000, according to the Latino Data Hub from the University of California, Los Angeles' Latino Policy & Politics Institute. The population in cities like Allentown and Reading is now more than half Hispanic, with a majority being of Puerto Rican descent and a sizable portion of Dominican origin.

▶ Read more about the Latino vote in this election.

Biden administration awards $428M to help hard-hit coal communities transition to clean energy

The Biden-Harris administration is awarding $428 million for 14 clean-energy manufacturing projects in Pennsylvania and other states hit hard by the decline of the U.S. coal industry.

Linear generators can use any fuel source to produce low-carbon power for utilities, data centers and industry. Mainspring Energy plans to use Energy Department funds to create enough electricity annually to power more than 40,000 homes. Harris, like Biden, has pledged to help workers displaced by the transition to clean energy, a key issue in energy-rich Pennsylvania.

Mideast conflict looms over US presidential race as Harris and Trump jostle for an edge

Two weeks out from Election Day, the crisis in the Middle East is looming over the race for the White House, with one candidate struggling to find just the right words to navigate its difficult cross-currents and the other making bold pronouncements that the age-old conflict can quickly be set right.

Vice President Kamala Harris has been painstakingly — and not always successfully — trying to balance talk of strong support for Israel with harsh condemnations of civilian casualties among Palestinians and others caught up in Israel's wars against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Former President Donald Trump, for his part, insists that none of this would have happened on his watch and that he can make it all go away if elected.

▶ Read more about the Mideast conflict's role in the election.

How Project 2025's rightward vision became a flashpoint in this year's election

For the past year, Project 2025 has endured as a persistent force in the presidential election, its far-right proposals deployed by Democrats as shorthand for what Donald Trump would potentially do with a second term at the White House.

Even though the former president's campaign has vigorously distanced itself from Project 2025, the sweeping Heritage Foundation's proposal to gut the federal workforce and dismantle federal agencies aligns closely with his vision. Project 2025's architects come from the ranks of Trump's administration and top Heritage officials have briefed Trump's team about it.

It's rare for a complex 900-page policy book to figure so dominantly in a political campaign. But from its early start at a think tank, to its viral spread on social media, the rise and fall and potential rise again of Project 2025 shows the unexpected staying power of policy to light up an election year and threaten not only Trump atop the ticket but down-ballot Republicans in races for Congress.

▶ Read more about Project 2025.

Early voting kicks off in battleground Wisconsin with push from Obama and Walz

In-person early voting kicks off Tuesday across battleground Wisconsin, with former President Barack Obama and Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz hosting a rally in liberal Madison and Republicans holding events to encourage casting a ballot for Donald Trump before Election Day.

Trump lost Wisconsin by just under 21,000 votes in 2020, an election that saw unprecedented early and absentee voting due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are expecting another razor-thin margin in Wisconsin and both sides are pushing voters to cast their ballots early.

Trump was highly critical of voting by mail in past elections, falsely claiming it was rife with fraud. But this election, he and his backers are embracing all forms of voting, including by mail and early in-person. Trump himself encouraged early voting at a rally in Dodge County, Wisconsin, earlier this month.

Harris' campaign says her ‘opportunity agenda' will expand opportunities for Latino men

Harris is set to discuss how her plan will lower costs, increase their chances for homeownership and expand job opportunities for Latino men in an interview she's taping Tuesday in Washington with Telemundo, the Spanish-language TV network.

The campaign says Harris, running mate Tim Walz and her husband, Doug Emhoff, are giving interviews to several Hispanic media outlets this week in a bid to get her message across to Latino men.