HOUSTON, TX – With 11 days left until Election Day and two prominent national polls indicating a deadlock in the race for the White House between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, major party candidates hold campaign events in Texas, where they will raise two burning issues as they present their closing arguments.
Harris, who has long leaned on the issue of reproductive rights, will blame Trump for an extremely restrictive abortion law in Texas as she holds what is expected to be a huge rally in Houston.
Trump, who has highlighted illegal immigration since launching his first bid for the White House nine years ago, was in Austin to deliver remarks on border security.
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Former President Donald Trump, Republican presidential candidate, arrives to speak at a news conference at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
While Texas is not one of the seven crucial battleground states whose narrow margins decided President Biden’s victory over Trump in 2020 and will likely determine whether Harris or the former president wins the 2024 election, it is home to a key race for the Senate who is among a handful that will decide whether the GOP regains the majority in the chamber.
Conservative Sen. Ted Cruz joined Trump at the afternoon event in Austin, while Democratic challenger Rep. Collin Allred will speak at Harris’ rally hours later.
Harris’ stop in Houston is the first time in decades that a Democratic Party standard-bearer will hold a major campaign event in Texas in the final stretch before Election Day.
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The trip does not mean the Harris campaign believes Texas is up for grabs in the race for the White House. Although Biden narrowed the gap to a five-and-a-half-point deficit in the 2020 presidential election, Harris’ top advisers have no illusions about flipping the state.
Instead, the trip aims to elevate abortion, which has been a winning issue for Democrats since the conservative majority on the Supreme Court in the summer of 2022 struck down the historic agreement. Roe v. Wade ruling that had legalized abortion for decades.
Democratic Vice Presidential candidate Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign rally at James R. Hallford Stadium, Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024, in Clarkston, Ga. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson) (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Harris will reiterate her message that Trump, who appointed three conservative justices to the high court during his four years in the White House, is to blame for the Texas abortion law, where the procedure is banned after six weeks of pregnancy. .
Ahead of the rally, Harris’ campaign unveiled a new ad that uses a clip of Trump taking credit for his role in the Supreme Court’s blockbuster abortion decision, as well as another ad featuring a Texas couple directly affected by the state’s ban.
And Harris will discuss the importance of reproductive rights in the 2024 elections in an interview while in Texas with Brene Brown, a popular podcast host with a predominantly female audience.
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Harris’ campaign says the vice president will be joined at the rally by several people who will share their stories about the consequences they have faced due to Texas’ abortion ban.
Legendary singer, songwriter and guitarist Willie Nelson and entertainment superstar Beyoncé, considered a cultural icon, are expected to perform at the rally. Beyoncé’s hit song “Freedom” has been adopted by the vice president as her campaign anthem.
Trump, at his event in Austin, argued that Harris had “picked the wrong place” to visit when he alluded to her stop in Houston.
“Today he is in Texas to rub shoulders with woke celebrities,” he accused.
Harris, speaking to reporters in Houston on Friday afternoon, chastised Trump for his comments, arguing that “it’s just another example of how he really disparages our country.”
Two new national polls released Friday indicate former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are tied heading into Election Day. (AP/Alex Brandon/Mike Stewart)
For Trump and Republicans, immigration and border security have been a winning issue as they have criticized President Biden and Harris for three and a half years over the influx of migrants across the southern border.
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Trump, who has repeatedly vowed to carry out mass deportations if he takes back the White House, charged during a campaign event in Arizona on Thursday that, as a result of the Biden administration’s immigration policies, the United States is “like a trash can.” for the world.”
While in Texas, Trump will also attend a taped interview with extremely popular nationally known podcaster Joe Rogan.
Get the latest updates from the 2024 election campaign, exclusive interviews and more in our Fox News Digital Election Center.
