Harris makes closing pitch at church as Trump again embraces violent rhetoric

Democrat Kamala Harris made her closing pitch for the US presidency at a historically black church in the battleground state of Michigan on Sunday while her Republican rival Donald Trump embraced violent rhetoric at a rally in Pennsylvania.

Opinion polls show the pair locked in a tight race, with Vice-President Harris, 60, bolstered by strong support among women voters while former President Trump, 78, gains ground with Hispanic voters, especially men.

Voters overall view both candidates unfavourably, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling, but that so far has not dissuaded them from casting ballots. More than 77 million Americans have already done so ahead of Tuesday’s Election Day, according to the University of Florida’s Election Lab, approaching half the total 160 million votes cast in 2020, in which US voter turnout was the highest in more than a century.

Control of the US Congress is also up for grabs on Tuesday, with Republicans favoured to capture a majority in the Senate while Democrats are seen as having an even chance of flipping Republicans’ narrow majority in the House of Representatives. Presidents whose parties have not controlled both chambers have struggled to pass major legislation over the past decade.

“In just two days we have the power to decide the fate of our nation for generations to come,” Harris told parishioners at Greater Emmanuel Institutional Church of God in Christ in Detroit. “We must act. It’s not enough to only pray; not enough to just talk. We must act on the plans He has in store for us, and we must make them real through our works, in our daily choices, in services to our communities, in our democracy.”