WASHINGTON: The US will on Tuesday vote to elect its 47th President in a fierce race between Republican nominee Donald Trump and Democratic leader Kamala Harris that is set to go down in history as one of the closest fights for the White House in decades.
As the countdown for the election day began, former President Trump, 78, raked up the bitter memories of the 2020 election as he said that he “shouldn’t have left” White House, triggering apprehensions that he may not accept the outcome of the November 5 voting if he loses the contest to 60-year-old Harris.
“I shouldn’t have left. I mean, honestly, because…we did so well,” the former President said at a rally in Lititz, Pennsylvania.
Following the election that brought Joe Biden to power, Trump alleged fraud in the voting process and challenged the outcome in courts which rejected his claims.
In her closing remarks in the key battleground state of Michigan, Harris said she would be a president for all Americans and spoke about the need to turn the page on “hate and division” while Trump continued his tirade against his Democratic rival.
“It is going to be one of the most consequential elections of our lifetime and we have momentum on our side, can you feel it,” Vice President Harris said in her rally in Michigan.
Harris also touched upon the war in Gaza in comments seen as an attempt to reach out to the Arab American voters in the state.
“This year has been difficult, given the scale of death and destruction in Gaza and given the civilian casualties and displacement in Lebanon,” she said, adding, “It is devastating.”
More than 75 million Americans have already cast their votes as of Sunday, according to the University of Florida’s Election Lab which tracks early and mail-in voting across the US.
In the overall campaign, Harris has been projecting the election as the one to protect the country’s fundamental freedoms, safeguard constitutional values and ensure women’s rights, while Trump has been promising to rebuild the economy and rid the US of illegal immigrants.