Trump campaign in Wisconsin with Brett Favre

(NewsNation) — Former president Donald Trump and vice president Kamala Harris were in North Carolina and Wisconsin on Wednesday to share their final arguments with voters at pre-election showdown rallies Elections 2024.

Trump Wisconsin will be joined by former Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre. Trump’s remarks from Green Bay, Wisconsin, are scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m. Eastern time.

During his visit to the battleground state, the former president will focus largely on inflation and price increases under Biden as Republicans push to return the blue wall state to red, according to the campaign.

The event is also being held as Trump’s team distance tests GOP candidate z controversial comments created by a comedian about Puerto Rico at his last rally.

Hill/Decision Desk headquarters total surveys shows Trump and Vice President Harris neck and neck in the Badger State – with Trump receiving 48.8% support to Harris’ 48.2%.

The vice president will also campaign in Wisconsin on Wednesday night.

Trump drives a garbage truck to capitalize on Biden’s comment

Trump entered Trump-themed garbage truck in his motorcade in Wisconsin to draw attention to President Joe Biden’s comments in which he apparently called Trump supporters “garbage.”

“How do you like my garbage truck? This truck is in honor of Kamala i Joe Biden,Trump said from the passenger seat of a truck decorated with a Trump campaign sticker and a Trump flag.

Trump campaign staffers widely shared photos of the truck and the former president in the passenger seat while photographers snapped photos. The campaign tried to capitalize on Trump supporters’ outrage over Biden’s remark, as Vice President Harris did she distanced herself from the comment.

“First of all, he clarified his comments, but let me be clear: I strongly disagree with any criticism of people based on who they vote for,” Harris told reporters earlier Wednesday.

Biden caused a reaction On Tuesday night, he appeared to compare Trump supporters to trash, commenting on a racist joke the comedian told a few days earlier at a Trump rally, comparing Puerto Rico to a “trash island.”

The White House argued in a statement that the president had been misinterpreted and called the rhetoric of Trump’s Sunday rally at Madison Square Garden “garbage” and not the Republican’s supporters.

Harris and Trump in North Carolina

Harris organized her event at the Walnut Creek Amphitheater in Raleigh. According to her campaign, over 8,000 people took part.

The Democratic candidate focused her remarks on reproductive rights and emphasized her plans for the opportunity economy, including lowering grocery and housing prices.

“Donald Trump, who tried to divide us and make us afraid of each other. We know who he is, but that’s not who we are in North Carolina,” Harris said. “And it’s time for a new chapter where we stop pointing fingers at each other and instead join our arms, knowing that we have so much more in common than what divides us.”

Speaking to an audience in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, Trump talked about the border, inflation and Hurricane Helene recovery.

Trump also addressed comments by current President Joe Biden, who was reacting to the Republican presidential candidate’s weekend rally at Madison Square Garden in New York, where a comedian attending the event called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage.”

“Well, let me tell you something, I don’t know, I don’t know the Puerto Ricans that I know, the Puerto Ricans that I’m from – in my home state of Delaware – are good, decent, honorable people,” Biden said during a phone call with the Latino support group Voto Latino. “The only garbage floating there is his supporters. His demonization of Latinos is unwise and un-American.”

Biden later said on X that he was going to call the rhetoric garbage.

Trump said Wednesday that Biden “finally said what he and Kamala really think about our supporters.”

“He called them trash. And they mean it, even though there is no doubt that my supporters are of a much higher quality than Crooked Joe or Lyin’ Kamala,” Trump said. “My answer to Joe and Kamala is very simple: You can’t lead America if you don’t love the American people.”

– Harris said for her part she “strongly disagrees” criticizing people based on who they vote for.

Trump and Harris are still close in the polls

As of Wednesday morning, the Trump-Harris race remained a draw according to The Hill/Decision Desk HQ poll, while the former president trailed Harris by just 1.4 points.

Donald Trump vs. Kamala Harris: Politics Comparison

Democrats have a chance to turn the state blue, even though North Carolina has voted red in 10 of the last 11 races. Former President Barack Obama won the Tar Heel State in 2008, the first Democrat to do so in nearly three decades.

Deadly presidential race in North Carolina

A deadlocked race and opportunity for Democrats leads to dueling rallies on Wednesday, while Harris is also expected to be stuck in North Carolina. Both rallies were scheduled around the same time, just an hour away from each other.

Harris’ campaign said it believed it had enthusiasm on its side, while Trump’s team said it wanted to break that and consolidate Trump’s lead on the battlefield.

North Carolina is one of them seven swing states that may influence this year’s elections. This is another state that has seen another record turnout in early voting. Preliminary data shows about 3.2 million people have already voted in the state, representing more than a third of the state’s registered voters.

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Helene influencing voter turnout

AND new survey I found it Hurricane Helene it also plays a role for some voters heading to the ballot box. The a survey has been published this week by Elon University discovered that Helene galvanized them and much voters were motivated reaching the polls, in part as part of the federal response to the widespread damage suffered by the state.

Trump and some Republicans responded by trying to sow frustration by falsely claiming that no one in the federal government was helping residents after the storm.

FEMA and the White House rejected the comments, saying they were keeping their feet on the ground in helping those affected by Helene.

Despite this, the poll found that 20% of voters said they were more likely to vote because of Helene.

NewsNation partner The Hill and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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