Welcome to October Surprise, the Daily Beast’s daily countdown to the biggest election of our lifetime. It’s only six days until Election Day and here’s what’s happening in the race to the White House between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.
THE DOWNLOAD
Donald Trump said Wednesday that President Joe Biden’s apparent reference to his supporters as “garbage” makes Hillary Clinton’s 2016 insult of his MAGA supporters look like “baby stuff.”
“Joe Biden finally said what he and Kamala really think of our supporters,” Trump said at a rally in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. “He called them garbage. And they mean it.”
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The crowd booed before Trump reminded them of what his 2016 Democratic opponent thought of them. “That makes deplorables look like baby stuff, right” Trump said, referring to Clinton, who damaged her presidential bid when she said Trump supporters belonged in a “basket of deplorables.” Read the full story here.
Kamala Harris was heckled at two daytime rallies on Wednesday in different battleground states, using both occasions to present herself as a unifier as she shouted over the disruptions.
“I will listen to experts,” she said while an audience member began shouting at a Get Out the Vote rally in Raleigh, North Carolina. “I will listen to those impacted by the decisions I make. And to people who disagree with me.”
Later, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, when protesters began shouting and at least one loudly blew a whistle and waved a Palestinian flag, Harris said, “We are six days away from an election and ours is about a fight for democracy and your right to be heard, that is what is on the line in this election. Look, everybody has a right to be heard but right now, I am speaking.” Read the story here.
POLLS OBSESSED
Kamala Harris got some encouraging news Wednesday from CNN polls conducted in three “blue wall” states. In Michigan, she leads Trump 48 percent to 43 percent among likely voters. In Wisconsin, she’s up 51 percent to 45 percent. And in the biggest battleground of them all, Pennsylvania, the race is tied with each candidate receiving 48 percent support among likely voters.
Meanwhile, the final pre-election Economist/YouGov Poll says 47 percent of registered voters say they will vote, or already have voted, for Harris, while 46 percent are all in for Trump.
ON THE MOVE
After stumping in North Carolina, Trump is getting star power from former NFL quarterback Brett Favre, who will join the GOP nominee at a rally in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Both Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, campaigned in North Carolina, with Harris also hitting Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. GOP vice presidential nominee JD Vance campaigned in must-win Pennsylvania.
WAYBACK WEDNESDAY
On Oct. 30, 2020, Donald Trump’s inner circle was increasingly whispering the same thought: “Our guy blew it.” With consistent polling deficits, even the most die-hardt MAGA loyalists were getting ready for defeat, including Stephen Moore, an all-in economist who told the Beast, “I believe the betting markets, which say there’s a 60 percent chance that Biden wins, and a 40 percent chance that Trump does.” But being Trumpland, there were plenty of believers. Doug Deason, a high-dollar Trump donor from Dallas, pegged Trump’s odds at “75 percent or better.” Read more here.
BEAST OF THE DAY
Reggaeton star Nicky Jam has withdrawn his endorsement of Donald Trump over comedian Tony Hinchcliffe reference to Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage” at the former president’s Madison Square Garden rally.
The singer publicly threw his support behind the GOP presidential nominee in September, donning a MAGA hat and appearing at a Las Vegas rally where he told the former president and attendees “We need you to be the president.”
On Wednesday, however, Jam announced he no longer supported Trump in an Instagram video. “Never in my life did I think that a month later a comedian would come to criticize my country and speak badly about my country,” he told his 43 million followers on the app. “And therefore, I withdraw any support for Donald Trump and step aside from any political situation. Puerto Rico deserves respect.” Read more here.
SHAMELESS PLUG
Trump biographer Michael Wolff has some truth bombs to drop about the former president. Hear them tonight on the latest episode of The Daily Beast Podcast, which drops at midnight when Wolff, the author of Fire & Fury, will tell Joanna Coles and Samantha Bee exactly what unpleasant things Trump is doing behind closed doors and and deliver a very provocative verdict on the people who went to the MSG rally.
Find The Daily Beast podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and all major podcastplayers.
