Welcome to October Surprise, the Daily Beast’s daily countdown to the biggest election of our lifetime. It’s only 33 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
Kamala Harris doubled down Thursday on her campaign’s effort to woo GOP voters, launching two new battleground ads targeting Republicans who are turned off by MAGA and tapping a GOP aide to help lead the charge.
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The digital ads feature a Pennsylvanian who once voted for Donald Trump now bucking him for coddling billionaires. The campaign is also bringing on Maria Comella, who was an aide to both former Govs. Chris Christie. (R-NJ) and Andrew Cuomo (D-NY), to focus on Republican and independent women voters.
A month before Election Day, in an incredibly tight race, Harris is daring to cross party lines to find voters who could be the key ingredient to a recipe for success.
Harris is showcasing her GOP outreach efforts Thursday at a campaign event in Ripon, Wisconsin, the birthplace of the Republican Party, with former Rep. Liz Cheney, the one-time Democratic bogeyman who has already endorsed her.
JD Vance claimed Donald Trump won the 2020 election in an unearthed clip from 2022 posted on X Thursday. The video reveal comes two days after Vance refused during the VP debate to outright admit that Trump lost to Joe Biden.
“Who won the 2020 election? Could you just answer? Did Donald Trump win?” political comedian and interviewer Jason Selvig asks Vance in the never before seen exchange. “Yes,” Vance replied, confirming his statement when asked again.
Trump’s running mate did not say if he would concede the 2024 election should Harris and Tim Walz prevail.
POLLS OBSESSED
A new Emerson College Polling national survey has Harris with a two-point lead over Trump, 50 percent to 48 percent. One percent support someone else, and 1 percent are undecided, the poll found. Harris’ edge over Trump is less than Biden’s four-point lead at this time in Emerson’s 2020 polling.
The latest major polling in the seven critical swing states shows the race is about as tight as it could possibly be.
ON THE MOVE
Trump went to Michigan trying to win back bellwether Saginaw County, which took him to victory in 2016 but which Joe Biden carried in 2020—by 303 votes. Harris ramped up her efforts to win over GOP voters by campaigning with Liz Cheney in Ripon, Wisconsin, the birthplace of the Republican Party. JD Vance and Tim Walz kept up their battleground barnstorming.
THROWBACK THURSDAY
Donald Trump was in Walter Reed on Oct. 3, 2020, with Covid—but it was not clear just how ill he was.
On the one hand, Trump’s pulmonologist, Dr. Sean Dooley, said the president told him, “I feel like I could walk out of here today.” That was in an on-camera, no-questions briefing on the hospital steps. Feet away, Mark Meadows, Trump’s chief of staff briefed reporters off-camera and appeared to be behind a more alarming statement.
“The president’s vitals over the last 24 hours were very concerning and the next 48 hours will be critical in terms of his care. We’re still not on a clear path to a full recovery,” the statement said.
BEAST OF THE DAY
Melania Trump unleashed a signature October surprise against her own husband Thursday by posting a video affirming her strong support for abortion rights.
Former President Donald Trump has bragged about appointing conservative Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v. Wade. But his wife is making it perfectly clear on the heels of the election that she sees things differently.
“Individual freedom is a fundamental principle that I safeguard,” the former first lady says in a brief clip posted on social media. “Without a doubt, there is no room for compromise when it comes to this essential right that all women possess from birth. Individual freedom. What does my body, my choice really mean?” She’s expected to say more about her diverging views in her forthcoming memoir “Melania.”
