US election: 8 days left – What polls say Harris and Trump are up to | News about the 2024 US election

Eight days before the election, former President Donald Trump held a rally at Madison Square Garden in his hometown of New York, while Vice President Kamala Harris campaigned in the key swing state of Pennsylvania.

At the Madison Square Garden rally on Sunday, Trump repeatedly emphasized his plans to stop undocumented immigration and deport migrants he called “vicious and bloodthirsty criminals.”

Meanwhile, in Philadelphia, Vice President Kamala Harris said no one would be allowed to sit on the sidelines. “We are focused on the future and the needs of the American people,” she said.

As of midday Sunday (4:00 p.m. GMT), more than 41 million Americans had already voted in early in-person or mail-in voting, according to a tally by the University of Florida's Election Lab. In 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 100 million voters had cast their ballots before Election Day.

What are the latest updates from the surveys?

Harris and Trump remain neck-and-neck in this very close race.

A CBS News/YouGov poll released Sunday showed Harris leading Trump nationally by 50 percent, compared to 49 percent for Trump. However, the result is still subject to the survey's margin of error.

The poll also showed that there is a wide gender gap in the race, with more men preferring Trump and more women preferring Harris. The poll shows Trump leading male voters 54 percent to 45 percent, while Harris leads female voters 55 percent to 43 percent.

Men are more likely to think Trump is a strong leader (64 percent to 50 percent), while women are more likely to say Harris has the right “mental and cognitive health” to be president, according to the poll.

In a separate analysis by FiveThirtyEight's daily election poll tracker, Harris was slightly ahead in the national polls on Sunday, leading Trump by 1.4 percentage points. However, the long-term trend shows that the race is getting closer and the gap is narrowing from 1.7 points last week.

Seven US swing states are likely to decide the outcome of the election.

According to FiveThirtyEight's daily poll tracker, Harris holds narrow leads in Michigan and Wisconsin. Meanwhile, Trump has a slight lead over Harris in Pennsylvania and Nevada and enjoys larger leads in North Carolina, Arizona and Georgia.

However, in all seven states, the candidates are only two percentage points apart, well within the polls' margin of error, leaving each state with a tie just days before the final vote.

What was Kamala Harris up to on Sunday?

On Sunday, the Democratic candidate spoke at the Church of Christian Compassion in Philadelphia, where she emphasized the risks of the election and called it “the most consequential election of our lifetime.”

“In just nine days, we have the power to decide the fate of our nation for generations to come,” Harris said in an op-ed on CBS Philadelphia.

“Here in Pennsylvania, each of us now has the opportunity to make a difference,” she said. “The great thing about living in a democracy is that we, the people, have the choice to answer this question. So let us respond not only with our words, but also with our works.”

Harris also reached out to young voters, calling them “rightly impatient for change.”

To Generation Z:

They, who only know the climate crisis, are leading what we must do to protect our planet.
Those who grew up with active shooter drills know what we need to do to keep our schools safe.
You, who may have fewer rights than your mothers and grandmothers, are…

— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) October 27, 2024

On Sunday, Harris was asked by reporters whether she was concerned about recent conversations between Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The two had a close relationship during Trump's presidency.

Asked whether these talks could undermine the goals of the current US administration, she replied: “No.”

“I believe it is critically important that we as the United States of America actively contribute to ending this war, to freeing the hostages, but also that there is a real commitment between nations to a two-state solution and the day after (in Gaza),” Harris told reporters.

A recent Arab News/YouGov poll found that Arab American support for Trump (45 percent) slightly exceeded that for Harris (43 percent), with more respondents also viewing Trump as more likely to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

What did Donald Trump plan to do on Sunday?

The Republican candidate rallied his Make America Great Again (MAGA) base at an event in New York City, vowed to crack down on migration and took aim at Harris.

“November 5th will be the most important date in our country’s history and together we will make America strong again,” said the former president, painting a portrait of a country plagued by economic and social crises.

Trump also blamed Harris – whom he called a “radical left-wing Marxist” who is unintelligent and “unfit” to be president – for the country's problems. “They destroyed our country,” he said, referring to the US vice president.

Separately, a comedian's controversial appearance sparked backlash after he called Puerto Rico a “floating island of trash.”

Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe asked, “Where are my proud Latinos tonight?” before launching into a series of jokes about immigration and the Texas-Mexico border. “See what I mean? It's wide open; There are so many of them,” he added.

Hinchcliffe's performance took a drastic turn when he compared Puerto Rico, a US territory, to marine debris.

“There's a lot going on, I don't know if you know this, but right now there's literally a floating island of trash in the middle of the ocean. Yes. I think it’s called Puerto Rico,” Hinchcliffe said.

His joke was immediately criticized by Harris' campaign as he competes with Trump to win over Puerto Rican communities in Pennsylvania and other swing states. Puerto Rican music superstar Bad Bunny endorsed Harris shortly after Hinchcliffe's comments.

The normally combative Trump campaign took the rare step of distancing itself from Hinchcliffe. “This joke does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign,” senior adviser Danielle Alvarez said in a statement.

What's next for the Harris and Trump campaigns?

Kamala Harris and Tim Walz – joint rally in Michigan

Harris and vice presidential candidate Tim Walz are hosting a campaign rally and concert in Ann Arbor, a college town in Michigan. The event will feature a performance by singer-songwriter Maggie Rogers.

In Michigan, Harris and Trump are struggling to win over voters, including an Arab American and Muslim population deeply concerned about Israel's war on Gaza.

Trump fully supports Israel but has not said how he would end the conflict. Still, he appears to be drawing support from some Muslim Americans who have so far been unhappy with President Joe Biden and Harris' support of Israel throughout the war.

“It's fair to say it's a must-win state for Kamala Harris, and yet Arab Americans – who have supported Democrats far more than Republicans since 2004, as well as Iraq and Abu Ghraib – are pro-Biden administration and Kamala Harris's really dissatisfied “Lack of distancing from the Biden administration on the Gaza (and now Lebanon) issue,” John Zogby, pollster and founder of John Zogby Strategies, told Al Jazeera.

Trump rally in Georgia

Trump will speak in Atlanta on Monday.

He will begin with a speech at the National Faith Summit in Powder Springs and conclude with a rally at Georgia Tech.

According to local media reports, Trump will speak to more than 1,000 pastors and faith leaders before heading to McCamish Pavilion for his planned campaign rally.

Trump is expected to emphasize economic issues and encourage early voting.

Georgia is another key battleground state with 16 Electoral College votes – Trump won it in 2016 but narrowly lost the state to President Biden in 2020.