DETROIT: Former US president Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris will roll out starkly contrasting celebrity back-up this weekend in Michigan and Pennsylvania -– among the most prized of the battleground states set to decide the tightest of US presidential election.
Harris will campaign in Detroit this weekend, backed by pop star Lizzo, a multi-Grammy award-winning artist known for her wide appeal, while billionaire Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, will stump for Trump in Pennsylvania.
Both Michigan and Pennsylvania are critical swing states that could play a decisive role in determining the outcome of the election.
Meanwhile, Harris will be joined by R&B superstar Usher at a rally in Atlanta, Georgia, another key state where Democrats hope to energize voter turnout.
Harris, who replaced President Joe Biden as the Democratic nominee in July, has relied on a steady stream of celebrity surrogates, including former President Barack Obama and rapper Megan Thee Stallion, to rally support.
The fight for votes has become increasingly fierce as polls show the race effectively tied. Both campaigns are investing heavily in efforts to secure votes in battleground states where early voting has already begun, with both Harris and Trump spending significant time courting voters in these pivotal areas.
Musk, a vocal critic of the Biden administration, endorsed Trump earlier this year and has since emerged as a key figure in his campaign.
Musk, who has become increasingly involved in US politics since taking over Twitter (now rebranded as X), has donated nearly $75 million to Trump’s political group, America PAC.
His support is seen as an attempt to galvanize Trump’s voter base, especially among tech enthusiasts and entrepreneurs.
Meanwhile, Harris has been sharpening her attacks on Trump’s age and mental fitness, questioning his ability to serve as president at 78, the oldest candidate in US history. Her remarks come amid speculation about Trump’s exhaustion after reports surfaced that he had backed out of a series of interviews.
A Trump aide allegedly told a news outlet that the former president was too tired to appear, a claim the Trump campaign has dismissed as “detached from reality.”
With both candidates pulling out all the stops, early voting numbers are surging. By Friday, nearly 12 million votes had been cast, with a third of those ballots coming from key swing states, according to data from the University of Florida’s Election Lab.
States like Georgia are seeing record-breaking voter turnout, while North Carolina’s first day of voting surpassed even the early ballot numbers from the 2020 election, which was influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Where data is available, registered Democrats make up roughly half of the early votes cast, while Republicans — who have often cast doubts on the integrity of mail-in ballots and drop boxes during the Trump era — account for about a third.
