State of the race: five takeaways 17 days before the US elections | US Election News 2024

It was another eventful week in American politics. And with just over two weeks left before the presidential race, the candidates are preparing to make their final appeal to voters.

What have Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, Democratic and Republican presidential candidates respectively, done as the final countdown approaches?

Find out in our latest recap of the week's political news.

The election at a glance

There are 17 days left until the November 5 presidential race.

What is the latest development in the polls?

National averages have remained largely stable since last week, with Harris maintaining a slim lead well within the margin of error.

Poll aggregator FiveThirtyEight, for example, has Harris at 48.3% as of October 17. Trump, meanwhile, was close behind with 46.3%.

However, some polls in individual key states show Trump gradually gaining ground. A poll this week by CBS News and YouGov, for example, focused on Arizona, where analysts noted a three-point lead for Trump over Harris.

An NPR analysis also saw the tide turning in Trump's favor in battleground states, although the outlet emphasized how close the race is. He also pointed out that polls rarely tell the whole story and that surprises are undoubtedly on the horizon.

Vice President Kamala Harris waves to people in the crowd after speaking at a campaign rally in Atlanta, Georgia, on October 19. [Jacquelyn Martin/AP Photo]
Harris campaign targets Trump's age

Sunday will mark Harris' 60th birthday.

But even as the Democratic candidate prepares to celebrate entering a new decade of her life, her campaign is taking aim at the aging of her Republican rivals.

Trump is 78 years old and would be the oldest person to be elected president if he wins the November race.

Early in the race, it was common for Trump to criticize an even older politician for his age and abilities: the presumptive Democratic nominee, President Joe Biden.

Biden, 81, was expected to headline the Democratic ticket. But after a shaky performance in the June presidential debate, concerns about his age came to a head and Biden withdrew from the race.

Trump, who had long called Biden weak and sleepy, now faces a significantly younger opponent in Harris. And Harris flipped the script, using Trump's age against him.

I heard reports that his team, at least, was saying he was suffering from exhaustion, Harris said Friday. If he is exhausted from the election campaign, is he fit to do the job?

His comments follow a series of canceled Trump events and his own glowing health report, released by the White House last week.

Former President Donald Trump defended his recent remarks during a Fox News town hall with Harris Faulkner in Cumming, Georgia. [Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP Photo]
Trump renews his threats against his political rivals

Trump can boast that he has long threatened to imprison his political rivals. Even in 2016, during his first successful presidential campaign, he was known for leading crowds in chants about his rival, Democrat Hillary Clinton: Lock her up! Lock her up!

Last month, Trump vowed to prosecute those he sees as threats to this year's election.

WHEN I WIN, people who CHEATED will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, which will include long prison sentences, he wrote on social media.

But the Republican leader took his rhetoric up a notch last Sunday, during an appearance on Fox News with host Maria Bartiromo. In his interview, he compared Democratic politicians to their foreign adversaries.

We have two enemies: we have the enemy without, and then we have the enemy within. And the enemy within, in my opinion, is more dangerous than China, Russia and all these countries, Trump said.

What's harder to deal with are the crazy people we have inside, he continued, citing U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff as an example. I call it the enemy within.

Schiff led Trump's first impeachment trial in 2020.

Later in the week, Trump doubled down on his comments during a Fox News town hall. I'm not threatening anyone. They are the ones who threaten. They are doing false investigations.

Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign event in Atlanta on October 19. [Jacquelyn Martin/AP Photo]
Fox News interview gets irritating

Seeking to torpedo criticism that she is avoiding press scrutiny, Harris continued her media blitz this week with an eyebrow-raising choice: an interview with the conservative-leaning Fox News.

The choice partly reflects a broader campaign strategy aimed at appealing to middle-of-the-road voters, as well as Republicans disillusioned with Trump.

But from its opening moments, Thursday's interview with Fox News host Bret Baier was tense.

The journalist and the Democratic candidate had difficulty making themselves heard.

Can I finish answering, please? Harris asked Baier at one point. You have to let me finish. Please. I'm responding to the point you raise and would like to finish.

Baier also asked Harris about immigration, a topic for which President Joe Biden's administration has received bipartisan criticism.

Bret, let's get to the point, Harris responded at one point. The fact is we have a broken immigration system that needs to be fixed.

Usher waves to supporters as he appears at a rally in Atlanta, Georgia, for Kamala Harris on October 19 [Dustin Chambers/Reuters]
Democrats boost star power

Harris and Trump spent much of October traveling through the seven key states that will likely decide the presidential race.

But while campaigning last week, Harris unveiled a star-studded lineup to help her make her final pitch to voters.

On Saturday, rapper and singer Lizzo opened for Harris in Detroit, Michigan, as she tried to drum up support for early voting.

And later that same day, singer Usher took a break from his concert tour in Atlanta, Georgia, to deliver the keynote speech at a rally there.

“We are just 17 days away from a very important election, as we all know, and we have the opportunity to choose a new generation of leaders for our country,” Usher told the crowd, repeating a common refrain of the Harris campaign.

Republican running mate JD Vance speaks to supporters October 16 in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. [Matt Rourke/AP Photo]
JD Vance Endorses 2020 Election Denial

Throughout the campaign, Republican running mate JD Vance danced around the theme of the 2020 election: he refused to contradict Trump's false claims that there was widespread voter fraud, but he also avoided saying that Trump had definitely lost the race.

That changed last week, as Vance led a rally in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.

At Wednesday's rally, Vance took questions and reacted sharply when asked to respond to the message he was sending by refusing to give a straight answer on the 2020 race.

Regarding the 2020 election, I've answered this question directly a million times: No. I think there were some serious problems in 2020, Vance said.

So did Donald Trump lose the election? No, not with the words I would use.

Election denialism has been an ongoing concern since the 2020 election, when Biden defeated Trump.

Trump had refused to accept the result, calling the election rigged and stolen. His words helped motivate a group of supporters to storm the U.S. Capitol in an apparent effort to stop the certification of the results.

In this year's race, Trump hedged when asked if he would accept another defeat. If everything is honest, I will happily accept the results, he said in May.

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