(NewsNation) — Vice President Kamala Harris campaigned Wednesday in North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin — key states where Trump maintains a narrow lead with less than a week left until Election Day.
Latest poll numbers have the candidates nearly deadlocked in Pennsylvania, where Harris’ ground campaign has been highly organized, well-funded and thorough.
A Decision Desk HQ (DDHQ) national forecast Wednesday morning predicts that former President Donald Trump has a 54% chance of winning.
Harris tells protester they have ‘right to be heard,’ but ‘right now I am speaking’
Harris, faced by protesters at her rallies in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin on Wednesday, said the person who yelled “Free Palestine” had a “right to be heard” but “right now, I am speaking.”
The comment, a call back to what Harris said when then-Vice President Mike Pence attempted to interrupt her during their debate in 2020, earned huge applause from the supportive crowd.“
Here is the thing, let me say something, we are six days out from an election, we are six days away from an election and ours is about a fight for democracy and your right to be heard,” Harris said after the protesters shouted.
“That is what is on the line in this election. That is what is on the line in this election.” She added: “Look everybody has a right to be heard but right now I am speaking.”
Harris has faced pro-Palestinian protestors at a series of events during the close of her campaign.
Harris on the campaign trail
She’ll begin her day in North Carolina before heading to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and ending her day in Wisconsin.
All three are strategic swing states and Pennsylvania is the most crucial for both campaigns.
Pennsylvania is home to 19 electoral votes — the most of any battleground state this election cycle, DDHQ noted. Pennsylvania hasn’t backed a Republican presidential candidate by double digits since Richard Nixon in 1972.
Wednesday marks the vice president’s first trip to Harrisburg. So far, she’s spent much time in the southeastern and southwestern parts of the state and visited Philadelphia earlier this week.
Harris held her event at the Walnut Creek Amphitheater in Raleigh. Her campaign said over 8,000 people attended it.
The Democratic nominee focused her remarks on reproductive rights and highlighted her plans for an opportunity economy including lowering the prices of groceries and housing.
“Donald Trump, who has been trying to keep us divided and afraid of each other. We know that is who he is, but North Carolina that is not who we are,” Harris said. “And it is time for a new chapter where we stop with the pointing fingers at each other, and instead let us lock arms with one another, knowing we have so much more in common than what separates us.”
A dead-heat race and an opportunity for Democrats is leading to dueling rallies on Wednesday as Harris is also expected to stump in North Carolina. The two rallies are scheduled at roughly the same time, just located about an hour from each other.
The Harris campaign said it believes it has the enthusiasm on its side, while Trump’s team said it’s looking to cut through that and solidify Trump’s lead in the battleground state.
North Carolina is one of seven swing states that could sway this year’s election. It’s another state that has seen another record turnout from early voting. Preliminary data reveals about 3.2 million people in the state have already voted, which is over one-third of the state’s registered voters.
How is Harris performing in key swing states?
Trump maintained a slight lead over Harris Tuesday in Pennsylvania. That’s according to the latest forecasts from NewsNation’s partners Decision Desk HQ (DDHQ) and The Hill, which predict Trump has a 52% chance of winning in the Keystone State.
DDHQ also forecasts that Trump will outperform Harris in North Carolina and Wisconsin, with 65% and 55% chances of victory, respectively.
NewsNation partner The Hill and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
