Scranton, United States:

Bitter rivals Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are launching a final frenetic campaign assault on Monday, with both hitting must-win Pennsylvania on the final day of the tightest and most volatile US presidential election in memory.

Republican Trump promised a “landslide” as he seeks a sensational return to the White House, while Democrat Harris said the “momentum” was towards her goal of becoming America’s first female president.

But polls reveal a different story on the eve of Election Day: a deadlock in polls nationally and in the seven swing states where results are expected to be announced.

Now a race of dramatic turning points, including two bids to kill Trump and a shocking late entry by Harris, is approaching the most bitterly fought battleground.

Harris will spend the day campaigning in the rust belt state of Pennsylvania, culminating in a massive rally in her largest city, Philadelphia, featuring singer Lady Gaga. Trump will travel to North Carolina, Pennsylvania and then Michigan.

In a sign of how important Pennsylvania is to their chances of occupying the Oval Office, Trump and Harris will even hold dueling rallies in the industrial city of Pittsburgh.

Pennsylvania is the top state prize under the U.S. Electoral College system, which rewards influence based on population.

‘You’re fired’

Both parties say they are encouraged by very high early turnout numbers, with more than 78 million people having voted, accounting for nearly half of the total number of votes cast in 2020.

The incredible closeness of the 2024 White House race reflects the fact that the United States is deeply divided, choosing between two candidates whose visions are not very different.

Former President Trump has doubled down on his dark and violent rhetoric in his quest for a second term that would make him the first convicted felon and, at 78, the oldest major party nominee ever elected.

Vice President Harris, meanwhile, made a surprising rise in the Democratic rankings after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race in July.

Harris hopes abortion is a major issue that could hurt Trump, especially when it comes to female voters; Trump, on the other hand, focused on immigrants and the economy and called political opponents “enemies from within.”

The two zigzagged wildly through swing states, holding raucous rallies and even appearing on Harris’ hit television show “Saturday Night Live.”

On the campaign trail on Sunday, Trump told supporters he wouldn’t care about journalists being shot, touted baseless claims of election fraud and went into gory detail about crimes committed by undocumented immigrants.

“Kamala, you’re fired, get out,” Trump told cheering supporters in Macon, Georgia.

Trump also said he “shouldn’t have left” the White House after losing his re-election bid to Biden in 2020 and then tried to overturn the results, culminating in the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.

Fears are growing that he will not accept defeat again.

‘We caught momentum’

For her part, after a series of more encouraging recent polls, Harris said at a raucous rally in Michigan on Sunday that “we have momentum; she’s on our side.”

Harris also courted Michigan’s large Arab-American community, which has condemned U.S. intervention in the Israel-Hamas war, and said she would “do everything in my power to end the war in Gaza.”

The world is watching the elections with concern, which could have profound effects on the conflicts in the Middle East and Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, the final days of the campaign saw both candidates field high-profile surrogates.

Right-wing tech mogul Elon Musk made controversial $1 million gifts to registered voters while Harris relied on the star power of former president Barack Obama, former first lady Michelle Obama and singer Beyonce.

But outgoing President Biden has been conspicuously absent from the process since last week’s gaffe, in which he referred to Trump’s supporters as “trash.”

While Biden will spend most of the final day of the campaign at the White House, Harris will start the day with an event in her hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is syndicated.)