Former President Trump spent the last full day of the campaign on Monday saying that only he can save America from an apocalyptic future resulting from an “invasion” of an out-of-control government, criminal immigrants and unscrupulous liberals. That’s what powered the Republican decade on the national stage.

Vice President Kamala Harris wrapped up her presidential campaign with a series of rallies; At these rallies, he promised that he would turn a new page and put the United States on a more stable and hopeful path, that he would not seek revenge and that he would “spend every day working for me.” – make a list on your behalf.

Although the two presidential candidates’ messages differed sharply, they were almost converging geographically; Both spent much of Monday in Pennsylvania, a state seen by both parties as critical to securing an electoral college victory.

The Keystone State gives the winner more electoral votes (19) than any other closely contested state this year. As voting ended Tuesday, polls showed Pennsylvania was deadlocked and six other battleground states — Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia, North Carolina, Arizona and Nevada — were also close to being called.

At an afternoon rally at an arena in Reading, Trump spoke nostalgically about his time on the national stage as he continued to rail against an institution he accuses of conspiring to keep him out of power.

“For the last nine years, we have been fighting against the most malevolent and corrupt forces on Earth,” he told the crowd. “You can definitely show them that this nation does not belong to them with the votes you cast in this election. “This nation is yours.”

Trump has vowed that his second term, which will come four years after losing the presidency to Joe Biden, will usher in a new “golden age” of peace and prosperity for Americans. “November. 5, 2024 will be Independence Day in America!” Trump shouted, but promised that “liberation” would begin with the mass deportation of immigrants in the U.S. illegally on the first day of his presidency.

“This is not sustainable on a country-by-country basis,” Trump said regarding immigration at the Mexican border. “They are taking over your towns, your schools, your hospitals,” he said, adding: “I will liberate every city and town that is occupied and conquered.”

Migration at the southern border rose sharply in 2023 under the administration of President Biden and vice president Harris, but immigrant arrivals have decreased significantly this summer. Democrats and Republicans had worked on a compromise bill to stem the flow of immigrants, but it lapsed when Trump opposed it.

The former president was scheduled to hold two more rallies around the state, in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, before wrapping up the penultimate day of the long campaign.

In a note that particularly concerned some in the state, he expressed doubts about whether Harris would continue to allow fracking, known as hydraulic fracturing, to extract oil and gas. Trump promised the estimated 500,000 Pennsylvanians working in the oil industry that if they were elected, “we’ll break it, we’ll break it, we’ll break it and we’ll break it, baby, we’ll break it.”

He concluded his hour and 20-minute presentation with a now-familiar set of promises.

“We will make America strong again. We will make America rich again. We will make America healthy again,” he began. “We will make America strong again. We will make America proud again. We will make America safe again. And we will make America great again!”

Kamala Harris at a rally in Allentown, Pa., on Monday.

(Susan Walsh / Associated Press)

In another closing argument, Trump used the Truth Social platform to feature a short video of his ally Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Kennedy claimed in the video that Democrats were “weaponizing” government institutions to block dissent; This is an apparent reference to the administration’s attempt to curb the online spread of disinformation related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The former environmental lawyer assured the audience that Trump “will trust me to help clean up this corruption.”

Around the same time Trump was speaking in Reading, Harris was also appearing an hour’s drive away in Allentown, where she gave a 20-minute speech that included many of the crowd favorites from the tumultuous 105-day presidential campaign.

Through a decade of rancorous politics, Harris has returned to familiar themes of reproductive freedom, love of country and burnout. As with Trump’s applause lines, these issues fired up Democratic loyalists who applauded enthusiastically and held aloft signs reading “USA” and “WHEN WE FIGHTED, WE WON.”

“Pennsylvania, you know me; I’m not afraid of tough fights,” he said, before listing his accomplishments as a prosecutor in California. “I promise you, if you give me a chance to fight on your behalf as president, there is nothing in the world that can stand in my way.”

Harris did not mention Trump by name but stated that if elected, she would not be interested in an “enemies list”; This is a clear reference to the former president’s now-routine remarks in recent weeks about those he says have wronged him. instead “spend every day working on my to-do list for you.”

Harris has been very clear about what she wants Pennsylvanians to do next: provide hours when they can vote and encourage them to get out and do it. After nearly four months of unprecedented time in modern American politics, Harris had one final message for her supporters: “One day left!” he said.

Democrats also made sure to remind the state’s residents, including an estimated 300,000 Puerto Rican Americans, of the controversial remarks that marred the final days of the race. The remarks came in the form of a joke from comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who appeared on stage for Trump at a Madison Square Garden rally last week.

Rapper Fat Joe reminded the crowd in Allentown of the prank. “Calling Puerto Rico a garbage island was filled with so much hate,” said the Bronx-native musician, who is of Puerto Rican and Cuban descent. “My Latinos, where is your pride?”

Referencing the Trump-JD Vance ticket, the rapper asked: “What more do they have to do to show you who they are?”

Like Trump, Harris planned to finish her long campaign day in Pennsylvania’s two largest cities with rallies planned for Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.

Harris’ campaign said her final stop would be the Philadelphia Museum of Art — site of the famous steps where the title character in the movie “Rocky” completed his triumphant run — to highlight the importance of democracy in the city where America was founded. documents were written. Among those scheduled to join Harris at the rally were Oprah Winfrey, Lady Gaga, Roots and other pop culture stars.

Times staff writer Noah Bierman in Philadelphia contributed to this report.