Day: October 29, 2024

(NewsNation) — Donald Trump has won North Carolina in each of the last two elections, but Democrats have been gaining ground, particularly in the major population centers: Mecklenburg and Wake counties.

If Harris can improve in those areas, Democrats have a chance to win the state for the first time since Barack Obama in 2008.

How votes will be counted

In North Carolina, the polls close at 7:30 p.m. Counties can start processing mail-in ballots at 5:00 p.m., while some counties with passed measures can begin processing mail-in ballots at 2:00 p.m. on Election Day.

While the North Carolina Board of Elections allows for same-day voter registration for early voting — which runs through November 2 — the state does not allow residents to register to vote if they are casting ballots on the day of the general election.

To register to vote the same day during early voting, residents must have a state identification number from their state-issued driver’s license or must have proof of the last four digits of their Social Security number.

North Carolina Senate race in 2022

In the 2022 U.S. Senate race, Democrat Cheri Beasley took a 20-point lead over Ted Budd when the first batches of votes were released after polls closed. That lead disappeared after about 90 minutes when Budd overtook Beasley in the vote count and went on to win the seat. Mail and early in-person votes accounted for about 59% of all ballots in that election.

In statewide elections, the Democratic strongholds are in the Raleigh, Charlotte, Greensboro and Fayetteville areas, while Republicans tend to perform best in the western, eastern and southeastern areas of the state. When Obama carried North Carolina in 2008, he won beyond the safe Democratic areas and picked up an additional 11 counties in what were moderate Republican areas.

More than half of those counties may have moved out of reach for Democrats today, as Trump outperformed Biden by double-digit margins in 2020. But that same year, Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper picked up Granville, Pasquotank and Scotland counties in his successful reelection bid and reduced the margin in others.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

(NewsNation) — Former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly criticized former President Donald Trump‘s campaign staff as “dunderheads” for not vetting a comedian who called Puerto Rico an “island of garbage” during a Sunday rally.

O’Reilly, while discussing the Madison Square Garden rally, revealed that Trump “didn’t know that comedian who disparaged all Puerto Ricans” and blamed the incident on poor campaign management.

“He’s got a lot of people working for him that are dunderheads. … They’re only there because they kiss his butt, and that’s not what you want,” O’Reilly said on NewsNation’s “On Balance.”

However, O’Reilly noted exceptions to his criticism, praising Lara Trump and campaign executive Susie White as “very powerful” and “very smart” members of the team.

O’Reilly also characterized Vice President Kamala Harris as a “machine candidate” who “does what the machine tells her to do” and criticized her campaign’s performance, particularly noting that “she can’t answer a question.”

“You think she’s got a bunch of geniuses running her campaign? … You think PhDs are running that operation?” O’Reilly said.

What happened at Trump’s MSG rally?

The event was a surreal spectacle that included former professional wrestler Hulk Hogan, billionaire Elon Musk, TV psychologist Dr. Phil McGraw, former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, politicians including House Speaker Mike Johnson and Reps. Byron Donalds and Elise Stefanik and an artist who painted a picture of Trump hugging the Empire State Building.

Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, one of the featured guests at Trump’s New York City event, sparked a furor after referring to Puerto Rico as “a floating island of garbage,” prompting some members of the GOP, like Rep. Anthony D’Esposito, R-N.Y., who is Puerto Rican, to come out against the remarks.

In addition to his remark about Puerto Rico, Hinchcliffe also made a crude joke about Latinos in which he said, “They love making babies too. Just know that. They do. They do. There’s no pulling out. They don’t do that. They c– inside. Just like they did to our country.”

Hinchcliffe wasn’t the only one who made controversial remarks about different racial and ethnic groups during the rally. Carlson referred to Vice President Kamala Harris as a “Samoan, Malaysian, low-IQ former California prosecutor” even though Harris is neither Samoan nor Malaysian but rather Black and Indian American.

Sid Rosenberg, a New York City radio host whose show Trump calls into periodically, blasted Democrats in derogatory and explicit terms.

“She is some sick b——, that Hillary Clinton. What a sick son of a b—-,” he said of the former secretary of State and 2016 Democratic nominee. “The whole fucking party. A bunch of degenerates.”

Trump ally Rudy Giuliani used racist stereotypes about Palestinians in his address at the rally, claiming, “They may have good people. I’m sorry, I don’t take a risk with people that are taught to kill Americans at 2.”

Trump’s childhood friend David Rem referred to Harris as “the Antichrist” and “the devil.” Businessman Grant Cardone told the crowd that Harris ”and her pimp handlers will destroy our country.

Trump campaign senior adviser Danielle Alvarez said in a statement that Hinchcliffe’s “joke does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign.”

Trump later defended the rally, calling it a “lovefest.”

NewsNation partner The Hill and The Associated Press contributed to this report.