Lancaster, Pennsylvania: Kamala Harris celebrated her 60th birthday on Sunday (October 20) during the crucial final weeks of a tight U.S. election. Harris made campaign stops at Black churches in Georgia while her 78-year-old opponent, Donald Trump, served fries at a Pennsylvania McDonald’s to attract blue-collar voters.
At one of Harris’s events in a suburb of Atlanta, music icon Stevie Wonder sang a special rendition of “Happy Birthday” to her, encouraging voters to “consider more than just themselves when casting their ballots.”
In brief remarks Harris echoed sentiment, saying that, “Ours is a country that is about doing things that are focused on the best interest of our children, our families, giving people the resources they need around assistance, helping people pull out of poverty”.
Earlier, speaking at a Baptist megachurch near Atlanta, she had urged a Black congregation to embrace compassionate values while others “spread hate, sow fear and cause chaos.”
Harris didn’t mention Trump directly, but the crowd responded knowingly to her references to her Republican rival.
Georgia is a crucial state anticipated to influence the outcome of the November 5 election. With just over two weeks before Election Day, the Democratic vice president and the Republican billionaire are in a fierce race.
Thank you to my friend Stevie—it’s a joy to spend my birthday in Georgia with all of you. pic.twitter.com/RuGCv7sKl4
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) October 20, 2024
Harris, addressing the enthusiastic Black churchgoers – normally a strongly Democratic demographic – delivered a temperate speech, telling the tale of the Good Samaritan but also using it to exhort the crowd to vote and “shine the light in moments of darkness.”
Indeed, Trump is using increasingly angry and dark language in the campaign. Trump’s remark at a rally in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, was that Kamal Harris was a “[expletive] vice-president.”
Harris said that, Trump’s language “demeans the office” of the presidency, he has not earned the right” to be president again.
Trump at McDonalds
But Trump was all smiles as he scooped French fries at a McDonald’s franchise outside of Philadelphia, donning a black-and-yellow apron over his white shirt and red tie.
The campaign stop was intended as a jab at Harris, who has mentioned working at the fast-food chain in her youth. Trump has repeatedly claimed, without providing evidence, that Harris never worked at a McDonald’s. A friend of Harris’s recalled that she did work there.
Meanwhile, Elon Musk, the billionaire founder of Tesla and SpaceX who has been campaigning for Trump, announced he would donate $1 million a day to voters who sign his petition supporting the U.S. Constitution.
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, expressed that the plan was “deeply concerning” and suggested that law enforcement should investigate the matter.
Both candidates will continue making their final pitches. Harris will embark on a whirlwind tour of Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin.
Trump will visit the hurricane-stricken town of Asheville, North Carolina, before holding a rally in Greenville.
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