ROB SCHMITZ, HOST:
There are 16 days left until Election Day. Both Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are crisscrossing battleground states, where polls show the candidates neck and neck. With time running short and the race closer than ever, how Harris and Trump spend their final days can tell us a lot about where the race for the White House stands. NPR's Luke Garrett has been keeping tabs on all this, and he joins us now. Hey, Luke.
LUKE GARRETT, BYLINE: Hey. Thanks for having me.
SCHMITZ: Thanks for being here. You know, let's start with the Harris campaign. What is their focus now that we've got two weeks left before Election Day?
GARRETT: Vice President Kamala Harris is spending the weekend in Georgia. Last night, Harris held a rally in Atlanta, where she focused on abortion access and reproductive rights, a key issue for her campaign. She really highlighted former President Donald Trump's role in the Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade. But Harris also went beyond policy criticism during her rally. The Vice President has really ratcheted up her personal attacks on Trump's cognitive abilities.
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VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS: When he does answer a question or speak at a rally, have you noticed he tends to go off script and ramble?
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HARRIS: And generally, for the life of him, cannot finish a thought.
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GARRETT: Now, today, on her 60th birthday, Harris is spending time with Black church leaders in the Atlanta area. Her time in Georgia this weekend underlines the Harris campaign's efforts to galvanize support among Black voters in the South. And tomorrow, Harris is set to cater to another voting bloc, suburban Republicans in the blue wall states. Joined by Republican and former representative Liz Cheney, the vice president will campaign in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan.
SCHMITZ: OK, Luke, so let's now turn to the Trump campaign. Where has the former President been?
GARRETT: The Trump campaign is focusing on rural and urban areas in Pennsylvania this weekend. At a rally last night in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, Trump went on a crude tangent about hometown hero and famous golfer Arnold Palmer.
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DONALD TRUMP: This is a guy that was all man. This man was strong and tough, and I refuse to say it, but when he took showers with the other pros, they came out of there, they said, oh, my God.
GARRETT: Shortly after these comments, Trump attacked Vice President Harris with an expletive. Now, these off-color comments come at a crucial time when both campaigns are trying to win over that small but very significant sliver of undecided voters. Today, Trump is in Philadelphia with Florida Representative Byron Donalds. The two are holding a Black men's barbershop round table, focusing on the economy and public safety. So you can see that both the Trump and Harris campaigns see support of Black voters and Black men in particular as key to their path to the White House. Later this week, Trump will put on another rally in Greensboro, North Carolina.
SCHMITZ: So Luke, we don't often talk about this very much here on NPR, but what about these third-party candidates? I mean, will they have any impact on this election?
GARRETT: Possibly. Take Green Party candidate Jill Stein. She's polling around 1% nationally. But given how close this race is, she could take a battleground state away from Harris, much like what happened in 2016 with then-candidate Hillary Clinton. The Stein campaign's criticism of Harris' support of Israel and its military campaign in Gaza is resonating with young voters who have voted for Democrats previously. Stein is campaigning in Charlotte, North Carolina, today and showing no signs of stepping down from this race. Last week, in a symbol of growing worries among Democrats, the Democratic National Convention launched its first television ad attacking Stein directly in states like Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan.
SCHMITZ: That is NPR's Luke Garrett. Luke, thank you.
GARRETT: Thank you for having me. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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