US election 2024: Trump wears garbage collector uniform as Harris appeals to Gen Z — live updates

Elon Musk congratulated a winner of his pro-Trump cash giveaway on X at the same time a court in Philadelphia began to discuss the scheme's legality.

"Congratulations, Joshua of North Carolina!" Musk said over a video of a man explaining how he won $1 million (around €921,000) after signing Musk's pro-Trump petition.

Musk has been ordered to attend the emergency hearing today in Philadelphia however media reports indicate he has not yet shown up.

The tech billionaire had already been warned his giveaway might be illegal by the US Justice Department. He has yet to comment publicly on the lawsuit.

Tech billionaire Elon Musk has failed to show up so far for a hearing over his cash giveaway to registered voters, according to multiple media reports.

District Attorney Larry Krasner, who filed the lawsuit against Musk, has reportedly already arrived.

Musk has been ordered to attend in person. He has yet to comment publicly on the lawsuit.

The X owner had announced he would randomly award cash prizes worth $1 million ((around €921,000) to voters who signed his political action committee's petition in key battleground states.

He was previously warned by the country's Justice Department that his cash giveaway might be illegal.

Puerto Rican singer Nicky Jam announced he has withdrawn his support for Donald Trump, a month after appearing at a rally for the former president.

“Never in my life did I think that a month later a comedian was going to come to criticize my country and speak badly of my country and therefore, I renounce any support for Donald Trump, and I sidestep any political situation. Respect Puerto Rico, Nicky Jam,” the singer said in an Instagram post.

Jam was referring to comments made at a Trump rally on Sunday by a comedian invited to the event, who called Puerto Rico a "floating island of garbage."

Yesterday, Trump said he had "no idea" who the comedian was, as his campaign has tried to distance him from the controversial comments.

Since then, several prominent Puerto Ricans have come out in support of Harris including rapper Bad Bunny.

The Democrats have leaned into the support, releasing a Spanish language advertisement this morning called "Somos Más,” created to appeal to Latino voters in battleground states.

"We’re not trash, we’re more. And we’re not afraid. This November 5th, Trump will understand that some people’s trash is others’ treasure. Get out. The last one to laugh, you already know" the ad says.

Abortion is a key topic in this year's election.

Harris has said she is fiercly opposed to the overturning of Roe v. Wade, which Trump played a hand in.

Trump has given confusing and contradictory answers to questions about abortion, although has generally stuck by allowing states to decide their own restrictions.

Our reporter Finnegan Belleau has broken down the issue, and what role it could play in the upcoming race for the White House.

How abortion rights could play a pivotal role in US elections

Ten US states will vote for laws regulating abortion rights as the issue looms large over the presidential race between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.

The Lincoln Project, a political action committee comprised of current and former Republicans who are opposed to Trump, posted a series of videos yesterday criticising the former president.

In one repost of a video showing Trump stumbling as he tries to enter a garbage truck before his rally in Wisconsin last night they added the caption: "The trash trying to take itself out."

The group have endorsed Kamala Harris for the election.

A Chinese national has been charged for allegedly illegally registering to vote and casting a ballot on Sunday in the state of Michigan, according to NBC News.

The Michigan Department of State told NBC the defendant was 19-year-old Chinese citizen studying at the University of Michigan.

Trump's campaign has pushed claims that undocumented migrants in the US have committed widespread voter fraud.

The Michigan Department of State clarified that the incident was “extremely isolated and rare.”

Trump has denied knowing a comedian that performed at his rally in Madison Square Garden who made racist jokes and called Puerto Rico an "island of floating garbage" to fierce backlash.

"I don't anything about the comedian. I don't know who he is, I've never seen him" Trump said as he sat in a garbage truck ahead of a rally in Wisconsin last night.

Last night, Trump made a comment about American women that has caused a stir online.

During a speech about immigration Trump asserted he was going to protect American women from dangrous "criminals". Admitting his campaign team told him not to say the comment, he went on, "Well, I’m going to do it whether the women like it or not. I’ve gotta protect them.”

Reactions were less than enthusiastic. MSNBC presenter Katie Phang posted on X, "Trump’s nonconsensual “protection” is a hard pass:"

Daily Kos reporter Emily C.Singer said, "Help, 911, I need to report a freak cosplaying as a garbage man making threatening comments."

On Tuesday, Donald Trump called the European Union, "so nice, so lovely," before suggesting it didn't pay enough tax.

But what does the European Union think of him?

Reporter Vincenzo Genovese asked several MEPs from different parties who they would be endorsing in the election.

Trump or Harris? MEP surrogates take sides

The US elections will greatly impact Europe: but how? Two MEPs take sides and offer pitches for the two candidates. #EuropeNews

It's almost 7am eastern time as of writing and both Harris and Trump have a full day planned on the campaign trail.

Harris is expected to stop in Arizona with musical guest, Latin band Los Tigres del Norte, joining her.

Later, she will host Jennifer Lopez at an event in the Western state of Nevada.

Donald Trump will kick off his day with a rally in New Mexico before heading to another one in Nevada.

He will join the finale of commentator Tucker Carlson's tour in Arizona.

Vice presidential candidate JD Vance will head to North Carolina whilst his Democrat counterpart Tim Walz will host two events in Pennsylvania.

All of the above states are key battleground states with the exception of New Mexico, which is largely expected to vote Democrat with Harris leading in recent polling.

Current US President Joe Biden playfully nibbled on a baby dressed up as a chicken at a Halloween event hosted by him and his wife outside the White House on Wednesday.

They also handed out sweets to the children present.

A comment made by Donald Trump at a rally in Wisconsin last night went viral and has been picked up by the Harris campaign.

In the original clip, Trump speaks about immigration saying that Harris has allowed "criminals" to enter the US and that his "people" told him four weeks ago they did not want him to say he wants to "protect the women of our country."

The former president then recounts how he refused to listen to their advice and said “Well, I’m going to do it whether the women like it or not. I’ve gotta protect them.”

The Harris campaign has shared a clip of Trump’s line, with the caption: “Donald Trump thinks he should get to make decisions about what you do with your body. Whether you like it or not.”

Kamala Harris was interrupted during her speeches at rallies in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.

In Pennsylvania she told several people chanting over her speech that, "Ours is about a fight for democracy and your right to be heard, everybody has a right to be heard, but right now I am speaking."

In Wisconsin, a protester shouted "ceasefire now" through the opening section of her speech. "We all want the war in Gaza to end ," she said, adding she would do everything in her power to secure the end of hostilities between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

Harris faces a challenge with Arab American voters, many of whom say they can't support her in the presidential race due to the Biden administration's policies towards Israel in Gaza, where local authorities say over 42,000 Palestinians have been killed.

Her campaign has kept the issue relatively out of the spotlight, although Harris has proposed she would continue Biden's stance toward Israel: pushing for a ceasefire deal and supporting Israel through military aid.

Tech billionaire Elon Musk has been summoned to court for an emergency hearing today over his cash giveaway.

Musk had announced he would randomly award cash prizes worth $1 million ((around €921,000) to voters who signed his political action committee's petition in key battleground states.

Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner sued Musk and his group America PAC over the contest.

Krasner asked the judge to move the hearing up after he was subject to an avalanche of threatening posts on social media directed toward him.

Musk had already been warned that his giveaway might be illegal by the country's Justice Department, as US law forbids paying people to register to vote.

He has so far not commented on the lawsuit.

You can read more about the scheme and its legality below:

Is Musk’s $1-million daily giveaway to Trump voters illegal?

The pledge by SpaceX, Tesla and X mogul has raised legal concerns, with experts suggesting that offering cash incentives tied to voter registration could viola…

Sitting in a garbage truck, Trump said he didn't think the military would "have to be used" on election day ahead of his rally in Wisconsin last night.

"I don't think they'll have to be used, I think we will have a big victory" he said.

He then implied 250 million people would be supporting him. In 2020, Trump received 74.2 million votes.

Previously, Trump claimed that the US military could be called upon to defeat the "enemy from within" on election day.

Elswhere, he criticised Biden's comment about Republican supporters being "garbage." Biden has said he was not talking about Republicans as a whole.

You can watch the full clip below.

Harris told supporters "We will win" on stage in Wisconsin last night. What points did she address?

Abortion: Harris has framed the abortion issue as a "fight for freedom" and is sharply critical of the overturning of Roe v. Wade. "Because ours is a fight for the future and it is a fight for freedom, like the fundamental freedom of a woman to make decisions about her own body and not have her government tell her what to do," she said. On healthcare more broadly, she said she would lower healthcare costs.

Anti-Trump: Harris repeated her primary criticism of Trump, saying that he poses a threat to US democracy. "On day one Donald Trump would walk into that office with an enemies list... when I am elected I will focus on a to-do list," she said.

The economy: The Democrat acknowledged the rising cost of living which experts say could be a weakness in her campaign. "And at the top of my list is bringing down your cost of living," she said. Elsewhere, she said she would cut taxes for small businesses.

Turning to Harris, the Democrat used her rally in Wisconsin to appeal directly to first time voters.

"I love your generation, I just love you guys," she said, adding that Gen Z voters had less rights that their parents and grandparents and were still "standing up for freedom."

"You all are rightly impatient for change. You, who have only known the climate crisis, are leading the charge to protect our planet and our future.

She brought up gun control, telling the crowd that they were fighting to keep schools safe, having grown up with active shooter drills.

She ended her speech by telling the Wisconsin crowd: "Your vote is your voice, and your voice is your power."

Watch a snippet of the speech below.

Aside from putting on a spectacle by dressing as a sanitation worker, Trump addressed several key issues during his rallies last night: :

Migration: The former president has ramped up rhetoric against immigrants in the US throughout his campaign. He told crowds last night that he would ensure the death penatly for migrants who murder first responders. He also said he would use the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to handle immigration. The law, which is centuries old, allowed a president to detain and deport non- US citizens during wartime. It was last used in World War Two to deport people from Italy, Germany and Japan from the US.

Anti-Harris: Both candidates have devoted a considerable amount of time to each other in their campaign's final weeks. On Harris, Trump said she was "incompetent" and that she would, "get us into a Third World War." He later added that he would prevent World War Three.

The economy: Republicans hope that cost of living crises across the US under Biden's government could work against Harris and in their favour. Trump promised to rapidly defeat inflation and repeated his mantra of "drill baby drill" -- his slogan for increasing fossil fuel expansion in the US. He said he would "massively cut taxes" for workers and small businesses and called for no taxes on tips for hospitality workers.

Abortion: Trump has given confusing and contradictory statements on abortion, although he has repeatedly spoken in support of overturning Roe v Wade, which removed a constitutional right to abortion in the US. During a meandering speech on immigration last night he mentioned women's rights, saying he would protect the women of the US "whether they like it or not."

The word "garbage" has become the unlikely central word of the last week of campaigning.

Earlier this week, Democrats launched onto a joke made by a comedian at a Trump rally on Sunday in which he called Puerto Rico a "floating island of garbage."

Current President Joe Biden weighed in yesterday when he seemingly called Trump supporters "garbage." The White House was quick to insist he was talking about the comedian, rather than all Republicans.

Trump's campaign have nevertheless capitalised on the backlash with Trump driving a garbage truck before his evening rally in Wisconsin and wearing a high visibility vest similar to those worn by sanitation workers in the US.

“I have to begin by saying, 250 million Americans are not garbage," he said.

Good morning and welcome to our live blog where we will bring you updates on what happened last night on the other side of the Atlantic.

• Donald Trump tried to keep the focus on a comment Biden made yesterday where he appeared to call Republican voters "garbage." Biden said he meant something else, but Trump has capitalised on the backlash -- showing up to two of his rallies wearing a high-visibility vest similar to one worn by sanitation workers.

• Kamala Harris appealed to younger voters, honing in on gun control and climate change. She was interrupted by protesters calling for a ceasefire in Gaza -- a topic that has the potential to become a sticking point for some Democrats.

• Tech billionaire and X owner Elon Musk, who has thrown his weight behind Trump, has been ordered to attend court today over his cash giveaway for Trump supporters. He has yet to comment on the lawsuit and it is not known yet whether he will personally attend.

The race for the White House this year is exceptionally close, with most major polls unable to separate the pair by more than four percentage points.

In 2016 and 2020, polls underestimated Trump's support. This year, pollsters are going out of their way to reach more respondents via email and text.

Read the full story below:

US presidential election 2024: How accurate are the polls?

Pollsters underestimated Trump’s support in 2016 and 2020. New methods, including email and text, are being used to better reach respondents reluctant to parti…