Anne Heche, the Emmy-winning film and television actor whose dramatic Hollywood rise in the 1990s and accomplished career contrasted with personal chapters of turmoil, died of injuries from a fiery car crash. She was 53.
US Presidential rivals Donald Trump and Kamala Harris campaigned in battleground states on Thursday, urging voters to cast their ballots in a tight election that is less than two weeks away.
The Democratic nominee appeared for the first time publicly with former president Barack Obama, who has been hitting the campaign trail on her behalf and urging supporters to vote early.
Obama introduced Harris at a rally in Clarkston, Georgia, and the pair embraced warmly before raising their clasped hands in front of a boisterous crowd.
“All these years later, Barack Obama, I say to you, your friendship and your faith in me and in our campaign means the world,” the vice-president said. “Thank you, Mr President.”
She emphasised that only 12 days remain in what she deemed “one of the most consequential elections of our lifetime”.
“And I’ll need to tell you, voting has already started, and everybody here knows it’s going to be a tight race until the very end,” Harris said. “So we have a lot of work ahead of us. … And make no mistake, we will win.”
Trump, who has been sceptical of early voting and mail ballots in particular, urged supporters to vote by mail, in person early or on Election Day, and reminded supporters of the deadlines for the three options as he stood in front of a banner touting early voting at a rally in Tempe, Arizona.
“So as you know, early voting, oh, we’re finally here. We just saw we can’t take this any longer,” the Republican said, later saying that the day of the election, November 5, will be called “Liberation Day” after he wins the White House.
Both of the presidential nominees said their rival represents an existential threat to the nation’s future.
Trump focused on Harris’ role in President Joe Biden’s administration, notably her assignment to tackle the root causes of an influx of migrants from Central America as he falsely labelled the vice-president as the nation’s “border tsar”.
Kamala Harris has orchestrated the most egregious betrayal that any leader in American history has ever inflicted upon our people. She has eradicated our sovereign border, and she has unleashed an army of migrant gangs waging a campaign of violence and terror against our citizens,” he said, adding that her “gross incompetence disqualifies” her from being elected president. “We can’t let that happen. No person who is responsible for so much bloodshed and death on our soil can ever be allowed to become the president of the United States.”
During a nearly hour-long speech at Arizona State University’s Mullett Arena, the former president repeated his oft-stated criticisms about the Biden administration’s decision-making on issues such as border control, the US withdrawal from Afghanistan and the economy.
He also labelled Biden a “stupid fool” and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi “crazy as a bedbug” and a “nut job who’s crooked as hell”.
Harris said the dangers of a second Trump presidency far outweigh prior years because there would be no guardrails created by his advisers.
“Over the last years, and in particular, the last eight years, Donald Trump has become more confused, more unstable and more angry,” she said. “You see it every day. He has become increasingly unhinged. But last time, at least, there were people around him who could control him. But do notice in this election, they’re not with him this time.”
Harris and Obama highlighted new comments reported by The New York Times that retired US Marine general John Kelly, Trump’s longest-serving White House chief of staff, warned that Trump would govern like a dictator if he won election, praised Adolph Hitler and wished his generals were as loyal to him as Hitler’s had been.
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