US presidential election favourite still undecided a week before the vote
A week remains before the US presidential election, but the favourite in the race has not been identified, with polls showing a slight lead for Democratic candidate Kamala Harris or her Republican rival Donald Trump.
The contenders for the nation’s highest office are actively campaigning, holding rallies in swing states and attracting new celebrities to their side. Singer Beyoncé is out campaigning for Harris, Eminem is warming up Democratic supporters ahead of former President Barack Obama’s speech. At the same time, the incumbent President Joe Biden was cut out of the campaign events, the American media write that Harris’s staff does not agree to his participation in the campaign, not considering him useful.
In support of Trump regularly speaks billionaire Elon Musk, appeared before his electorate in the very Madison Square Garden in New York wife Melania, which is rare in the current campaign.
Both candidates are campaigning for early voting, with more than 40 million Americans already taking part – including Harris’ running mate, vice-presidential contender Tim Walz, the oldest living ex-president Jimmy Carter and Biden himself. Early voting is particularly active in Florida, Texas and California.
Harris and the Democrats, along with her, have lost their usual supporters in the media: the influential Washington Post and Los Angeles Times, which supported the party’s previous nominees, have not called for votes for Harris this election season. Others are afraid to express their sympathies publicly: it has been reported that James Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, the largest US bank, supports the Democrat in private conversations, but does not plan to speak openly about it.
Residents of Washington are leaving the capital before the elections, the American media wrote. The White House has been fenced off in advance, and polls show that an overwhelming majority, almost two-thirds of Americans believe a surge in post-election violence is likely, even more are convinced that Trump will not admit defeat if he loses. Harris’ team is allegedly preparing for him to declare victory in advance.