Talking to Voters Across America | 11.3.24
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In the final days of the election, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump have been barnstorming the battlegrounds, especially the all-important Rust Belt states that will likely decide the election. We've had our reporters on the ground in several of the key states, hearing straight from voters about the issues that may end up determining the next president of the United States. In this episode, just two days from the election, we hear from those reporters and the voters they spoke to.

I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief John Bickley. It's November 3rd, and this is a special Election Week Sunday edition of Morning Wire.

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Go over to roan.com slash wire and use promo code wire to save 20% off your entire order. That's 20% off when you head to r-h-o-n-e dot com slash wire and use code wire. Joining us now to discuss what we're seeing in the Rust Belt states, including what he's heard firsthand over there over the past few days, is Daily Wire senior editor Cabot Phillips.

So, Cabot, you've been on the campaign trail all month now, including Pennsylvania and Michigan this week. Tell us, where do things stand there? Yeah, Harris and Trump have each been focused on the Rust Belt for good reason. If either candidate sweeps Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan...

They will win the election, point blank. And in 10 of the last 11 elections, all three of those states have voted for the same candidate. So they're very hard to split. Now, at the moment, Harris and Trump are within less than one point of each other in all three.

And that really matches what I heard on the ground. I talked to a lot of folks in Pennsylvania and Michigan this week, and it really was a true 50-50 split. But what really stuck out to me was the contrast from Trump and Harris supporters on why they're voting for their candidate. Trump voters routinely brought up specific policies of his that they missed.

including the economy, taxes, immigration, foreign policy, etc. Have a listen. When he was in office, life was good. Now that he's not, it's pretty hard. This is actually my first time ever voting. Really? And it's Trump. The economy. Yeah, trying to, you know, pay my mortgage and my bills and buy food and everything. It's very hard now. I just came from a food bank. That's how bad it's getting. Yeah. Internationally, he did a good job there.

They believed him when he said, "If you do this, then I'm going to do this."

And you got to do that with people in China and Russia and places like that. I think my, you know, top issues is all the illegal immigrants coming in. And I think inflation is really high. You know, if we look, you know, four years ago, inflation was really low. Interest rates were low. Groceries were a lot cheaper. So I think that's just a clear choice. Donald Trump, we had a better economy when he was. I wasn't a big fan of him back when he first was voting. He, you

you know, has his voice and he says things that maybe, you know, we don't all agree with, but we had a better economy when Trump was in office. - For those people struggling paycheck to paycheck, they're hurting big time. And, you know, Trump will fix that. He's done it before. - Trump all the way, all the way. Kamala's done nothing for us in these past three and a half years, so I'm not sure why anyone wants her. All they have to do is rewind, see what Trump did for us back in the day.

The economy, again, was far and away the top issue I heard about, but immigration and foreign policy were also routinely discussed.

But for Harris voters, with the exception of abortion, I rarely heard much about policy or even much about Harris herself. It was interesting. The majority of her supporters made clear to me that their vote was more about being against Trump than for Harris. Have a listen. Who do you want to win? Harris. And why is that? Because Trump is Trump. That's it. It don't matter. What do you mean by that?

I don't have to know anything about Harris. Kamala Harris. And why is that? I believe in democracy. January 6th, felon, sexual assault, classified documents, misogyny, racism. Need I go on? What is the main reason that you want Kamala to win? Because he said he's going to be a dictator. The economy...

that was decent when he was there was because of Obama, not because of him. The main reason is racism, racism of Donald Trump and his supporters. And I don't really like that he wants to bring back discrimination.

That's a big deal to me. I'm not nuts about the choices, but I can't vote for Trump because of his, well, just the things that he does all the time. I see a lot of fascism going on with Trump's team. This Project 2025 scares the hell out of me. So as you can hear there, for so many Harris supporters, their vote was not really for Kamala.

Well, and those aren't the only differences you saw between Trump and Harris supporters. Tell us about some other things. Right. So here's another fascinating trend I saw. I realized I could almost always predict who someone was voting for based actually on how they turned down my interview request.

Here's what I mean. When someone did not want to do an interview, I would always ask them off-camera who they were voting for, and most would answer. Democrats overwhelmingly gave one of two reasons for declining an interview. I'm tired of politics, or I'm in a rush. However, whenever someone said, I don't want to be on camera, they were almost always a Trump voter. I cannot tell you how many of his supporters said that they were voting for him, but did not feel comfortable saying it on camera. One woman would only mouth the name Trump when I asked.

Another actually asked to see the camera for herself to make sure it was turned off before telling me she was for Trump. In battleground after battleground, I saw firsthand that there is a very tangible fear of Trump supporters being identified as such publicly. Now, that's important because the polls in 2016 and 2020 underestimated Trump's support by three to five points in most states, in large part due to the silent Trump voter who was voting for him but would not say it on the record. So,

The big question is whether pollsters have adjusted accordingly or whether they're still undercounting his supporters. Now, you also had some fascinating conversations with Arab American voters in Michigan. Tell us about that. So one of the big stories in Michigan this year has been the shifting views of Arab American voters. Remember, Michigan has a higher population of Arab Americans than any other state. And historically, they have been a lock for Democrats. But this month, a number of polls have shown Trump ahead with the demographic.

For more on that, I went to Dearborn to talk with Imam Husham Al-Husseini, a leading voice in the community who has offered his full endorsement of Donald Trump and encouraged his community to do the same. I've been in Dearborn and in America for 50 years, and I've been watching the election since Nixon and Gerald Ford time. And I never been motivated to

as much as I am now. I never seen a president in the United States been attempted to assassinate for three times in three months. That's not America that I know, so I better stop it. I came here because I oppose dictatorship, and here if I see any dictatorship, I will fight it. I believe America is the most and the best

accomplishment of a human being history. So we have to protect it, whether you are Christian, Muslims, Jewish, Arab, Indian, anything. The issue of transgenderism. When you see the Democrat Party pushing for transgender procedures on children or transgenders in women's sports, what sort of reaction does that get from people in your community who might not have been political? Yeah.

That's what's making my community shifting toward Mr. Trump. Because transgender policy is scary. It's not only spiritually scary, socially. It's against the human logic.

Al-Husseini mentioned abortion, transgenderism, and same-sex marriage, so a lot of social issues, but he also repeatedly mentioned foreign policy as a reason that he and a growing number of other Arab Americans are for Trump. In his view, the Middle East was a more peaceful place under the former president.

God created this beautiful world for peace. Now, two wars, Mr. Biden and Kamala Harris, two wars. Mrs. Harris, you are the co-pilot of him, of Mr. Biden. Why didn't you stop it? What you could not do in one year to stop the war. You think you can fool us to stop it in a few days, in one week? Come on.

Come on, don't do that. It's a lying. Don't lie to the American people. Don't lie to the world. And the Muslims were people, especially American Muslims, are much smarter than that. And they know who, which candidate is lying and which one is telling the truth. So community is moving, shifting because they go for peace. So a fascinating shift there. All right. Well, Cabot, thank you so much for reporting and thanks for going on the ground in Michigan. Anytime.

Next, we're going to speak to Daily Wire reporter Cassie Akiva, who's been on the ground in New Hampshire to speak to voters and to investigate if Trump really was gaining momentum there after a new poll this week showed him ahead in that state for the first time. So, Cassie, what did you see on the ground there?

New Hampshire has not really been considered a swing state this election, since Harris has had a strong and steady lead of anywhere between 5 and 10 points. But this week, it has been declared a toss-up state after a new poll conducted by the New Hampshire Journal shows that Trump took a lead of 50.2 to Harris' 49.8. We spoke to voters in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, who told us that they were shocked by this poll. Does that surprise you?

I don't know. You just gave me a panic attack. I can't think. I can't think now. I don't know. I guess, yes, it does surprise me. Who put out the foe? Does it surprise you? You have got to look at who presents the foes. They're so skewed, okay? And you have to, really, for your own good. Go ahead. So New Hampshire's going blue. You're completely confident?

Other voters told us that they are not surprised at all, and that they themselves have encountered evidence of Trump's growing momentum. Are you seeing more support for him this election than the last two? Yes. Yeah, 100%. More signs, hearing through my peers, people who are not going to vote for him.

People at work, people in town are mostly leaning towards that way, which is a good sign. Despite us being in one of the most liberal towns in New Hampshire, one enthusiastic voter was very excited to speak to us. And he told us exactly why he's supporting Trump.

Regardless of who you're voting for, look at it this way. Trump is Godzilla. Everybody hates Godzilla when he's destroying the town, but what happens? He leaves, and then a worse monster comes in and starts going absolutely crazy. And who does everyone cry for to come back? Godzilla.

While Harris still has a decent lead in most New Hampshire polls, there are several swing states where Trump has a better chance of winning, such as Nevada and Pennsylvania. In Nevada, polls bounce back and forth each week between the two candidates, with Trump taking a one-point lead in the most recent ones. In Pennsylvania, polls used to bounce back and forth, but in recent weeks, Trump has taken a one- or two-point lead in nearly all of them. Well, we're going to see how all of this turns out next week. Cassie, thanks for reporting.

That was Daily Wire senior editor Cabot Phillips and reporter Cassie Akiva. And this has been a Sunday edition of Morning Wire.