Election 2024: Harris, Walz visit churches; Trump stops at a McDonald's

Harris and Trump continue to campaign in key battleground states as the clock ticks down to Election Day. Harris sharpened her attacks on Trump’s age and mental fitness, while Trump criticized her effectiveness as vice president. NBC’s Dasha Burns reports for "Sunday TODAY."

President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden tonight celebrated an expanded version of the White House tour, which will be unveiled tomorrow.

The first lady argued the expanded tour will allow different kinds of learners to get to know the White House.

“Education is my life’s work, and I know that there are three kinds of learners: visual, auditory and tactile,” Jill Biden said. “The White House tour now lets visitors touch, hear and see their history up close."

CBS News' "60 Minutes" denied Trump's accusation that its interview with Harris was edited deceptively to help her.

"60 Minutes gave an excerpt of our interview to Face the Nation that used a longer section of her answer than that on 60 Minutes," the show said in a statement. "Same question. Same answer. But a different portion of the response. When we edit any interview, whether a politician, an athlete, or movie star, we strive to be clear, accurate and on point.

"The portion of her answer on 60 Minutes was more succinct, which allows time for other subjects in a wide ranging 21-minute-long segment," the statement continued.

In his sole campaign event of the day, Vance made his first direct remarks about Green Party candidate Jill Stein and lambasted Harris for what he described as an “anti-Christian approach to public policy.”

“I think that Democrats, if they’re worried about spoilers, they ought to look in the mirror, because Bobby Kennedy had a hell of a lot more support than Jill Stein ever did, and they’re trying to prevent him from getting off the ballot,” Vance said, a reference to Kennedy’s failed bid to remove himself from Michigan’s general election ballot.

“I don’t know much about Jill Stein. I obviously don’t think she’s going to get a whole lot of votes, but my attitude is the best person to vote for is Donald J. Trump and the second-best person to vote for is anybody not named Kamala Harris,” he continued, met with applause from the crowd gathered in a local aircraft hangar.

Arnold Palmer's daughter reacted to Trump's mention of the golfing legend's genitalia during a bizarre rally yesterday, saying she Trump's remarks had not upset her while calling it a "poor choice of approaches."

"There’s nothing much to say. I'm not really upset," Peg Palmer Wears told The Associated Press today. "I think it was a poor choice of approaches to remembering my father, but what are you going to do?"

Trump began a rally yesterday at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, by telling an anecdote about the golfer, suggesting he had unusually large genitalia.

"He 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. That’s unbelievable,'" Trump said.

Former Ohio Gov. Bob Taft, a Republican, announced today that he will vote for Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, in the competitive Senate race.

"Although still a Republican, I will be making an exception this year in Ohio’s U.S. Senate race by supporting Sherrod Brown," Taft wrote in an editorial in the Dayton Daily News. "In doing so, I will be joining most voters who make judgments about candidates based not just on party affiliation but, often more importantly, on the candidate and his or her character, experience and expertise."

Taft did not mention the name of Brown's Republican rival, Bernie Moreno. Instead, he focused on Brown's credentials, highlighting his history in office and seniority in the Senate as "advantageous to Ohioans."

Harris reacted today to Trump’s calling her a “s---” vice president, telling the Rev. Al Sharpton on MSNBC that “the American people deserve so much better.”

She went on to talk about the importance of the president’s setting a standard not only nationally, but also internationally — saying Trump’s behavior “demeans the office.”

Read the full story here.

Billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban said yesterday while campaigning for Harris that he would campaign against her if he thought she would tax wealthy people’s “unrealized gains,” which is part of the tax plan she has endorsed.

Cuban headlined a town hall event attended by Arizona entrepreneurs as a surrogate for the Harris-Walz campaign. Toward the end of the event, a man asked him, “Quick question: What about unrealized gains?”

Read the full story here.

Trump served up french fries today at a Philadelphia-area McDonald’s, oversalting spuds and peppering in some jabs at Harris.

The campaign visit in the critical battleground state just over two weeks from Election Day was designed to troll Harris, who has talked about having worked at one of the fast-food chain’s restaurants when she was younger. Without evidence, Trump has accused he of lying about the experience as a way to improve her working-class credibility.

Read the full story here.

Harris' staff had a birthday surprise waiting for her when she boarded the plane in Atlanta.

Staff members had a cake and a card for Harris, who turns 60 today. According to a pool photographer, Harris thanked the staffers for her surprise and invited them to enjoy the cake.

In a post on X, Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson accused tech mogul Elon Musk of "spreading dangerous disinformation" after Musk posted an allegation that "Michigan has more registered voters than eligible citizens."

"Here are the facts," Benson wrote. "There aren’t more voters than citizens in Michigan. There are 7.2 million active registered voters and 7.9 citizens of voting age in our state."

"Don’t feed the trolls," she added.

A representative for Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Trump stopped at a McDonald's in Feasterville, Pennsylvania, to help work the fryer and serve families at the drive-thru counter, at one point saying, "I like this job. I might come back and do it again."

One of the employees showed him how she makes fries and packages them to hand them over to customers.

Later, Trump doled out food to customers through the drive-thru window, telling one family, "This is not a normal situation, is it?"

He told them, "There will be no charge. Trump is paying for it."

Multiple customers at the window praised Trump and shouted, "Make America Great Again."

In a statement, the franchise’s owner-operator, Derek Giacomantonio, said: "As a small, independent business owner, it is a fundamental value of my organization that we proudly open our doors to everyone who visits the Feasterville community. That’s why I accepted former President Trump’s request to observe the transformative working experience that 1 in 8 Americans have had: a job at McDonald’s."

Trump has repeatedly accused Harris of lying about her history of working at McDonald's in college. Asked about it at the drive-thru window, Trump blasted Harris and said: "Let's not talk about that. It's an amazing business. It's an amazing country."

After he touched down here for a day of campaigning, Trump took a couple of questions on the tarmac before he headed to a McDonald's for a campaign stop. 

Asked about his phone call yesterday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump said they spoke about a drone strike that Israeli authorities say was launched toward Netanyahu’s home.

“He told me that he was attacked at his village where he lives, a vacation area, and that he was attacked, but he was fine,” Trump said.

Meeting the people where they are on game day, Vance spent his morning glad-handing with Green Bay Packers fans around the team's Lambeau Field before he headed south to the Milwaukee suburbs for a campaign event later this evening.

Making his first stop at a bar across the street from the stadium, Vance stood behind the bar and pulled pints of beer for a crowd clad in the team’s green and yellow gear. At a second stop — an outdoor tailgate on an unseasonably warm late-October morning — briefly spoke to urge supporters to get out the vote over the next two weeks while acknowledging nearby Lambeau Field’s lore in professional football history.

Vance, a noted Cincinnati Bengals fan, jokingly described the trip to the stadium as "like making a religious pilgrimage for a football fan."

"Lambeau Field is great. It’s something to be proud of,” he said, leaning on an oft-used stump speech line as he encouraged supporters to cast their votes early.

Speaking at a church in Saginaw, Michigan, Walz slammed Trump for selling branded Bibles, telling congregants he feels "pretty uncomfortable with this idea."

"We understand in our faith the Bible is to be read and followed and absorbed. It’s not to be branded and sold for $59," he said.

The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In a new digital ad running online today, the Trump campaign circulated a video of Harris calling 18- to 24-year-olds "stupid" that is widely reported as lacking context.

The ad, which is running on Facebook and Instagram in Arizona and on Google in Georgia, Wisconsin and Maine, ends with text on the screen urging voters to "vote Kamala out."

On Facebook, meanwhile, Harris campaign launched an ad featuring basketball legend Magic Johnson urging voters to vote early and telling them, "I'm counting on you to vote, and so is America."

In remarks at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Stonecrest, Georgia, Harris spoke about the importance of maintaining faith in times of uncertainty and encouraged members of the congregation to vote.

“We face this question: What kind of country do we want to live in? A country of chaos, fear and hate, or a country of freedom, compassion and justice? And the great thing about living in a democracy is that we, the people, have the power to answer that question,” she said. “So let us answer not just through our words, but through our action and with our votes.”

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said today that tech mogul Elon Musk’s plan to give money to registered voters in Pennsylvania is “deeply concerning” and that “it’s something that law enforcement could take a look at.”

Musk announced in Pennsylvania that every day until Election Day, he would give $1 million to a random registered voter who signs a petition circulated by his super PAC “in favor of free speech and the right to bear arms.”

The super PAC has made signing the petition a prerequisite for attending rallies headlined by Musk, and yesterday he surprised a rally attendee by giving away the first $1 million check onstage.

As concern that support for Harris among Black men is flailing mounts, NBC News spoke to three voters in Atlanta yesterday, one of whom has historically voted for Democrats and plans to vote for Trump.

Eric Johnson, 36, a barber, cited immigration as his biggest issue and brought up the assassination attempts against Trump as reasons for his support.

“I’d rather vote for the one that dodge bullets, not dodges questions,” he said of the candidates. He added later: “I just feel like President Trump is more like real people. He’s went through real situations. I mean, the man dodged the bullet on live, on live TV.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., today slammed members of his own party who are supporting Harris, asking them, “What the hell are you doing?”

“You’re supporting the most radical nominee in the history of American politics,” Graham said on NBC News’ “Meet the Press.”

Several high-profile Republicans have endorsed Harris in recent weeks, including former GOP Reps. Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois and several former members of the Trump administration.

“The danger to this country is the policies of Biden and Harris,” Graham said. “Her fingerprints are all over this disaster. And I can’t take four more years of this crap.”

Read the full story here.

Religion is making a rare appearance on the campaign trail this week in a presidential election that has dwelled less on candidates’ personal faiths than any in recent memory.

Harris plans to attend services and speak at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church outside Atlanta today, while Walz will visit Victorious Believers Ministries in Saginaw, Michigan.

Read the full story here.

Harris is celebrating her birthday on the campaign trail today, with stops in Georgia and Pennsylvania.

Trump is set to make a stop at a McDonald's during his trip to Pennsylvania today. He said during a rally yesterday that he'd "work the french fries."

Harris has said she previously worked at McDonald's, but Trump has accused her of never having worked there.

Later, he will speak at a town hall in Lancaster before he heading to the Steelers-New York Jets game in Pittsburgh.

Vance will speak at a campaign event in Waukesha, Wisconsin, today as the Trump campaign tries to flip the state red again.

Walz is set to start his day at a church service in Saginaw, Michigan, before he heads to the Northeast. He'll then speak at campaign receptions in Massachusetts and Connecticut. Neither state is considered to be in play this cycle.