On a crucial day for the presidential candidates, Vice President Kamala Harris faced an awkward moment at the Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington DC, on Tuesday. While participating in some last-minute phone banking, she inadvertently revealed that she wasn't on a video call with a voter as intended; instead, her iPhone’s camera app was open.
Harris was seen chatting on a phone handed to her by a DNC staffer, saying, “How are you doing? Have you voted already?” After a pause, she added, “You did? Thank you!”
The room at the DNC headquarters erupted in cheers, prompting Harris to turn her phone so the person on the other end could better hear the applause.
However, observers quickly noticed that her screen showed the camera app was open instead of a call, according to the New York Post.
Social media went into a frenzy, with critics on X quickly speculating that the phone call was staged.
Polls have now closed across half of the United States — including four of the seven critical battlegrounds — and early results are beginning to be tallied as the nation watches for signs of how voters broke in the hard-fought battle between Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump.
In widely expected results, Trump was declared the winner in more than a half dozen states, including electoral vote-rich Florida and West Virginia, where Republicans also picked up a Senate seat. Harris took heavily Democratic states, including Massachusetts, Maryland and Connecticut.
Polls have closed in the key swing states of Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Michigan. Polls close in two others, Arizona and Wisconsin, in an hour. The seventh remaining battleground state is Nevada.
Voters said democracy and the economy mattered the most when deciding their presidential vote in exit polls released Tuesday afternoon by a consortium of networks that included NBC News, Fox News, and CNN.
Around 35% of voters — including a plurality of both men and women — said democracy was their top issue and 31% said the economy, while 14% picked abortion. Immigration was the top issue for 11% of voters. Abortion was the top issue for 19% of women versus just 8% of men. Only 4% of voters said foreign policy was their biggest concern.
On the economy, almost half of all surveyed voters — 48% — said they are very concerned about the cost of gas and 51% said they’re concerned about housing costs. Only 26% of voters said they were enthusiastic or satisfied with the way things are going, while 72% were dissatisfied or angry. President Joe Biden’s approval rating sits at 41%.
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