Speaker 1: Gilda.
Speaker 2: I'm Chelsea Daniels and this is the Front Page, a
Speaker 2: daily podcast presented by The New Zealand Herald. It's the
Speaker 2: one story that's been impossible to escape this year, the
Speaker 2: US presidential election. Months of debates, rallies and shocking developments
Speaker 2: have all led to today, where Americans are heading to the
Speaker 2: polls to decide the leader of their nation for the
Speaker 2: next four years. Vice President Kamala Harris is the Democratic nominee,
Speaker 2: taking over from incumbent Joe Biden. She's up against former
Speaker 2: President Donald Trump in what many are calling one of
Speaker 2: the most important elections of our lifetime. Today on the
Speaker 2: Front Page, we're joined by Deputy Political Editor Thomas Coglin,
Speaker 2: who's been on the ground talking to voters. But first,
Speaker 2: a quick recap of the eventful sixth nex months leading
Speaker 2: up to voting day. Back in May, Donald Trump became
Speaker 2: the first president to be convicted of felony crimes after
Speaker 2: a New York jury found him guilty on all thirty
Speaker 2: four counts of falsifying business records.
Speaker 3: Guilty on all counts, Donald J. Trump, the forty fifth
Speaker 3: president of the United States, was found guilty late today.
Speaker 3: The stunning verdict was delivered by a Manhattan jury of
Speaker 3: seven men and five women who deliberated for two days,
Speaker 3: making mister Trump the first former American president to be convicted.
Speaker 4: Of a crime.
Speaker 2: The first debate took place in June, with Joe Biden's
Speaker 2: performance leading some to question if the eighty one year
Speaker 2: old was fit to run.
Speaker 5: Well, can'd be happy to have a driving contest with him?
Speaker 5: He ream, I got my handicapped, which when I was
Speaker 5: Vice president, down to six. And by by the way,
Speaker 5: I told you before, I'm happy to play golf. If
Speaker 5: you carry on bag, I think you can do it.
Speaker 6: That's the biggest lad When he's a six handicap of all.
Speaker 5: I was an eight handicap. Yeah, eight, I've.
Speaker 6: Seen your swing.
Speaker 7: I know you swing.
Speaker 6: Asides, let's not act like children.
Speaker 2: On July thirteenth, that a Trump rally in Pennsylvania, a
Speaker 2: gunman fired multiple shots at the former president, wounding him
Speaker 2: in his right ear and killing one audience member.
Speaker 7: At six o two pm, former President Trump walked on
Speaker 7: the stage. Thousands were there to see him speak. They
Speaker 7: would witness the first assassination attempt of a president in
Speaker 7: more than forty years. He was immediately surrounded by secret
Speaker 7: Service his ear blood. By six thirteen PM, he was
Speaker 7: rushed off the stage.
Speaker 2: Only two days later, Trump took to his Truth social
Speaker 2: media account to announce Senator J. D. Varannce of Ohio
Speaker 2: as his pick for vice president.
Speaker 7: And so night, mister Chairman, I stand here, humble, and
Speaker 7: I'm overwhelmed with gratitude to say I officially accept your nomination.
Speaker 1: To be Vice President of the United States of America.
Speaker 2: With pressure mounting on the Democratic side, Joe Biden announced
Speaker 2: his withdrawal from the race only eight days after the
Speaker 2: attempt on his opponent's life.
Speaker 5: I reviewed this office. I love my country more. Nothing
Speaker 5: can come in the way of saving our democracy that
Speaker 5: includes personal ambition. So I've decided the best way forward
Speaker 5: is the past, the torch for a new generation.
Speaker 2: He gave his endorsement to Vice President Kamala Harris to
Speaker 2: take over his spot on the ticket before she was
Speaker 2: officially nominated in August.
Speaker 4: On behalf of everyone whose story could only be written.
Speaker 8: In the greatest nation on Earth, I accept your nomination
Speaker 8: the presidents in the United States of America.
Speaker 2: For her running mate, she opted for Minnesota Governor Tim Woltz.
Speaker 9: I couldn't be prouder to be on this ticket and
Speaker 9: to help Vice President Harris become what we all know
Speaker 9: is very very good for us to think about next
Speaker 9: president of the United States of America.
Speaker 2: Trump and Harris wouldn't meet face to face until their
Speaker 2: debate in September, remembered for producing many viral moments.
Speaker 6: In Springfield, They're eating the dogs, the people that came in.
Speaker 6: They're eating the cats, they're eating they're eating the pets
Speaker 6: of the people that live there. And this is what's
Speaker 6: happening in our country. And it's a shame as far
Speaker 6: as the rallies are concerned, as far as the reason
Speaker 6: they go is they like what I say. They want
Speaker 6: to bring our country back.
Speaker 2: As the race entered the final weeks, a number of
Speaker 2: public figures made their endorsements. Paris supporters included President Barack Obama,
Speaker 2: Bruce Springsteen, Taylor Swift, and Beyonce.
Speaker 10: Our moment right now, it's time for America to sing
Speaker 10: a new song. Our voice is sing a chorus of unity.
Speaker 10: They sing a song of dignity and opportunity. Are you
Speaker 10: all ready to add your voice to the new American song?
Speaker 1: Because I am so.
Speaker 10: Let's do this, ladies and gentlemen, please give a big
Speaker 10: loud Texas welcome to the next President of the United States.
Speaker 1: Wife President Tamara Harris.
Speaker 2: Trump boasts support from Elon Musk, Zachary Levi, Buzz Aldrin,
Speaker 2: and Hulk Hogan trumple Maniacs.
Speaker 4: The energy in here is something like I've never felt.
Speaker 4: The energy of all these Trumplemaniacs is the most powerful
Speaker 4: course in the universe. And today this is Donald Trump's
Speaker 4: house brother.
Speaker 2: With Poles predicting one of the tightest races in recent history.
Speaker 2: It's still anyone's game in the race to the White House.
Speaker 2: The Herald's deputy political editor, Thomas Coglan, has been in
Speaker 2: the US speaking with voters on the ground. We spoke
Speaker 2: to him while he was at Kamena Harris's final rally
Speaker 2: in Pennsylvania. Thomas, you've been speaking to Americans on the ground.
Speaker 1: Where have you been and what's the vibe there?
Speaker 8: So I've been in two states mainly, I've been in
Speaker 8: Pennsylvania and North Carolina, say, two of the seven swing states,
Speaker 8: and Philadelphia is obviously the big swing state. Everyone wants
Speaker 8: to win nineteen electoral College votes. Obviously, you know talking
Speaker 8: to people that their views changed depending on who their
Speaker 8: leaning towards. It does seem like a lot of Americans
Speaker 8: have made up their minds already. There are two pretty
Speaker 8: distinct camps. The Democrats are worried about the threat to democracy,
Speaker 8: of course, and the sort of fascistic tendencies of Donald
Speaker 8: Trump as former chief of staff obviously recently label and
Speaker 8: the fascist last month. The other big concern for them
Speaker 8: is abortion access and women's rights were generally Donald Trump
Speaker 8: was responsible for appointing the Supreme Court justices that were
Speaker 8: crucial to overturning ROVERSUS Wade, which allowed many states to
Speaker 8: implement full or partial abortion vans. Kamala Harris's ads are
Speaker 8: saying that about one in three women in America live
Speaker 8: under some form of abortion van thanks for that Supreme
Speaker 8: Court decision, And the Democrats are saying that Donald Trump
Speaker 8: would a lot to extend that nationwide, effectively banning abortion
Speaker 8: in the entire country. Donald Trump is very keen to
Speaker 8: say that this is not happening, but of course some
Speaker 8: of the surrogates would quite like it, or allies would
Speaker 8: like it to happen. So that is a massive thing
Speaker 8: that the Democrats talking about, and it is something that
Speaker 8: the Republicans and the Trump campaign is very very worried
Speaker 8: about because overall in the country, more people support abortion
Speaker 8: than don'tor support it, and many people believe that that
Speaker 8: this is what Trump's intention is and it is likely
Speaker 8: to swing or to help drive voters towards towards Paris.
Speaker 8: Of course, with Donald Trump, it's it's often pretty difficult
Speaker 8: to know what his intentions are. On the Trump side
Speaker 8: of things, they are very angry about migration. In fact
Speaker 8: that you know, the Democrats thought of the NBA, and
Speaker 8: I'm happy with the migration situation. There were I think
Speaker 8: about eleven million what you call i legal crossings of
Speaker 8: into America under the Biden administration competed just over two
Speaker 8: million from the Trump era. So so migration, particularly legal migration,
Speaker 8: legal migration as a massive issue at the moment. Both
Speaker 8: can't took something to clam down in it. But Donald
Speaker 8: Trump is promising a pretty serious style expulsion of mini
Speaker 8: migrants and really tightening up the security situation and the border.
Speaker 8: On the Trump side of things as well, that there
Speaker 8: is a lot of talk about inflation under the five
Speaker 8: years and the use of tariffs ironically, which will be inflationary,
Speaker 8: the use of terrorists to protect manufacturing jobs.
Speaker 2: It's quite interesting watching from the other side of the world, hey,
Speaker 2: because here when our elections roll around, we do tend
Speaker 2: to know a lot about the actual policies the plans
Speaker 2: that Labor, Greens, National and the like have for the
Speaker 2: country if they were elected. But from this side of
Speaker 2: the world, I don't know about you, but I haven't
Speaker 2: seen many actual policies or plans.
Speaker 1: Is that a different side of the story When you're.
Speaker 2: Over there, Are you hearing a lot more about what
Speaker 2: they actually plan to do when they get on an office.
Speaker 8: No, not much more than you'd hear in New Zealand.
Speaker 8: Are even more it's a very I think there are
Speaker 8: a couple of things for why this is the case,
Speaker 8: a couple of reasons, and you're right, it is a
Speaker 8: much more policy like style of campaigning. It is very vibes.
Speaker 8: The part of that, I think is a fact as
Speaker 8: a function of the fact that you have a quite
Speaker 8: an unusual election this year, where you've got someone like
Speaker 8: Donald Trump, who is a very unusual cancidor whose personality
Speaker 8: and tendencies are a key part of why people love
Speaker 8: him or hate him, and so a large part of
Speaker 8: the election you know, Donald Trump's policy is that he
Speaker 8: is Donald Trump, and part of a large part of
Speaker 8: this election is convincing people that is a good or
Speaker 8: a bad thing. So I think part of that is
Speaker 8: unique to elections in which Donald Trump is running, of
Speaker 8: which we've now had three. The other part of it
Speaker 8: is the American system is very different to ours. We've
Speaker 8: obviously got a parliamentary system, and obviously in New Zealand,
Speaker 8: you know, you can have minor parties creating well, when
Speaker 8: they create a coalition government, they can sort of trade
Speaker 8: off their policies, so you don't always get exactly what
Speaker 8: those parties promise, but you do get quite a lot
Speaker 8: of what the promise because once they actually form the government,
Speaker 8: they've got the numbers in parliament to do whatever they want.
Speaker 8: In the United States, you obviously you elect the president.
Speaker 8: It's the president is the head of a federal government.
Speaker 8: So you you know, you've got the issue of the
Speaker 8: states not necessarily going along with what you want. You've
Speaker 8: also got a divided Congress of the Senate and the
Speaker 8: House of the Presentatives, which at the moment are held
Speaker 8: by two different parties. You know, that means it's actually
Speaker 8: very difficult when you are the president to completely get
Speaker 8: your policy platform across over the line. So at the
Speaker 8: moment you've got a Democrat president, Democrat Senate, but Republican
Speaker 8: outs of representatives. It's also quite that the chambers are
Speaker 8: quite tight at the moment. So it means that you know,
Speaker 8: if you have a few people in the Congress who
Speaker 8: don't like what the bill on the table is, that
Speaker 8: they might vote with the other side. All of that
Speaker 8: means that, you know, the president can't just march down
Speaker 8: to Congress and say vote for this. You know, it's
Speaker 8: my policy, I have a mandate for the electro on it.
Speaker 8: That's just not how it works. And so I think
Speaker 8: because of that, Yes, the presidential candidates, they do have policies.
Speaker 8: No taxes on tips, no taxes on overtime, no taxes
Speaker 8: on Social Security for Trump, tariffs for Trump, and then
Speaker 8: Kamla Harris of these handouts for un for first time
Speaker 8: buyer the twenty five thousand dollars grant towards your first home.
Speaker 8: Then some tax write offs for new businesses, and also
Speaker 8: no taxes on tips, the sort of main ones. But
Speaker 8: unless you're you can implement these policies via an executive
Speaker 8: order it's actually quite difficult to get them over the line.
Speaker 8: So you know, they promise them, but a lot of
Speaker 8: the electorate, frankly, is quite rightfully skeptical that they'll ever
Speaker 8: actually see these policies, you know, occur. Some of them
Speaker 8: obviously do occur, like you know that they do do
Speaker 8: you know, they are able to deliver on some things,
Speaker 8: but many of them, many of them don't.
Speaker 1: What are some of the things that people have said
Speaker 1: to you that have stuck out.
Speaker 8: I think one of the main things is just how
Speaker 8: widespread the view that Joe Biden didn't win the last election.
Speaker 8: You know, anyone who's voice matters in this, I suppose
Speaker 8: the people who count the votes and the individual counties
Speaker 8: in America and the certifications all the way the Electoral
Speaker 8: Commission and the certification all the way right up to Congress,
Speaker 8: you know that he won. That That's that's really not
Speaker 8: a doubt. People on the Donald Trump side of things
Speaker 8: really do genuinely believe or that he didn't or they
Speaker 8: have significant doubts.
Speaker 4: That he won.
Speaker 1: I believe one hundred percent the election was stolen. Trump won.
Speaker 8: Yeah, And so does that does that make you alarmed
Speaker 8: at all about what might happen this election.
Speaker 2: Are you concerned about Yes, absolutely, but early voting.
Speaker 1: If we get out early, we're gonna make it.
Speaker 3: Too big to rig.
Speaker 8: So there's a whole spectrum of people who think he
Speaker 8: definitely couldn't send the others who are, you know, skepticle, Yes,
Speaker 8: you'd say, and and and just sort of seeing how
Speaker 8: widespread their view is has been really really interesting, I suppose.
Speaker 8: On the on the Democrat side, it's interesting to see
Speaker 8: the party really really is consensus around around the failure
Speaker 8: to do on top of illegal immigration to the country.
Speaker 8: Karmla Harrison has what was in charge of the border,
Speaker 8: so it was a massive a massive issue for her
Speaker 8: and a massive liability to her. But she is now
Speaker 8: promising to get tougher on it. But it's interesting just
Speaker 8: the reason for that, which is that basically everyone thinks
Speaker 8: that the border has been a massive mess under the
Speaker 8: pardon of the administration. I suppose. The other surprising thing
Speaker 8: is just how widespread this view and actually the fear
Speaker 8: that the election will not the result of the election
Speaker 8: will not be clear on election night.
Speaker 4: You know.
Speaker 8: Part of that is just because the swing states that
Speaker 8: are in contention the time around Pennsylvania where I am
Speaker 8: at the moment. There's a lot of mail in voting,
Speaker 8: and in Pennsylvania, the law is that the mail in
Speaker 8: vote ballots don't get counted and advanced. They get counted
Speaker 8: on election day, and so that flows up the count.
Speaker 8: So that means that this massive state, which several million
Speaker 8: votes are cars for six seven million, they to double
Speaker 8: stat but so roughly that the amount. It means that
Speaker 8: they be counting them for a very long time, and
Speaker 8: that could mean that we really won't have an outcome
Speaker 8: on an election and night. That's very clear, and many
Speaker 8: Americans know this and they're aware of it. But there's
Speaker 8: also quite widespread this year that the result of the
Speaker 8: election will come down to down to I guess litigation
Speaker 8: contesting the result, who can play the best kind of
Speaker 8: brigsman ship game bottomly be inaugurated. And it's surprising, it's
Speaker 8: quite surprising. I actually think it's quite sad just how
Speaker 8: many Americans are concerned that they won't actually know who
Speaker 8: the next president will be by the end of election
Speaker 8: night or even perhaps this week.
Speaker 2: Well, in twenty twenty, it was a few days after
Speaker 2: the election day before Biden was officially announced as president.
Speaker 2: Elacked due to the high number of, like you said,
Speaker 2: mail in ballots, slowing the process.
Speaker 1: I guess it's looking quite likely we could see those delays.
Speaker 8: Agag very much, Yeah, very much. And then it's so
Speaker 8: twenty twenty had even more mail in ballots. Obviously the
Speaker 8: pandemic had it's had something to do with that, and
Speaker 8: twenty twenty had a similar rescue to now where Pennsylvania
Speaker 8: was again at crucial state, and just the way that
Speaker 8: the votes are come in Pennsylvania, that just means that
Speaker 8: it takes a bit longer than usuals. So don't hold
Speaker 8: your bruce, i'd say.
Speaker 2: And it's interesting, Hey, there is that debate amongst Trump
Speaker 2: supporters whether or not he lost the election in twenty twenty.
Speaker 2: Like you mentioned, Trump himself still claims the election was
Speaker 2: stolen or crooked. How likely are we to see this
Speaker 2: rhetoric repeated this year in the event of a Harris
Speaker 2: wen do you reckon?
Speaker 8: I would say it's very likely. I was at a
Speaker 8: Trump rally a couple of days ago, and he spent
Speaker 8: a large amount of time talking about how the election
Speaker 8: was stolen from him, and then also raising concerns about
Speaker 8: the way that the election had been conducted this election,
Speaker 8: the one that we're currently and had been conducted so far,
Speaker 8: because of course there is already early voting. People are
Speaker 8: voting at the moment, and the Trump campaign and Trump
Speaker 8: himself have raised concerns with the way that the process
Speaker 8: has been unfolding in some of the states. Now, some
Speaker 8: Democrats and some sort of political compenators are raising the
Speaker 8: concerns that Trump is sort of sowing the seeds amongst
Speaker 8: the supporters to give him ground for contesting the results
Speaker 8: should it go ill for him. It should be said
Speaker 8: that some of their concerns raised would were legitimate ones.
Speaker 8: Where I was earlier this week in Bucks County, Pennsylvania,
Speaker 8: they the county commissioners, they are the electoral commissioners in
Speaker 8: the county were taken to court over basically not being
Speaker 8: prepared enough to give people mail and ballots by a headline,
Speaker 8: and people who wanted these mail and ballots were were
Speaker 8: not able to get them and they should have been.
Speaker 8: And the court actually sided with the Trump Trump campaign
Speaker 8: and allowed force the county to offer those mail in
Speaker 8: ballots for longer. So some of the some of the
Speaker 8: concerns that are being raised by the Trump team legitimate
Speaker 8: and have the merit and the courts have sided with them. Others,
Speaker 8: you know, there have been some fake videos that have
Speaker 8: been shared, There have been fake concerns that have been raised.
Speaker 8: Others seem to have fewer or no grounds. And I
Speaker 8: think the concern from a lot of people is that
Speaker 8: those in particular laying the groundwork for for him to
Speaker 8: be able to make a strong case with supporters after
Speaker 8: the election that it was stolen. And you remember last
Speaker 8: time round on election nights, you know, even though the
Speaker 8: vote was close, Donald Trump was digging in. There was
Speaker 8: no concession, although as you say, it was pretty unclear
Speaker 8: at that stage.
Speaker 2: And you mentioned you're at a Harris rally at the moment.
Speaker 2: How does it differ do you reckon to a Trump
Speaker 2: rally that you were out a few days ago?
Speaker 8: I mean, this is a different style of raally. This
Speaker 8: is the very last rally of the whole race. We're
Speaker 8: outside the Philadelphia Museum of Modern Art of Art. Sorry,
Speaker 8: if you've ever seen the movie Rocky, he runs up
Speaker 8: the steps and blits of system of the very famous moment.
Speaker 8: That's where she's going to be on those steps or
Speaker 8: in front of those steps. The vibe is pretty good here.
Speaker 8: People are pretty excited. Sidney seem a bit nervous because
Speaker 8: the race is close, or it doesn't need to be close.
Speaker 8: The race is the race type and people here, people
Speaker 8: here feel it. At the same time, they seem pretty
Speaker 8: excited to see their candidate. Oprah Winfrey is here. People
Speaker 8: love her, glad to see her, and so are Ricky
Speaker 8: Martin and Lady Gaga. So that's the sort of there
Speaker 8: opting for a kind of joyous, sort of fun kind
Speaker 8: of way doing the election campaign. That contrast with I
Speaker 8: think it's Donald Trump rally, where you know, it's a
Speaker 8: sort of Donald Trump is suddenly running on that kind
Speaker 8: of negative fear platform, which you know, I mean, that's
Speaker 8: that's I mean, he should he shouldinly goes quite negative.
Speaker 8: But but but you know, that's a fairly normal style
Speaker 8: of campaign if you're campaigning from you know what what
Speaker 8: a musical we call opposition. He is certainly trying to
Speaker 8: stir up angst about the state of the world and
Speaker 8: the country. So he sort of, yeah, the viber his
Speaker 8: campaigns as stain be a bit more a bit more negative,
Speaker 8: whereas I suppose to Tambla. Harris being effectively an encumbent
Speaker 8: and trying to sort of make this contrast between the
Speaker 8: fire and brimstone, so the attitude of gold Trump and
Speaker 8: herself she sort of opting for a bit more of
Speaker 8: a joyous, fun kind of vibe. And then you know,
Speaker 8: if be here, it sort of seems that way. I'm
Speaker 8: not sure if you can hear it over the over
Speaker 8: the or if you can hear it for the phone,
Speaker 8: but you can hear these these drums in the park
Speaker 8: which are quite a bunch. So yeah, quite a contrast.
Speaker 1: Thanks for joining us, Thomas, No worries.
Speaker 8: Have a great day.
Speaker 1: That's said for this episode of the Front Page.
Speaker 2: You can read more about today's stories and extensive news
Speaker 2: coverage at ensidherld dot co dot nz. The Front Page
Speaker 2: is produced by Ethan Seals. Richard Martin and Dan Goodwin
Speaker 2: are the sound engineers. I'm Chelsea Daniels. Subscribe to The
Speaker 2: Front Page on iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts,
Speaker 2: and tune in tomorrow for another look behind the headlines.