GASTONIA, N.C. — Former president Donald Trump is making another trip to North Carolina. He will visit Gastonia on Saturday, Nov. 2, for a rally as part of his 2024 presidential campaign to return to the White House.
Trump's campaign shared the rally would happen at the Gastonia Municipal Airport, located along Gaston Day School Road. Doors will open at 8 a.m. with remarks slated for noon.
The rally in Gastonia will happen hours before Vice President Kamala Harris hosts her own get-out-the-vote rally in Charlotte. Harris' event is set to run from 5 p.m. until 9 p.m.
Both rallies happen to fall on the last day of early voting in North Carolina. The State Board of Elections reported Tuesday that more than 3.1 million ballots had been cast. This is slightly behind 2020, which was at around 3.4 million ballots by this point. However, experts emphasize it's hard to compare these years, given the amount of mail-in ballots due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Both are far ahead of 2016's 1.8 million ballots cast by this point.
North Carolina is a key battleground state for both parties, both at the presidential level and for key down-ballot races. The Tar Heel State has seen both campaigns host rallies and other events in the final days of the 2024 election cycle. Tim Walz, current Minnesota governor and Harris' vice presidential running mate, was in Charlotte and Asheville on Wednesday for campaign rallies. A week ago, Trump's running mate and current Ohio senator JD Vance hosted a town hall rally in Monroe.
On Wednesday, both Harris and Trump were in North Carolina as well. Harris was in Raleigh while Trump was in Rocky Mount.
Gastonia is located about 21 miles west of Charlotte.
WCNC Charlotte will have live election coverage of all the local and statewide elections starting at 7 p.m. on Election Day on Tuesday, Nov. 5 on streaming on WCNC+, and all election results can be found by texting the word ELECTION to 704-329-3600 or going to WCNC Charlotte's election page.
