By Andrea Shalal and Steve Holland
ATLANTA/PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) – Democrat Kamala Harris will kick off her 60th birthday on Sunday with two church visits in Georgia, where she plans to rally early voters, while her Republican rival, Donald Trump, spends time at a McDonald’s fast food place in Pennsylvania.
Harris and Trump, who are essentially tied in the race president in the most competitive states, have sharpened their attacks in recent days, while drumming up support for early votes by mail or in person with just 16 days left until the Nov. 5 election.
After being joined on Saturday in Detroit by hometown rapper Lizzo and in Atlanta by pop icon Usher, Harris will get a birthday boost from another music legend, Stevie Wonder, on Sunday when he drops by one of the churches she plans to visit.
Vice President Harris and former President Trump, 78, are focusing on Pennsylvania, Michigan and a handful of other states likely to decide the election, where both parties have strong support and electoral results have been close in past cycles.
Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, will double down on Sunday on a “Souls to the Polls” initiative aimed at using gospel performances, national and state faith leaders, elected officials and others to mobilize voters.
Harris, who was raised in the teachings of the Black church and sang in a church choir, will attend a service and speak at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Stonecrest, Georgia, about 30 miles (50 km) east of Atlanta, the campaign said.
She will also speak at Divine Faith Ministries International in Jonesboro, just south of Atlanta, where she plans to encourage worshippers to exercise their voting rights. Wonder will attend and is slated to perform.
After her events, Harris will record an interview with civil rights leader Al Sharpton that will air Sunday night on MSNBC.
Walz will attend service in Saginaw, Michigan, while his wife, Gwen Walz, will visit a church in Las Vegas.
Harris will need strong results in the majority non-white cities of Detroit and Atlanta and their surrounding suburbs to repeat President Joe Biden’s 2020 wins in Michigan and Georgia.
Trump, after escalating personal attacks on Harris on Saturday, told Breitbart News he would work at a McDonald’s restaurant in Pennsylvania on Sunday “just for fun” to mock Harris. Trump adviser Jason Miller said Trump would be working in the french fries area of the restaurant.
Harris says she worked at a McDonald’s when she was young but Trump says he does not believe her.
Trump also plans a rally in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in late afternoon.
The former president is seeking to take advantage of what he felt was an improved position for him in opinion polls that show a deadlocked race. Some voters already have mail-in ballots in the Pennsylvania, the biggest prize on Election Day among battleground states.
(Reporting by Andrea Shalal and Steve Holland; Editing by William Mallard)
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