Harris rallies with Usher in Atlanta, Trump speaks in Pa. as early voting begins

Oct. 19 (UPI) -- Vice President Kamala Harris rallied in Atlanta with pop star Usher while former President Donald Trump appeared in the key swing state of Pennsylvania Saturday with just 16 days remaining until the election.

Harris visited the coveted swing state of Georgia as early voting got underway. The state has already received around 1 million ballots since polls opened four days ago.

Before she appeared at Lakewood Amphitheater, the eight-time Grammy Award-winning Usher took the stage and expressed his "love" for the Democratic nominee, saying , "I'm supporting Harris because she fights for everyone's rights, for freedom, doesn't matter where you're from. She has a vision that includes everyone."

An audience member yelled out, "We love you, Usher!" and he responded, "I love you more, but I love Kamala Harris even more. I want her to be our next president of the United States."

In her subsequent remarks, Harris focused on her support for abortion rights, citing the case of Amber Thurman, a Black women whose family has blamed her death on Georgia's strict six-week abortion ban.

She played a clip of Trump appearing to mock Thurman's family during a Fox News town hall event on Wednesday, where he said that his event would "get better ratings" than a call for reporters held by the family on the same day.

"What we see continually from Donald Trump is exactly what that clip shows," Harris said. "He belittles their sorrow, making it about himself and his television ratings. It is cruel."

She is also scheduled to attend a church service in Atlanta Sunday morning.

Earlier Saturday, Harris appeared in Detroit with entertainer Lizzo, a local native who opened the rally by pushing back on an insult Trump lobbed at the Motor City during a speech before the Detroit Economic Club last week. In that appearance, the former president said , "The whole country is going to be like -- you want to know the truth? -- it'll be like Detroit" if Harris wins.

Lizzo, a multiple Grammy award winner, responded Saturday, saying, "They say that if Kamala wins, the whole country will be like Detroit. Proud like Detroit. Resilient like Detroit. We're talking about the same Detroit that innovated the auto industry and the music industry, so put some respect on Detroit's name."

Harris then entered wearing a T-shirt reading, "Detroit Versus Everybody."

"We stand for the idea that the true measure of the strength of a leader is not based on who you bring down, it's on who you lift up," she said , while criticizing Trump for spending "full time talking about himself and mythical characters" rather than working people at his own rallies.

Meanwhile, Trump is held a rally Saturday night at the Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Latrobe, Pa.

He previously visited Pennsylvania just over two weeks ago , when he held a campaign rally in Butler, the site of an assassination attempt in July.

The former president spent the first part of the appearance praising the golfing great, a native of Latrobe after whom the airport is named.

As part of his remarks, he made a reference to Palmer's private anatomy.

After calling him "all man," Trump then said, "When he took showers with the other pros they came out of there, they said, 'Oh, my God. That's unbelievable. That's unbelievable.' I had to say it. I had to say it. We have women that are highly sophisticated here. But they used to look at Arnold, they said, 'man.'"

As the rally progressed Trump returned to familiar subjects, such as false claims that the 2020 election results were fraudulent, personal insults aimed at Harris -- including one that contained a profanity -- and complaints about the criminal cases aimed against him.

He also promised to institute policies designed to boost Pennsylvania's oil and gas industries.

"I will terminate the new green scam immediately," he declared. "It's the greatest scam in history. I will stop the energy price hikes. I will rescind the natural gas export ban which is killing your state, by the way," Trump said while promising he would "cut your energy and electricity price in half within 12 months of taking office."

The former president will also hold a town hall meeting Sunday at the Lancaster Convention Center in the western Pennsylvania city with a population of 58,000.

Also Saturday, former president Barack Obama was scheduled to rally support for the Democratic nominee in Las Vegas Saturday evening.

Saturday marks the first day of advance voting in Nevada.