Naomi Girson and Josh Imhoff | staff writers

Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris both ended their campaigns in Pittsburgh on Monday less than 10 miles apart. 

The two of them have visited Pittsburgh numerous times as part of their campaign trails because of the weight it carries as a major city in Pennsylvania. The Keystone State holds 19 votes in the Electoral College, making it the most important battleground state in the country. 

Trump opted to plant himself central to the downtown area, holding his rally at PPG Paints Arena, while Harris hosted her rally at a Carrie Furnaces, a historical blast furnace located in Swissvale.

Each rally had a variety of special guests including senators, congressmen and cabinet members.  

Harris’s rally began with a speech from Mayor Ed Gainey and ended with a live performance from pop artist Katy Perry.  Trump’s rally began with a sermon and the singing of “Amazing Grace.” Harris only spoke for 10 minutes while Trump’s speech took roughly two hours.  

Inside the rallies, supporters were riled up into a fervor at their last chance to support their candidates.

“Fight, fight, fight” echoed through the arena, while “When we fight, we win” and “We can’t go back” were chanted by the crowd at the Blast Furnace. 

At both events, attendees blocked out their whole day to brave the long lines and the endless crowds to show support for their candidate. 

Many of those in attendance at both rallies were college students from across the country. 

Matthew Plichta, a senior at the University of Pittsburgh, is casting his vote in Chester County, but came to the Harris rally with a freshly found optimism. 

“Trump’s campaign has kind of been unraveling lately, especially with a lot of the comments he’s making and decreased enthusiasm from that side and also increased enthusiasm from Kamala’s campaign,” he said.

Plichta said that he knows of friends who had previously supported Trump and denied the outcome of the 2020 Presidential Election, who have since flipped all and decided to cast their vote for Harris.

On the other hand, many in the arena had been loyal to Trump since he first ran in 2016, like George Downes who agreed with Trump on many of his policies including tougher border security.  

“He’s gonna finish the wall. He’s gonna bring the economy down. He’s gonna bring back justice and liberty. He’s all about individual dignity,” Downes said.  

Despite his support Downes said there were some things that he had a more nuanced view on, including abortion procedures which he said women should be able to have access to in scenarios of rape and incest.

While the topic was mostly avoided by Trump, abortion was covered extensively by numerous speakers at Harris’s rally, including U.S. Senator John Fetterman and Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey. Each offered their own perspective on the issue, including Harris who took the time to outline her ideas for the future.

“When Congress passes a bill to restore reproductive freedom nationwide, as president of the United States I will proudly sign it into law,” Harris said.

For many of Harris’s supporters abortion rights are the first policy to come to mind. 

This was the case for Matthew Pitcher and Sebastian Slatniske, both college freshmen, the former at UC Berkeley and the latter at Duquesne. They had met at the rally, Pitcher flying in from California the night before with his mother who attended the Trump rally at the same time.

“My mom went to [the Trump rally]. She voted for Kamala too, with me. We wanted to go to both rallies to get both perspectives,” Pitcher said. 

Trump focused primarily on other issues, including the economy, foreign policy and border security.  

“I will end inflation. I will stop the invasion. I will strengthen our military.  I will restore peace in the world and I will rescue the American dream. Together, we will begin the four greatest years in the history of our country,” Trump said.  

Dara Fallon, a sophomore at Duquesne, aligned with him on many of these viewpoints, including the fact that he is unabashedly pro-law enforcement.

“My dad is a police officer and that is where our money comes from in the family, so having him keeping his job and not being defunded by the policies of Kamala is very big in our family and we hold that high,” said Fallon.

She stood outside the arena with her friend Jenna Pindrock, also a Duquesne sophomore, and two other Duquesne students whom she met in line. 

Tomorrow voters will have one more chance to decide who should become the next president of the U.S. and in Trump’s own words they will be asking themselves.

“Are you better off now than you were four years ago?”