Kamala Harris And Donald Trump focused her attention on Texas on Friday, with both presidential candidates holding events there. In appearances on opposite sides of the steadfast republican In the state, nominees lay out their contrasting visions for the country – with the content of their pitches underscoring recent polling data that shows the gender gap among voters is widening to historic levels.

Harris joined them in Houston Beyoncewith the Democratically The candidate told the Texas audience that they were “ground zero in the fight for reproductive freedom.” She went on to criticize Texas for having one of the most restrictive abortion bans in the country, adding, “Now one in three women live in a state with a Trump abortion ban.”

In the meantime, an interview with podcaster Joe Rogan in Austin offered Trump another opportunity to highlight the hypermasculine tone that has defined much of his 2024 White House bid. A Trump victory could depend on men voting for the Republican candidate, according to Politico, which highlighted Rogan's podcast as a good place to reach them. With an audience of tens of millions, “The Joe Rogan Experience” has built a huge, predominantly male audience.

This is what else happened on Friday:

Kamala Harris election news

• At the conclusion of her rally in Houston, Harris urged voters to cast their ballots early. “Do we trust women? Do we believe in reproductive freedom? Do we believe in the promise of America and are we willing to fight for it?” Harris said before concluding: “When we fight, we win.”

• In Houston, Beyoncé was joined by her former Destiny's Child bandmate Kelly Rowland in front of 30,000 people. “I’m not here as a celebrity. I'm not here as a politician. I’m here as a mother,” Beyoncé said. “Imagine our daughters growing up and seeing what is possible with no ceilings and no restrictions.”

• While Beyoncé appealed to a younger audience, 91-year-old Willie Nelson showed earlier that he still enjoys respect in his native Texas. “Are we ready to say Madam President?” Nelson asked the crowd before launching into “Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys,” to which the audience sang along.

• Colin Allred, the Democratic congressman running to unseat Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, used the rally to denounce his opponent. “I believe in a very different Texas than Ted Cruz,” Allred said. “During my time in Congress, I was the exact opposite of Ted Cruz because I never forgot where I came from, never forgot the people who gave me a chance. He then shouted at the crowd: “You have to lose your job.”

• Tim Walz gave a rousing pep talk in Scranton, Pennsylvania, telling voters that the race would be “close.” “It’s the fourth quarter. “We have the best team on the field,” Walz said. “We must do this step by step, meter by step, door by door, call by call, dollar by dollar, vote by vote.”

News about the Donald Trump election

• Donald Trump arrived hours late for a rally in Michigan, causing thousands of his supporters to walk away while others huddled together in cold weather to wait for the former president at an outdoor rally in the battleground state. The Republican presidential candidate was delayed in his interview with Rogan, which dragged on for more than three hours. In Michigan, Trump said, “We have a war going on and she's out partying,” referring to Israel's attacks on Iran.

• Hackers linked to the Chinese government are believed to have targeted the phones of Donald Trump and his Vice President JD VanceAccording to a report in the New York Times, this is a major breach of US telecommunications networks. Investigators are working to determine what, if any, data was accessed in the “sophisticated” hack, sources said.

Elsewhere in the election campaign

• There was uproar and outrage among current and former Washington Post employees and other notable figures in the American media world after the newspaper's officials decided on Friday not to support any candidate for the US presidential election. The newspaper's publisher, Will Lewis, announced Friday that for the first time in more than 30 years, the newspaper's editorial board would not endorse a candidate in this year's presidential election or future presidential elections. According to some employees and reporters, the decision was allegedly made by the Post's owner, billionaire Jeff Bezos.

• Russian actors were behind a widely shared video that falsely shows the destruction of mail-in ballots for Donald Trump in PennsylvaniaUS officials confirmed. The video spread on social media but was debunked by local election officials and law enforcement within three hours after it was reported by members of the public.

• Adam Smith, the ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, has called on the Defense Department to investigate a report that Elon Musk was in regular contact with Russian President Vladimir Putinreports Politico. Senator Jeanne Shaheen, a ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations and Armed Services Committees, said: “Elon Musk, who has multibillion-dollar contracts supporting some of our most sensitive military operations, reportedly has an open line with Putin.” Musk's spaceship company SpaceX has several contracts with the Department of Defense and NASA. According to a Wall Street Journal report, the billionaire has had previously unreported conversations with Putin since 2022.

• A new group of “lifelong Republican” former advisers to Donald Trump joined the chorus of criticism of the Republican candidatewho spoke out in support of John Kelly, who earlier this week called his old boss a fascist. “The revelations made by General Kelly are disturbing and shocking. “But unfortunately, because we know Trump and have worked for and alongside him, we were not surprised by what General Kelly had to say,” said a letter from more than a dozen staffers who worked in Trump’s administration.

Read more about the 2024 US election: