(NewsNation) — Businessmen Mark Cuban and Dana White sparred over the economy and others weighed in on the nation’s political divide and reproductive rights during NewsNation’s preelection town hall with Chris Cuomo on Wednesday.
A recent Ipsos poll showed 81% of people feel more divided than united, but about 70% said most Americans want the same things out of life.
Political commentator Bill O’Reilly thinks Americans’ finances are the real dividing line in the upcoming election.
How did town halls become a staple of American politics?
“Folks know what they’re paying, and they don’t like it, and that’s going to work against Harris,” O’Reilly said during Wednesday’s town hall.
Meanwhile, sports journalist Stephen A. Smith believes reproductive rights will “play a huge factor” next Tuesday.
“I think that the overturning of Roe v. Wade on the federal level is something that could potentially come back to bite Donald Trump,” Smith said.
Who is Stephen A. Smith?
Mark Cuban and Dana White argue over the economy
The economy is the top issue for voters, and billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban thinks Harris is the better option, particularly when it comes to health care.
“Because [Trump] doesn’t know what he’s doing with health care, the inflation rate will only continue at the same rate or go up,” Cuban said at the town hall.
Mark Cuban: High inflation ‘started with Donald Trump’
The businessman and “Shark Tank” television personality has been a vocal Harris supporter and believes Americans’ cost savings at the doctor’s office will offset recent inflation at the grocery store.
“[Harris] is going to take on the pharmacy middlemen directly, she’s going to introduce transparency directly,” Cuban said.
Who is Mark Cuban, the billionaire backing Kamala Harris?
Dana White, CEO of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), disagrees with that assessment and believes Trump will be better for Americans’ wallets.
Who is Dana White, UFC CEO and Donald Trump supporter?
“Trump has already proven he can build a strong economy,” White said. “She is the sitting vice president of the United States right now; she’s proven nothing.”
White blasted the Biden administration’s handling of the southern border and questioned the financial burden of the migrants who have entered the country illegally.
“There are real Americans here that are going through hard times. That money should be going towards them,” he said.
Who is Tiffany Justice, co-founder of Moms for Liberty?
Sarah Palin: Gender divide ‘not a big darn deal’
Polls show men and women have become increasingly divided, with men leaning toward Trump and women favoring Harris.
Sarah Palin, the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee, thinks those polls are overblown and dismissed the gender divide as “not a big darn deal.”
Sarah Palin supports Trump’s stance on abortion
“I believe that poles are really good for strippers and cross-country skiers but not for a whole lot of other things,” she said.
The former Alaska governor said gender does become an issue for her when men try to tell women how to feel about abortion, which comes from both abortion-rights supporters and those against the procedure: “You guys, you don’t know, you haven’t been there.”
Even so, Palin said she supports Trump’s position on abortion and pushed back against the idea that women have fewer rights than men.
“Tell me one right that we do not have that men benefit from,” Palin said.
U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., diverged from Palin and believes the Dobbs Supreme Court decision does explain much of today’s gender gap.
“We had Roe v. Wade for many, many years. It was a right of women to make that choice with their bodies, and it’s overwhelmingly popular,” Khanna said.
The other reason for the gender gap, Khanna argued, is because of Trump’s brash “locker room talk”
“It’s offensive to a lot of women. That’s just the reality,” Khanna said.
Harris, Trump make final pleas to voters ahead of election
RFK Jr: Trump asked me to reorganize health agencies
When Robert F. Kennedy Jr. dropped out of the race and endorsed Trump, many wondered if Kennedy might get a cabinet position in turn. While he didn’t go that far, Kennedy did reveal Trump has asked him to “reorganize” the CDC, NIH and FDA.
“He’s asked me to clean up the corruption, number one,” Kennedy told the crowd. “Number two, end the conflicts of interest return those agencies to their rich tradition gold standard empirically-based, evidence-based science, evidence-based medicine.”
He said Trump also asked him to reduce chronical illness in kids within two years.
Cuomo asked Kennedy what he would say to people concerned he is an extremist who should not have that power. Kennedy conceded he’s not a doctor, but says his experience litigating and researching them makes him a good candidate to reform them.
“People ought to have a choice about their own health, and they ought to have the best knowledge, and we ought to be the healthiest country on earth,” Kennedy said.
What does the latest polling say about the election?
In recent polls, Trump has gained on Harris, though the race remains a toss-up.
The latest national polling average from NewsNation’s partners The Hill and Decision Desk HQ shows Harris with 48.3% and Trump with 47.7%.
The current odds in every battleground state
However, Trump has a 53% chance of winning compared to 47% for Harris due to his slight advantage in several key swing states, according to Decision Desk HQ.
Swing state polling has been especially tight, with Trump leading in Arizona, Georgia and North Carolina, while Harris has an advantage in Michigan.