CNN

Since President Joe Biden ended his reelection bid and endorsed Harris last month, former President Donald Trump has made two trips to North Carolina, invested millions in new ads seeking to define Harris and feverishly worked to build up his campaign’s political organization across the state.

“We’re going to beat her,” Trump told supporters in Asheville Wednesday during a blistering speech aimed at his rival. “They may then get a third candidate, who knows?”

Few states have offered Democratic presidential hopefuls the number of disappointments the Tar Heel state has in recent cycles. It has been 16 years since Barack Obama delivered a North Carolina surprise in 2008 – the first and only time a Democratic candidate for the White House has carried the state in nearly five decades.