'It's a cult': Kiwis voting in US describe 'nightmare' election

A New Zealander who has lived in the United States for 14 years says the election campaign is a "nightmare" and Donald Trump is a "fascist".

Polls were showing Kamala Harris and Donald Trump were neck and neck in the critical southwest states of Arizona and Nevada.

RNZ's Corin Dann caught up with a group of New Zealanders and Australians in an Irish pub in Phoenix, Arizona.

Susan Cutforth, who has lived in the US for 14 years and was based in Phoenix, said the election campaign had been a "nightmare" to live through.

And she was worried what another Trump presidency might mean.

"It's such polarity, the two, between them. All the things that Trump threatened that he would do, like becoming a dictator, he's a fascist, all those things.

"It's really scary to think that if he did come in, that he would do those things."

Cutforth admitted she cannot believe how close the polls are but makes no mistake that her vote will be for Harris.

"She's for everybody, there's no division with her, she doesn't mind which party you're in, she's for all Americans, she's for all genders, all religions, all races, she's not a racist.

"She's amazing, she's very well qualified for the job. I love her laugh. When you see the rallies, she's happy, everybody is happy, there's music," she said.

"Then on the other side, probably the dark side, that's completely totally different.

"As far as I'm concerned it's a cult. They've been brainwashed. Because they think Trump is absolutely wonderful and everything he says is wonderful."

' You can't compare anyone to Hitler'

But an Australian police officer also based in Phoenix, Adrian Whiteside, said he did not support comparisons of Trump and Hitler.

"I don't know where they get that he's a 'fascist' from, he doesn't support fascism, he doesn't support Nazis.

"The media in this country make all these names for him and people get upset because he says mean things...they've compared him to Hitler, and you can't compare anyone to Hitler.

"I've seen nothing he's done that would warrant anyone to call him that."

Whiteside said he is much more worried about the price of everything, and especially illegal immigration, which he has encountered personally in his profession.

Whiteside believed he knew why the red wave was still so strong.

"The biggest thing is that he's not a politician. I think people are sick of politicians, and they want something different. He doesn't make empty promises," he said.

"People don't like him because he says things people don't like. He can be abrasive. You have to look past that and see what he's actually done the last time he was in office.

"He did lower taxes; job growth was great. He made it so that US companies based overseas could bring their assets back into the country and reintegrate those assets into America.

"He's done a lot, more than any of the recent politicians have done."

Don't want someone who talks about women that way

New Zealander Komi Tui has lived in the US for 30 years and said he would vote for Harris.

Some of the things Trump had said didn't make sense to Tui, he said.

"In terms of how he talks about people, about women in particular, my wife and I have got four kids, we've got two daughters and I wouldn't want someone who talks about women in that way."

The number of Republicans coming out against Trump felt like "a shift" in the campaign, he said.

"Republicans coming out and being very public about 'hey we worked for this person and we're not voting for them'."

Corin Dann is in the United States with some support from the US Embassy in Wellington.

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