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BEMIDJI: The Democratic candidate for the presidency of the United States, Joe Biden, criticized on Friday the handling of the American economy by President Donald Trump while the two rivals campaigned in the state of Minnesota, an electoral battleground, one of the four states where early voting was taking place.
Trump is behind Biden in national opinion polls ahead of the Nov. 3 election, but he is trying to regain ground in Minnesota, a state that lost about 1.5 percentage points to Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016.
Biden visited a unionized carpenter training center in Hermantown, a suburb of the Lake Superior port city of Duluth, and painted a grim picture of the economic situation in Minnesota’s iron ore mining region, saying the pandemic of coronavirus has increased unemployment.
The former US vice president blamed Trump for the sustained economic downturn and said the Republican president has done little to contain the public health crisis.
“Trump has given up even pretending to do his job,” Biden said.
Biden reiterated his commitment to invest $ 2 trillion in infrastructure improvements in the United States while addressing climate change.
Biden also said he would make sure all federal projects use American-made materials and union labor.
Trump keeps promising an infrastructure plan, but one never materializes, Biden said.
“He doesn’t have any plans,” added Biden.
Trump spoke to thousands of people gathered outside an airport hangar in Bemidji, Minnesota, on Friday night.
Minnesota would win thanks to its economic record, Trump said, noting the strength of Minnesota’s economy in 2019, before the coronavirus hit.
Trump also attacked what he said were Biden’s policies on refugees.
“Good luck Minnesota,” he said.
“Your state will be invaded and destroyed if Biden and the radical left win.”
Recent opinion polls have given Biden a comfortable lead in Minnesota.
Poll tracking website RealClearPolitics showed that Biden increased by an average of 10.2 percentage points through Friday.
The two candidates were in Minnesota on the first day of early voting in the state, a reminder that voting in the election has already begun, as voters choose to cast their ballots earlier or by mail during the pandemic.
Voters in Virginia, South Dakota and Wyoming also began casting their ballots in person on Friday.
In Virginia, elections officials in Fairfax and Arlington counties in suburban Washington reported high turnout, with lines at the door.
In Minneapolis, about 44 people cast their votes in the first 30 minutes that the city’s only voting center was open.
Some said they were eager to move the process forward or avoid potential crowds on Election Day.
The pandemic has dramatically reduced campaign trips for both candidates and is expected to bring an increase in early voting and mail-in voting as Americans look to reduce their exposure to crowds.
“I just wanted to come do it,” said Jason Miller, 33, a painter who was in line before the site opened to vote for Biden.
Miller said he was eager to cast a vote against Trump.
“It inspired me a bit to come here on the first day,” Miller said.
“In fact, probably three and a half years ago I thought I’d be here the first day I could.”
All voters lined up in Minneapolis wore masks to help protect against the spread of the new coronavirus.
Margie Rukavina, 72, said she was “rushing” to vote for Biden, but also expressed concern about voting on Election Day due to health concerns.
“We want to get there early to avoid a super spread event, as our president is so happy to do,” Rukavina said.
Trump has been criticized for holding packed campaign rallies, often with many people without masks.
States of ‘rust belt’
Biden’s advantage in the polls underscores the extent to which the current electoral map appears to favor him.
He leads in the three former industrial “Rust Belt” states that Trump jumped out of the Democratic column on his way to victory in 2016: Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.
Minnesota was the high point of a national reckoning over race relations, when George Floyd, a black man, died after a white Minneapolis cop knelt on his neck for about nine minutes, even after he appeared to lose his knowledge.
Floyd’s death sparked protests against racism and police brutality in many cities, with civil unrest that lasted in some places for months, further shaking a nation already besieged by the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed nearly 200,000 Americans. and has put millions of people out of work.
Trump has responded to the demonstrations by promising to establish “law and order,” while portraying the protesters as far-left radicals who would be further strengthened by a Biden victory.
Biden has denounced the violence that has erupted in some cities and has voiced support for protesters’ objections to racism and police brutality.
Biden has blamed Trump’s divisive rhetoric for inflaming the situation.
