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FREELAND, Michigan: United States President Donald Trump predicted at a rally in Michigan on Thursday (September 10) that he would win electoral battleground status as thousands of supporters, largely unmasked, challenged state guidelines intended to contain COVID-19.
“This is not the crowd of one person coming second,” Trump told men, women and children, many in red “Make America Great Again” T-shirts and caps, as he stood in front of the presidential Air Force plane. One at an airport near Midland, Michigan.
Trump campaign officials say they plan to spend “massive amounts” of time in the lead up to the Nov. 3 election in Michigan, an industrial state that along with Wisconsin and Pennsylvania helped propel Trump to victory in 2016. .
Democratic candidate Joe Biden leads Republican Trump among all possible voters nationally by 12 percentage points, according to a Reuters / Ipsos poll. But Biden’s lead is smaller in Michigan, averaging just 4.2 percentage points, according to Real Clear Politics.
Trump’s campaign deputy national press secretary, Samantha Zager, said Trump was tapping into the “organic enthusiasm of those who are disillusioned with career politicians like Joe Biden” and that he would attract new voters to “expand an already broad coalition of support for”.
Biden visited Michigan on Wednesday, criticizing Trump for his recorded comments to Washington Post writer Bob Woodward, in which he said he was deliberately downplaying the threat of the virus to avoid public panic.
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Biden also released an “offshoring tax penalty” on profits from products made abroad and sold in the United States, taking a page out of Trump’s business playbook.
The two politicians have widely divergent views on just about everything, but both agree on the need to bring manufacturing supply chains back to the United States from China, and Biden is likely to keep many of Trump’s tariffs on. vigor initially if elected.
Trump criticized Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s coronavirus restrictions, saying she “has no idea” about the state’s economy reopening, drawing cheers from the crowd.
Whitmer’s office had no immediate comment on the event, which appeared to violate state guidelines requiring social distancing and limiting large crowds. She said at a press conference Thursday that she was concerned about the plans for the rally and would be keeping an eye on infection rates in the region.
New York Times reporter Kathy Gray tweeted that Trump campaign workers escorted her out of the rally after she tweeted photos of the event.
A campaign source said a New York Times correspondent, who had not requested credentials through the normal process, was asked to leave because he was not in the required press area. They told him he could stay in the general admission area, but not while reporting, and he refused, the source said.
Greg Fernandez, 63, who works in real estate, said he wasn’t wearing a mask at the rally because he already had the virus, “so I’m fine.”
Fernandez said he hoped Trump would win Michigan easily, adding: “No more globalists, no more new world order. We need a businessman to run our country, and he has done a great job.”
