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ERIE, Pennsylvania: President Donald Trump campaigned in the crucial battlefield state of Pennsylvania on Tuesday (October 20), telling his supporters that he needed a second term in the White House to ensure a successful recovery of the new coronavirus pandemic and its economic consequences.
At a rally at the Erie airport in the northwestern corner of the state, Trump said Pennsylvania could put him on top in the Nov. 3 election and warned that Democratic rival Joe Biden would decimate the state’s energy and manufacturing jobs.
“This is a choice between Trump’s super recovery, which is happening right now, and a Biden slump,” Trump told his supporters, who, like at most of his rallies, were packed shoulder to shoulder, and many they did not wear masks.
“If you want open schools, an open economy and a safe, healthy and prosperous country, vote for me,” he said.
READ: Trump Goes Big On Election Campaign, Biden Keeps Low Profile With 2 Weeks To Election Day
Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed more than 220,000 people in the United States and left millions out of work, has affected his re-election prospects.
Biden has criticized Trump for failing to tackle the pandemic and rushing to reopen the economy and belittling security measures such as social distancing and wearing masks. Opinion polls show that more Americans trust Biden than Trump to lead the health crisis.
The former vice president was out of the election campaign Tuesday to prepare for his debate this week with Trump.
READ: Trump-Biden final debate will feature ‘mute’ button after chaotic first clash
Trump’s trip to Pennsylvania came the day before Biden’s former boss, former President Barack Obama, is campaigning in the state for the Democratic nominee, who will play a big role in deciding who wins the House race. White
With two weeks remaining in the race, more than 35 million Americans have already cast their early votes, according to the University of Florida’s US Elections Project. That represents more than a quarter of the total vote in the 2016 presidential race.
National opinion polls show that Biden has a wide advantage over Trump, although the contest is closer in the undecided states that will decide the elections, including Pennsylvania, Florida and North Carolina.
Trump has gained ground over Biden in Pennsylvania, according to a Reuters / Ipsos poll released Monday, which showed the challenger leading between 49% and 45%, slightly narrower than a week earlier.
“If we win Pennsylvania, we win everything,” Trump said in Erie.
First lady Melania Trump, who was recently diagnosed with COVID-19 and planned to travel with the president, did not make the trip out of “great caution” due to a persistent cough, her spokeswoman said.
Trump, who was hospitalized for three nights after also contracting the coronavirus, has resumed an intense program of campaign trips, including rallies like the one in Pennsylvania, despite the increase in cases of the highly contagious disease.
Obama will campaign for Biden at a car rally in Philadelphia, the state’s largest city, to urge supporters to vote early when the campaign reaches the home stretch. It will be Obama’s first in-person campaign event for Biden, who served with him for eight years.
The visit to Pennsylvania also comes ahead of Thursday’s second and final debate between Trump and Biden, which will give the Republican president a chance to change the trajectory of the primetime race.
READ: Trump and Biden went to the campaign in the week loaded with US elections
BIDEN AHEAD IN MICHIGAN, TIED IN NORTH CAROLINA
New polls on Tuesday showed Biden holding his lead over Trump in Michigan, while the two were tied in North Carolina, two other critical states that could make a difference in the race.
Early voting results show that registered Democrats outnumber Republicans in most states tracking party affiliation. Trump has repeatedly characterized voting by mail as prone to fraud, although experts say it is as safe as any other method.
His campaign and the Republican Party have sought, with mixed success, to limit voting by mail in states that expanded it in response to fears of spreading COVID-19 in crowded polling places.
Three more states began early voting in person on Tuesday: Wisconsin, Utah and Hawaii.
Wisconsin voters bundled up and braved temperatures of up to 30 degrees Fahrenheit (-1 degree Celsius), to line up at polling places in cities like Milwaukee, where people waited about an hour, according to videos released by the media outlets. communication.
“We’re holding our breath and I’m concerned about the lines at the early voting places,” said Jay Heck, executive director of the nonpartisan voting rights group Common Cause in Wisconsin.
“In all areas, red and blue counties, there seems to be a lot of excitement,” he said, referring to counties that are leaning towards either side.
In Miami, where people gathered for the second day of early voting in person, a uniformed police officer wore a “Trump 2020” face mask inside a polling place, according to the chairman of the Miami-Dade Democratic Party, who posted a photo of the officer.
The Miami Police Department said on Twitter that the behavior was “unacceptable, a violation of departmental policy and is being addressed immediately.”
