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CIRCLEVILLE, Ohio: United States President Donald Trump and his Democratic rival Joe Biden gave starkly contrasting messages on Saturday (October 24) about the COVID-19 pandemic, leading their campaigns for the White House on the path to changing states where COVID-19 cases. are emerging again.
Trump addressed a few thousand supporters in a well-attended, in-person, open-air rally in North Carolina, one of the battle states in the Nov.3 election. He again said that the United States was turning the corner in the fight against COVID-19 and mocked Biden’s more cautious campaign style.
Biden, a former vice president, addressed supporters in vehicles at two rallies in Pennsylvania and warned of a gloomy winter ahead unless the Trump administration did a better job of stopping the disease, which has killed 224,000 Americans.
Opinion polls show Biden leading Trump nationally, but the race is much closer in the battlefield states that will decide the election.
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Supporters of US President Donald Trump attend a campaign rally at The Villages Polo Club in Florida on October 23, 2020 (Photo: Reuters / Tom Brenner).
In Lumberton, North Carolina, he told supporters he was offering a quick recovery from the economic damage caused by virus shutdowns, which have devastated small businesses and put millions out of work.
“It’s a choice between a Trump super boom and a Biden blockade,” the Republican president said. “We are rounding out the turn,” he said, repeating a claim he has been making for months that the United States is close to making the best of the virus.
On the contrary, Biden warned that the coming cold months could be even harsher due to the resurgence of the virus, which has killed more people in the United States than anywhere else and is increasing in various battle states.
“It’s going to be a dark winter ahead unless we change our ways,” he said of Trump’s attempts to contain the coronavirus.
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US Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden talks about his plan to beat COVID-19 in Wilmington, Delaware, on October 23, 2020 (Photo: Reuters / Kevin Lamarque).
Biden was addressing supporters in the city of Bristol who had gathered in vans or cars, many with their windows or sunroofs down, to avoid a possible coronavirus infection. The Biden campaign limited each vehicle to a maximum of four passengers.
At one point, Biden called out a group of Trump supporters who were yelling into nearby microphones. “We don’t do things like those fools do with the mic. Trump’s. It’s about decency.”
At his Lumberton event, Trump mocked Biden’s rally, which he said he saw on television.
“There were so few cars. I’ve never seen an audience like this,” he said. “It was a tiny, tiny crowd. You could hear the cars: honk.”
EMERGENCE OF COVID-19
The United States set a single-day record of more than 84,000 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, according to a Reuters tally, and the spike in infections hit states in electoral transition Ohio, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania. and Wisconsin.
North Carolina reported 2,584 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, down from a record 2,716 the day before.
Many states have expanded early voting in person and ballots by mail as a safer way to vote during the pandemic.
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US President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at Pensacola International Airport in Pensacola, Florida, the United States, on October 23, 2020 (Photo: Reuters / Tom Brenner).
Trump voted at his Florida foster home on Saturday, joining more than 56 million Americans who have cast their first ballots at a record pace.
Trump cast his ballot at a library in West Palm Beach, near his Mar-a-Lago resort, after changing his permanent residence and voter registration last year from New York to Florida, a battlefield he must win for his candidacy for reelection.
In New York State, voters packed polling places and lined up for hours to cast their ballot on the state’s first day of early voting on Saturday. Long lines formed before the polls opened in New York City and Long Island, videos were shown on social media.
With 10 days to go to the campaign, the pace of early voting could lead to the highest voter turnout rate in more than a century, according to data from the US Elections Project.
Trump has regularly condemned voting-by-mail without evidence as prone to fraud, despite experts saying it is as safe as any other method.
The large number of early voters is a sign of intense interest in this year’s election, as well as concern about avoiding crowded polling places on Election Day and reducing the risk of exposure to the coronavirus.
In Pennsylvania, polls show Biden narrowly leading. A Reuters / Ipsos poll released earlier this week showed Biden leading four percentage points over Trump in the state, up from seven points the week before.
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People in protective masks wait for Grammy-winning R&B star Lizzo to speak during a voluntary contest launch on behalf of U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, in Detroit, Michigan on October 23, 2020 (Photo: Reuters / Emily Elconin).
Aside from the coronavirus, the candidates discussed energy policy, a major issue in Pennsylvania, which is the second-largest producer of natural gas in the country after Texas.
Biden denied Trump’s allegations that he plans to ban fracking, a process to extract natural gas from shale.
“I will not ban fracking, period,” he said in Dallas, Pennsylvania, at his second rally of the day. “I don’t think the big oil companies need a handout from the federal government. We’re going to ditch the $ 40 billion fossil fuel subsidies and invest them in clean energy and carbon capture,” Biden said. .
At a Trump in-person outdoor rally in Circleville, Ohio, the crowd booed a video that Trump played and showed multiple times when Biden said he would like to get away from fossil fuels.
Biden received help from former President Barack Obama, who held a drive-in movie in Miami and launched a strong attack on Trump’s leadership.
“This pandemic would have been difficult for any president because we haven’t seen something like this in 100 years, but the idea that somehow this White House has done more than completely ruin it is silly,” Obama said.
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