[ad_1]
WILMINGTON, Delaware: Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden headed to the battlefield state of Michigan to resume the campaign on Friday (October 2) after testing negative for COVID-19, hours after President Donald Trump outcast for contracting the virus.
He spoke at a union hall in Grand Rapids hours after testing negative for coronavirus twice.
Biden said he and his wife, Jill Biden, prayed for Trump and the first lady, Melania Trump, to have a speedy and full recovery.
But Biden also urged all Americans to wear masks to slow the spread of the disease. He implicitly criticized the Republican president, who has downplayed the lethality of the virus, frequently avoids masks and has held large campaign rallies with little social distancing.
“Be a patriot,” Biden said. “It’s not about being a tough guy. It’s about doing your part.”
Biden, who met in a face-to-face debate with Trump on Tuesday, left his home in Delaware to travel to Grand Rapids, Michigan, for a campaign event after he and his wife Jill tested negative for coronavirus.
The diagnosis of Trump, who is experiencing mild symptoms and will be out of the way indefinitely as he isolates himself in the White House, brings the coronavirus back into the limelight just over four weeks before the November election.
It is likely to reinforce Biden’s message about Trump’s failed response to the disease, which has killed more than 200,000 people in the United States, and undermines the president’s argument that an end to the pandemic is in sight.
Polls show voters trust Biden to handle the coronavirus more than Trump, who has pushed for a quicker reopening of the economy and schools, rarely wears a mask, and has held large campaign rallies with little social distancing.
“It’s hard to say ‘it’s under control’ when you’re a victim of it,” said Democratic strategist Chris Kofinis. “If we talk about the pandemic for the next four weeks, Donald Trump loses.”
Health professionals say that covering your face is key to preventing the virus from spreading.
Biden also spoke about his plans to rebuild the economy. A report from the Labor Department on Friday showed the pace of economic growth slowing in the final weeks before the election, with only 661,000 jobs created and 3.8 million people lost their jobs forever.
Michigan, which Trump narrowly beat Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016, is a vital battleground in the Nov.3 election.
Biden leads Trump in national opinion polls, though polls in the battlefield states that will decide the contest show a closer race. A Reuters / Ipsos poll last month showed Biden leading Trump by 5 percentage points among likely voters in Michigan.
CHECK THIS: Our comprehensive coverage of the coronavirus outbreak and its developments
Download our app or subscribe to our Telegram channel for the latest updates on the coronavirus outbreak: https://cna.asia/telegram
