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PHILADELPHIA: Former President Barack Obama returned to the election campaign on Wednesday (October 21), launching a searing attack on Donald Trump less than two weeks into the Republican President’s Election Day showdown with Democratic candidate Joe Biden.
In a speech at a rally in Philadelphia on behalf of Biden, his former vice president, Obama offered his sharpest criticism of his successor.
“He has not shown any interest in doing the job or helping anyone but himself,” Obama said of Trump.
Obama, who ruled for two terms and remains one of the most popular figures in the Democratic Party, criticized Trump for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, noting that the president himself had been a victim of the virus.
“Donald Trump is not going to suddenly protect us all,” he said. “You can’t even take the basic steps to protect yourself.”
Obama’s appearance filled a void left by Biden, who has been staying home in Delaware since Monday for meetings and preparations ahead of his Thursday debate with Trump in Nashville, Tennessee.
Earlier in the day, Obama spoke with leaders of the black community in Philadelphia.
Former President Barack Obama speaks with volunteers outside a Democratic Voter Activation Center while campaigning for former Vice President Joe Biden, the Democratic presidential nominee, on October 21, 2020, in Philadelphia. (Photo: AP / Matt Slocum)
“I have never lost hope in these last four years,” Obama said. “I have been angry. I have been frustrated, but I have not lost hope, and the reason is that I never expected progress to move directly in a straight line.”
Americans are voting early at a record pace this year, with 42 million ballots cast by mail and in person ahead of the Nov.3 election, out of concerns about the coronavirus and to make sure their votes are counted.
The early voting record so far represents about 30 percent of the total votes cast in 2016, according to the University of Florida’s US Elections Project.
As Obama spoke, Trump headed to North Carolina, another battleground state where opinion polls show a close race, for a rally in Gastonia on Wednesday night.
Biden’s running mate Kamala Harris was also in North Carolina to mobilize voters in Asheville and Charlotte.
VIRUSES EMERGENCE IN THE FINAL WEEKS OF THE CAMPAIGN
The final days of the campaign take place amid a surge in new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in battle states, including North Carolina and Pennsylvania, but also Wisconsin, Ohio and Michigan.
Pennsylvania has averaged 1,500 new cases a day over the past week, a level it hasn’t seen since April, according to a Reuters analysis. North Carolina has averaged 2,000 new cases per day for the past week, its highest level to date. The virus has claimed the lives of more than 221,000 Americans.
Polls show that most voters are disappointed in the way Trump has handled the pandemic, which he has repeatedly said would go away on its own.
Halloween decorations and campaign signs for US Democratic presidential candidate and former US Vice President Joe Biden hang on a front porch as a man wearing a face mask waits for a carpool in Easton, Pennsylvania. , Northampton County, Oct. 1, 2020 (Photo: REUTERS / Brian Snyder)
In a call organized by the Biden campaign and Texas Democrats on Wednesday, several Texas Republicans urged their fellow Conservatives to vote for Biden, citing the coronavirus crisis and Biden’s character.
“This is not a decision I made lightly. I love the Republican Party and I love most of the Republican Party officials. But I love my country more, “said Jacob Monty, a Republican immigration attorney who resigned from Trump’s Hispanic national advisory council in 2016.
READ: Trump’s controversial social media is gaining him the limelight, but what about the election?
Biden and Trump are scheduled to meet for their second and final debate Thursday night, giving the Republican a chance to turn the tide of a career that Biden is leading in national polls.
Biden believes he must win his home state of Pennsylvania and has visited it more than any other state during the campaign. Trump narrowly won status over Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016.
Trump has gained ground there, 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 Tuesday at a rally in Erie, in the northwest corner of the state.
