OLD FORGE, Pa. President Donald Trump tried to portray rival Joe Biden as a working-class figure when he accepted the Democratic nomination for president on Thursday, close to the president’s residence of the former vice president in Pennsylvania.
“I hope he does well. I’ll be honest, I do,” Trump said. “But I also want him to tell the truth.”
Biden’s campaign has made Trump the central theme of this week’s Democratic convention, and the production of a program that included a series of speakers with blistering criticisms of his presidency. Trump has served as a one-man payback team, including dismissing real-time responses during former President Barack Obama’s speech on Wednesday.
Trump, speaking in an open air at Mariotti Building Products on stage surrounded by carpenters and freight trainers, said he would pay attention to Biden’s big night.
“He left. He left Pennsylvania. He left Scranton,” Trump said. “But he spent the last half century in Washington selling out our land and scrapping our jobs.”
Biden was born in Scranton and moved with his family as a child to Delaware after his father struggled to find work, a story he often tells to explain his understanding of what it means to struggle economically. Biden then represented Delaware in the Senate for 36 years.
“Biden is the candidate of these privileged, liberal hypocrites,” Trump continued.
Trump, who has enjoyed the large crowd of the rally that previously packed arenas, has been sidelined from campaigning since the outbreak of coronavirus in March. He held a rally in June in Tulsa, Oklahoma, which came under control for failing to implement adequate security measures. A plan planned in New Hampshire in July was canceled.
But when Democrats kicked off their virtual convention on Monday, Trump submitted his schedule with scaled-up campaign events, leaving the political norm of low lying during the opposition party’s convention. This week he has held events in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Arizona and Pennsylvania – all states that are important to his reelection.
The current guidelines for coronavirus in Pennsylvania limit indoor meetings to 25 people and 250 people outdoors, along with social distance and mask requirements in public spaces.
The campaign limited the number of people allowed to enter the outdoor game and placed chairs for attendees to sit at a distance. Some attendees wore Trump-themed masks. Instead of the usual ticket sign-up on the campaign’s website, supporters were directed to RSVP to receive a “replay” of Trump’s comments.
“How did you get in there?”, Trump shrugged with attendees, adding that they were “special friends of a group of people who have done a really good job.”
Hundreds of people were still walking down the street in front of Mariotti Building Products on Thursday morning awaiting the arrival of Trump. Few wore masks and there was no social distance, as supporters and some Protestants jogged for space on the narrow sidewalk.
“They were not social distance, I can tell you that,” Trump said.
Trump made a rare unintentional visit after his speech, stopped by Arcaro and Genell before returning to Washington.
When asked what made the stop, Trump replied “because they have great pizza, they probably have the best pizza. We’ll let you know in half an hour. “
The president reiterated baseless accusations that Democrats were “trying to steal” the election, pointing to the number of people on the streets as proof that he could not lose.
“The only way they will win is through a rigged election. I really believe that. I saw the crowd outside.”
Trump, who defeated Hillary Clinton in Pennsylvania by less than one percentage point, has spent a precise amount of time in the state as president. He has visited Pennsylvania nearly 20 times since he was sworn into office and was in the Scranton neighborhood in March.
Trump lost to Lackawanna County, where he attended Thursday, but performed above Republican candidates.
“This was all democratic until I came along,” Trump said.
Biden has a six-point lead over Trump in Pennsylvania, according to the polling average tracker of FiveThirtyEight.
“I’m coming back to Pennsylvania,” Trump continued. “I promise so.”
Caroline Vakil contributed.
