Parting shots in A brutal battle
INSULTS FLY ON FRANTIC LAST DAY OF CAMPAIGN
We’re done with the racism Biden on Trump
WITH a blood- red sunset behind him and a sea of fans braving the freezing cold to see their hero, Donald Trump made his last argument for why he should be elected in one of five final rallies on the last day of campaigning.
Declaring that his Democrat opponent was a corrupt Washington insider who was now a puppet of the socialist wing of his party, Mr Trump said Joe Biden wanted to shut the country down in fear of COVID- 19.
“Joe Biden is bought and paid for by big tech, big media and powerful special interests,” Mr Trump said in Michigan. “He will always do whatever they want. I definitely don’t do what they want.”
Mr Biden took a stage with celebrity backers at a drive- in rally in Pennsylvania, the battleground state that swept Mr Trump to power in 2016 and is again poised to decide the election.
But in a bizarre move, his star booster was pop sensation Lady Gaga, who is an outspoken critic of the mining industry that drove the preCOVID boom in Pennsylvania.
Gaga made a pointed plea women to vote Mr Trump out.
“To all the women and to all the men with daughters and sisters and mothers,” she said.
“Now is your chance to vote against Donald Trump, a man who believes his fame gives him the right to grab one of your daughters or sisters or mothers or wives by any part of their bodies. to
“Vote for Joe. He’s a good person,” she told the cheering crowd.
Earlier, at an outdoor event in Pittsburgh, Mr Biden warned that the future of the country was at stake.
“I have a feeling we’re coming together for a big win tomorrow,” the former vice- president said.
“We are really at one of those inflection points. This is going to be more than just who governs the next four years.
“What happens now, what happens tomorrow, is going to determine what this country looks like for a couple of generations.”
Mr Biden told the crowd that “the power to change this country is in your hands”.
He also spoke about the disproportionate effect COVID- 19 has had on the African- American community. “We’re done with the chaos, we’re done with the racism, we’re done with the tweets, the anger, the hate, the failure, the irresponsibility,” he said.
Also in Pennsylvania, thousands of Trump supporters braved below zero conditions and snow flurries for a last chance to see the President before polling booths opened in some states late last night ( SA time).
Mr Trump, 74, chose Scranton, the birthplace of his opponent, to launch his final pitch to Pennsylvanians.
Mr Biden, 77, lived in the scrappy town until he was nine years old and has often characterised the race as a choice between his humble birthplace and Trump Tower on Park Avenue in New York.
“He left Scranton,” Mr Trump said
to cheers. “This guy is a stone- cold phony.” He also zeroed in on Mr Biden’s plans to “transition” away from fossil fuels.
The US has become energy selfsufficient under the Trump administration, in part due to opening up some states, including Pennsylvania, to fracking.
His campaign earlier released a statement slamming the appearance of Gaga, “a fracking activist”.
“Now he’s got Lady Gaga,” Mr Trump said. “Lady Gaga is not too good. I could tell you plenty of stories. I could tell you stories about Lady Gaga. I know a lot of stories about Lady Gaga.”
Among those who crowded onto the tarmac at Scranton airport were Suzanne Gillis, who brought her granddaughters Gigi, 10, and Lucy, 8 and her sister Anne Marie Vancosky.
“I don’t see how Joe Biden can win
This guy’s a stone- cold phony this – everyone in Pennsylvania is ( voting for) Trump because he has done so much for us,” said Mrs Gillis, from Wilkes- Barre.
“I was a Democrat until 2016 but I voted for Trump because our economy was in a lot of trouble. We have noticed things are better all over, my husband’s paycheque, everything.”
Farmer Steve Rogers, who owns a 140ha cattle farm in Susquehanna County, is a registered Democrat but voted for Mr Trump in 2016 and plans to do so again.
“I’m voting for him again because I think everything was great in this country until the coronavirus came along, and that was not the President’s fault,” he said. He and partner Robin Belcher also said they thought Mr Trump could win.
Almost 100 million people have cast early votes, either by post or in person, ahead of election day due to concerns about crowding at polling stations in the middle of a deadly pandemic that has killed a quarter of a million Americans. That’s more than two thirds of the total votes in 2016, and a record turnout is predicted.
US elections are regulated at the state level with many differing systems for overseeing ballots.
Scrutineers can’t even begin counting early votes in Pennsylvania until polls open, while Florida, Arizona and North Carolina are expected to make a call on the night.
If Mr Trump loses these three crucial states, which he won in 2016, pundits say he will struggle to regain the White House.