Don and Joe trade blows
MILWAUKEE: Donald Trump and his Democratic rival Joe Biden traded barbs on Monday, local time, as the White House race heated up, with the President branding Mr Biden “stupid” — and the Democrat firing back that Mr Trump lacked the “guts” to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic.
As Mr Biden and his running mate Kamala Harris took their campaign message to the must-win swing states of Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, the President convened a surprise news conference at the White House.
In a freewheeling and grievance-laden performance, Mr Trump once more teased the possibility of a COVID-19 inoculation by election day on November 3 — something experts say remains unlikely — and accused Democrats of playing politics with a vaccine after Ms Harris said she would not take his word on its safety.
Touting an upswing in job creation — after tens of millions of lost jobs — and claiming the US is turning the corner on the pandemic, he called Mr Biden “stupid,” saying he “wants to surrender our country to the virus, he wants to surrender our families to the violent left-wing mob, and surrender our jobs to China”.
Labor Day traditionally kicks off the final sprint of the campaign, with less than two months until the election. But the rival campaigns have been knocked off stride by multiple layers of turmoil — from the pandemic, to the struggling US economy and racial unrest.
Candidates who normally would be skipping daily from state to state to speak before big crowds are limiting their movements and doing much more talking online.
And violent anti-racism protests and counter-protests — the latest being a pro-Trump motorcade in Portland, Oregon — lend an explosive element to the campaign.
Mr Biden went to Pennsylvania, where he held a socially distanced meeting with union leaders before taking questions from members of the AFLCIO union at its headquarters.
Addressing the event, he hit back at Mr Trump, charging that “he didn’t have the guts to take on COVID-19”.
“We know he’s been great for his rich friends, but he hasn’t been so great for the rest of us,” said Mr Biden, who also lashed Mr Trump over reports that he disparaged the military and its veterans, calling them “suckers” and “losers”.