Trump and Biden woo battleground Pennsylvania

martinsburg — With eight days to go until the US election, President Donald Trump addressed boisterous rallies in Pennsylvania on Monday, while Democrat Joe Biden made a low-key appearance in the state considered crucial to the chances of victory for both men.

“We win Pennsylvania, we win the whole ballgame,” Trump told a rally in Martinsburg, his third and final event of the day, as he predicted a win in the state despite trailing Biden in most opinion polls.

Biden made a small-scale appearance in the city of Chester, near Philadelphia, meeting with about a dozen campaign volunteers and speaking with reporters. Biden said he was “not overconfident about anything” and “with the grace of God” he would win Pennsylvania, the state where he was born.

“I think we’re going to win Michigan, I think we’re going to win Wisconsin. I think we’re going to win Minnesota. I think we have a fighting chance in Ohio. I think we have a fighting chance in North Carolina. We have a fighting chance in Georgia,” Biden added, referring to other election battleground states.

Biden also stepped up his criticism of Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic that has killed more than 225,000 people in the United States, saying: “The bottom line is, Donald Trump is the worst possible president, the worst possible person to lead us through this pandemic.”

Surging coronavirus cases in many parts of the country have dominated the campaign, along with news of a Covid-19 outbreak within Vice-President Mike Pence’s staff. Pence, who campaigned in Minnesota, tested negative for the coronavirus on Monday, his office said, after multiple senior aides tested positive over the weekend.

In a case over Wisconsin’s election procedures, the US Supreme Court on Monday rejected on a 5-3 vote an effort by Democrats to allow officials in the state to count mail-in ballots postmarked on Election Day, November 3, that arrive up to six days later.

The action by the high court’s conservative majority keeps in place a state policy that mail-in ballots must be in the hands of Wisconsin election officials by the close of polls.

Returning to the White House from Pennsylvania, Trump tweeted: “Big problems and discrepancies with Mail In Ballots all over the USA. Must have final total on November 3rd.” Twitter flagged the tweet with a disclaimer describing the post’s content as “disputed” and potentially misleading.

Experts say, however, it may take days or even weeks to process the huge number of mail-in ballots, spurred by voters seeking to avoid crowded polling stations because of the Covid-19 pandemic. —