Trump is your best friend, Pence tells swing state voters

Vice-president fights Harris for blue collar support in Wisconsin

MIKE PENCE, the US vicepresident, appealed yesterday to voters in Wisconsin to back “the best friend American workers have ever had” in Donald Trump, as he went head to head with rival Kamala Harris in the battle to win over the key swing state.

Mr Pence spoke to employees at an energy plant in La Crosse, a heavily white Mississippi River city at the western edge of the state.

The Trump campaign is keen to win back some of the blue-collar workers who supported the president in 2016. “Joe Biden wants to bury the economy under red tape,” Mr Pence told employees at the Dairyland Power Cooperative.

“Biden and the radical Left would crush American energy, energy that Mr Trump has unleashed.”

In a sign of how desperate Mr Trump is to win in Wisconsin this November, he and Mr Pence have made eight visits between them since announcing their bid for re-election.

Ms Harris, in her first public campaign appearance since she was named as Joe Biden’s running mate for the Democrats, yesterday met with union members and labour leaders before attending a roundtable with black Milwaukee business owners.

After the presidential campaign was shaken this past week by reports of Mr Trump making allegedly disparaging comments about fallen soldiers, Mr Pence tried to redirect attention to the issue that polls consistently find at the top of voters’ minds: the economy.

The US economy has been steadily climbing back from its collapse in the spring due to coronavirus lockdowns. At the worst point, unemployment rose to levels not seen since the Great Recession.

Recovery has been slow, and only about half of the 22 million jobs that vanished this year have so far been recovered. Wisconsin, which has a population of 5.5 million, has been hit particularly hard, recording 150,000 unemployment claims in the last week of August.

Speaking on Labor Day, the traditional start of the campaign season, Mr Pence emphasised achievements made by the administration before the pandemic hit in March. “We’ve created jobs, jobs, jobs ... some 500,000 manufacturing jobs in just three years,” he told workers in La Crosse.

“Wages were rising at their fastest pace in years. They rose most for our bluecollar workers – the forgotten men and women of America. Forgotten no more,” he said to cheers. “The American comeback has begun.”

The state has been hit by protests since the shooting by police of Jacob Blake, a black man, in the city of Kenosha in late August.

Mr Trump’s “law and order” message – intended to motivate his base and draw new supporters – has so far failed to gain traction.

Despite the unrest, Mr Biden has pulled ahead in this crucial battleground region, which Hillary Clinton, the Democratic candidate in 2016, lost by less than a percentage point.

Ms Harris is trying to woo the black vote in Wisconsin. If Mr Biden is to take the vital state he must win the support of the black hub of Milwaukee and hope that Mr Trump loses some of the still-undecided voters.

In an interview with CNN on Sunday night, Ms Harris attacked Mr Trump and Bill Barr, the Attorney General, for suggesting over the weekend there was no racial injustice in the country.

“We do have two systems of justice” for black and white Americans, Ms Harris said, saying she and Mr Barr are “spending full time in a different reality”.

‘Biden would crush American energy – energy Mr Trump has unleashed’