Dueling town halls
President Trump, Joe Biden to hold separate town halls tonight.
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Wednesday sought to shore up support from constituencies that not so long ago he thought he had in the bag: big business and voters in the red state of Iowa.
In a morning address to business leaders, he expressed puzzlement that they would even consider supporting his Democratic challenger, Joe Biden, arguing that his own leadership was a better bet for a strong economy.
The president campaigned later in the day in Iowa, a state he won handily in 2016 but where Biden is making a late push.
Trump claimed to be leading in the most recent poll he saw. “For me to only be up six, I'm a little bit concerned,” he asserted. Multiple polls have shown a much closer race.
Biden, for his part, held a virtual fundraiser from Wilmington, Delaware, and was delivering taped remarks to American Muslims in the evening. He did not have any public campaign events scheduled.
The Democratic nominee used his appearance at the fundraiser to say that Trump was trying to rush through Amy Coney Barrett, his nominee for the Supreme Court, to help his efforts to repeal the Afforadable Care Act, calling that “an abuse of power.”
Trump used his economic address Wednesday to play up his administration’s commitment to lowering taxes and deregulation of industry, and he didn’t hide his frustration with signs that some in the business community are tilting to Biden.
“I know I’m speaking to some Democrats, and some of you are friends of mine,” Trump said in a virtual address to the Economic Clubs of Chicago, Florida, New York, Pittsburgh, Washington, D.C., and Sheboygan, Wisconsin. Should Biden be elected, he continued, “You will see things happen that will not make you happy. I don’t understand your thinking.”
The former vice president has collected more than $50 million in campaign contributions from donors in the securities and investment sectors, according to the private nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics. During his decades in the Senate representing Delaware, a center for the credit card and banking industries, Biden built re
“Instead, he’s here to spread more lies about the pandemic and distract from his record of failure.” — Joe Biden, on President Donald Trump’s visit to Iowa
lationships and a voting record in the business sector that has raised suspicion on the left but provides Wall Street with a measure of ease at the prospect of a Biden administration.
After being sidelined by the coronavirus, Trump has resumed a breakneck schedule this week, with travel and campaign rallies planned for each day.
His trip to Iowa comes as the state this week surpassed 1 00,000 coronavirus cases and has seen a recent surge in hospitalizations. The number of people being treated in Iowa hospitals for COVID-19 reached a new high Wednesday of 473 people, and there’s no sign of slowing as the number of people admitted in the past 24 hours was third highest.
Biden has tried to make Trump’s handling of the pandemic, which has killed more than 216,000 Americans, the central issue of the election.
“President Trump isn’t coming to the Hawkeye State to offer words of comfort to those suffering, or a helping hand to the Iowans who are out of a job, or an actual plan to get the virus under control,” Biden said in a statement. “Instead, he’s here to spread more lies about the pandemic and distract from his record of failure.”
Officials at the Des Moines airport, where the rally was to be held in a cargo hangar, were told to plan for up to 10,000 people, and such Trump campaign events typically feature little to no social distancing and only spot mask wearing.
A public health emergency declared by Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds in March remains in place and requires that organizers of mass gatherings “must ensure at least 6 feet of physical distance between each group or individual attending alone.”
Reynolds, a Trump ally, was expected to appear at the event.
While mostly laying low Wednesday, Biden has stepped up campaign travel in the past week, with visits to Arizona, Nevada, Florida and Pennsylvania.
Trump’s return to Iowa comes as he has been forced into playing defense following a widely panned debate performance and his own coronavirus diagnosis.
Republicans have raised alarm that enthusiasm among Trump’s base has waned slightly after the one-two punch of those events, casting his reelection into doubt.
The Trump campaign has grown increasingly worried about states he won handily four years ago, including Iowa, Ohio and, to a lesser extent, Texas. Trump is also expected to visit Georgia on Friday, another state that polls suggest is unexpectedly competitive.