Trump on defensive in two must-win states, shifts from plan to target Biden strongholds
MACON, Ga. — Backed into a corner and facing financial strains, President Donald Trump went after his opponent’s family and defended his own struggle to contain the pandemic on Friday as he fought to energize his reelection bid in the nation’s Sun Belt. With Election Day looming, Democrat Joe Biden pushed to keep voters focused on health care in the Midwest.
Trump campaigned in Florida and Georgia, neighboring states he carried four years ago and must win again to extend his presidency. His decision to devote Friday evening’s prime-time slot to Georgia in particular highlighted the serious nature of his challenge: Far from his original plan to expand into Democratic-leaning states, he is laboring to stave off a defeat of major proportions.
No Republican presidential candidate has lost Georgia since George H.W. Bush in 1992.
In Macon, he cited support from former University of Georgia football star Herschel Walker to win favor from his rally crowd. “How good was Herschel Walker?” Trump said as the Georgia crowd roared. “He’s on our side, and he’s an incredible guy.”
In Florida on Friday, Trump derided the Bidens as “an organized crime family,” renewing his daily claims about the candidate’s son, Hunter, and his business dealings in Ukraine and China.
More to the point for Trump’s Florida audience, he spoke directly to seniors who have increasingly soured on his handling of the pandemic.
“I am moving heaven and earth to safeguard our seniors from the China virus,” Trump said, using his usual blame-shifting term to describe the coronavirus. He also offered an optimistic assessment of the pandemic, even as a surge of new infections spread across America.
“We are prevailing,” the president said, promising to deliver the first doses of a vaccine to seniors when it’s ready.
Biden opened his Michigan swing at a suburban Detroit community center.
“He’s living in a dream world,” Biden said of Trump’s rosy predictions of the pandemic. The former vice president then turned to the Trump administration’s court fight to overturn the Obamacare health coverage law — including its protection for people with preexisting conditions— without having a replacement plan.
“Mishandling the pandemic isn’t enough for Trump,” Biden charged. “On top of that he’s still trying to take away your health care.”
Meanwhile, the president’s campaign released new numbers suggesting he’s likely the first incumbent president to face a fundraising disadvantage in the modern era.
Trump’s campaign, along with the Republican National Committee and associated groups, raised $247.8 million in September, well short of the $383 million raised by Biden and the Democratic National Committee. To open October, the Trump effort officially had $251.4million in the bank, according to a campaign spokesman, compared with $432 million for Biden.
Trump claimed he could have raised more. He said he could call the heads of Wall Street firms and ask for millions, but added: “I can’t do that though, because you knowwhat, if I do that, I got to do things for them. I could be the world’s greatest fundraiser, but I just don’t want to do it.”
The president was seeking momentum on the campaign trail a day after he and Biden squaredoff in dueling televised town halls that showcased striking differences in temperament, views on racial justice and approaches to the pandemic.
Trump refused to denounce the QA non conspiracy group — and only testily did so regarding white supremacists.
Speaking in Florida on Friday, Trump sarcastically called the NBC event “a nice pleasurable evening “and jabbed moderator Savannah Guthrie for “going totally crazy.”
On ABC, Biden suggested he would offer clarity on his position on expanding the Supreme Court if Trump’s nominee to the bench is seated before Election Day
While decidedly on the defensive on the ground in key states, Trump released a scathing new ad on Friday attacking Biden’s record on race. Specifically, the ad seizes on Biden’s support for a criminal justice law that disproportionately punished people of color.
“He insulted us, jailed us, we must not elect him president,” the narrator declares.
It’s unclear whether the attack ad will break through the saturated airwaves. Biden and his allies are outspending Trump and his allies on paid advertising more than 2 to 1 through Election Day, according tothe advertising tracking firm Kantar/CMAG.