Trump, Biden go after each other
Day after town halls, multiple events held
MACON, Ga. — Campaigning in Georgia and Florida, President Donald Trump went after his opponent’s family Friday. With Election Day looming, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden pushed to keep voters focused on health care in the Midwest.
In Macon, Trump cited support from former University of Georgia football star Herschel Walker.
“How good was Herschel Walker?” Trump said as the Georgia crowd roared. “He’s on our side, and he’s an incredible guy.”
Earlier, in Florida, the president derided the Bidens as “an organized crime family,” renewing his criticism of 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.
“I am moving heaven and earth to safeguard our seniors from the China virus,” Trump said. He also offered an optimistic assessment of the pandemic.
“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.
Meanwhile, the president’s campaign released fundraising numbers.
Trump’s campaign, along with the Republican National Committee and associated groups, raised $247.8 million in September, short of the
$383 million raised by Biden and the Democratic National Committee.
To open October, the Trump effort officially had $251.4 million in the bank, according to a campaign spokesman, compared with $432 million for Biden.
Trump said 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 know what, 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 squared off in dueling televised town halls.
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 denounced the White House’s handling of the virus.
“It’s getting worse, as predicted,” Biden said Friday in Michigan of the rising coronavirus numbers.
“The president knew and lied about knowing.”
Biden also sought to win support from the state’s auto workers during an appearance at the Michigan State Fairgrounds. “I’ve always believed in Michigan. We have the finest auto workers in the world here,” Biden said.
Trump released a 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.