Trump strikes at Biden, Dems in Midwest
JANESVILLE, Wis. — President Donald Trump on Saturday accused the left of trying to “destroy the American way of life” in a late re-election pitch to voters in Michigan and Wisconsin — two Midwestern states that were instrumental to his 2016 victory but may now be slipping from his grasp.
In back-toback rallies,
Mr. Trump accused the left of wanting to
“erase American history” and “purge American values.” He claimed Democratic rival Joe Biden would put communities at risk.
Mr. Biden, meanwhile, had no public events planned for Saturday. But in a memo to supporters, campaign manager Jen O’Malley Dillon warned about becoming complacent.
“The reality is that this race is far closer than some of the punditry we’re seeing on Twitter and on TV would suggest,” she wrote in the memo, a copy of which was obtained by The
Associated Press. “If we learned anything from 2016, it’s that we cannot underestimate Donald Trump or his ability to claw his way back into contention in the final days of a campaign, through whatever smears or underhanded tactics he has at his disposal.”
As he tries to energize his base and keep on-the-fence voters from turning against him, Mr. Trump sought to paint Democrats as “antiAmerican radicals” and said moderates had “a moral duty” to join the Republican Party.
“The Democrat Party you once knew doesn’t exist,” he said.
It was the same on issue after issue, as he claimed Mr. Biden’s election would spur “the single biggest depression in the history of our country” and “turn Michigan into a refugee camp.”
Addressing the coronavirus crisis, Mr. Trump warned Mr. Biden would “shut down the country, delay the vaccine and prolong the pandemic.”
And while he repeatedly predicted victory, Mr. Trump seemed to grapple throughout the day with the prospect he could indeed lose in November.
In Michigan, he quipped that, in January, he “better damn well be president. In Wisconsin, he wondered how he would process a loss.
“Can you imagine if I lose? I will have lost to the worst candidate in the history of American politics,” he said. “What do I do?”
Mr. Trump has continued to hold rallies despite the threat of the coronavirus, which hospitalized him for several days earlier this month.
Wisconsin broke the record for new positive virus cases on Friday — the third time that’s happened in a week. The state also hit record highs for daily deaths and hospitalizations this past week.
But there was little evidence of concern among the thousands of supporters Mr. Trump drew in both states, where audience members stood closely together in the cold, mostly without masks.
Mr. Trump continued to call on Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to roll back restrictions that remain in place to try to halt the spread of the virus, prompting the crowd to break into a “Lock her up!” chant. (The same chant also broke out after he mentioned his 2016 Democratic rival Hillary Clinton and Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar.)
Ms. Whitmer, a Democrat, was the focus of a kidnapping plot by anti-government extremists who were angered by lockdown measures. Thirteen men have been charged in connection with the scheme, which included plans to storm the state Capitol and to hold some kind of trial for the governor.
“You got to get your governor to open your state and get your schools open. The schools have to be open, right?” said Mr. Trump, who also took credit for federal law enforcement’s role in foiling the plot.
Ms. Whitmer’s digital director, Tori Saylor, urged Mr. Trump to stop.
“Every single time the President does this at a rally, the violent rhetoric towards her immediately escalates on social media,” she tweeted. “It has to stop. It just has to.”
Mr. Trump has an aggressive campaign schedule in the coming days, with rallies planned Sunday in Nevada, Monday in Arizona and Tuesday in Pennsylvania.
On Friday, he campaigned in Georgia — a state no Republican presidential contender has lost since 1992 and he also has had to court voters in Iowa, which he carried by almost 10 percentage points four years ago.
Vice President Mike Pence returned to the critical battleground state of Pennsylvania on Saturday, declaring Mr.Trump a champion of the “forgotten men and women of America” and blasting Mr. Biden as a “Trojan horse for the radical left.”
“The road to victory runs right through Pennsylvania,” Mr. Pence told more than 1,000 supporters in Reading after bounding down the stairs from Air Force Two and running toward the stage outside an airport hangar.
He ran through a familiar recitation of the administration’s accomplishments on the economy, cutting regulations, and increasing military spending. “We created the greatest economy in history,” Mr. Pence said.
“Joe Biden, he’s been a cheerleader for communist China,” Mr. Pence said, leading some supporters to shout out, “Lock him up!”
Mr. Pence credited Mr. Trump for “unleashing American energy,” and having “ended the war on coal,” in a state where coal and natural gas drilling hold outsized importance in the political culture. He accused Mr. Biden of wanting to ban fracking.
The vice president’s appearance capped a busy week of campaigning in Pennsylvania, which both parties and analysts see as likely to determine who wins the White House.