RIVALS HIT SWING STATE
Pennsylvania pivotal
ALLENTOWN • With eight days until the U.S. election, President Donald Trump on Monday wooed voters in Pennsylvania, a battleground state he won in 2016 and is crucial to his chances of defeating Democratic challenger Joe Biden and winning a second term.
“We win Pennsylvania, we win the whole thing,” the Republican president told cheering supporters in Allentown, predicting victory in a state where opinion polls show is he trailing Biden.
Trump also mocked Biden on Monday, claiming he mistakenly calling him “George” during a televised campaign event and accused the U.S. media of helping his Democratic rival “get through” interviews.
Biden, 77, was speaking at a virtual concert on Sunday night when he stressed that this year’s presidential race was “the most consequential election in a long, long time” because of “who I’m running against.”
He went on: “Four more years of George, er, George, er, he — we’re going to find ourselves in a position where, if Trump gets elected, we’re going to be in a different world.”
Critics have suggested the Democratic candidate may have been confusing the U.S. president with George W. Bush. Others pointed out that Biden was responding to a question by American comedian George Lopez, which could have caused him to misspeak.
As of Monday, more than 60 million Americans already have cast ballots ahead of the Nov. 3 election in a record-breaking pace that could lead to the highest U.S. voter turnout by percentage in more than a century.
Meanwhile, surging coronavirus cases in many parts of the country and a COVID-19 outbreak within Vice-President Mike Pence’s staff have kept the focus of the race on the pandemic. Pence tested negative for the coronavirus on Monday, his office said, after multiple senior aides tested positive over the weekend.
Record numbers of new U.S. COVID-19 cases have offered Biden’s campaign a chance to repeat accusations that Trump and his allies have played down the advice of public health experts in battling the pandemic.
Biden on Sunday accused Trump of surrendering to the virus that has killed about 225,000 people in the United States.
Trump asserted that his administration was “doing a great job” against the pandemic and saying, again, that the United States was “absolutely rounding the corner.”
In Lititz, Pa., Trump criticized international trade entities and complained about economic powerhouse China’s status as a developing nation under World Trade Organization rules. “We want to be a developing nation also,” Trump said.