Trump, Biden push opposing strategies in closing days
Washington — President Donald Trump pushed ahead Wednesday with a strategy for the closing days of the campaign that minimizes the threat from the coronavirus pandemic, misstates his record in confronting it and mocks Democratic nominee Joe Biden’s caution in campaigning amid a disease that has killed more than 225,000 Americans.
Biden, during remarks in Delaware, blasted Trump for what he characterized as recklessness in handling the pandemic as Trump held crowded rallies in Arizona.
With five days to go before Election Day on Nov. 3, the two candidates have crystallized opposing messages on a pandemic that has affected most aspects of American life, including voting.
Biden holds small, carefully staged events where he typically wears a mask and asks attendees to stand far apart. He blames Trump for failing to check the spread of the virus and calls the election a referendum on Trump’s leadership during the crisis.
Trump tells crowds that the pandemic is nearly over and that precautions such as school closures are themselves dangerous, while he assembles tens of thousands of people for political rallies despite mandates and public health advice against large gatherings.
“We’re rounding the turn, regardless,” Trump said near the start of remarks in Bullhead City, Ariz.
“Normal life will fully resume. That’s what we want, right? Normal life,” Trump said.
It is a message intended to project optimism not supported by science, as public health experts predict many more months of disruption. Trump is betting that his defiance and nonchalance — including about his own
COVID-19 diagnosis and hospitalization this month — will resonate with Americans fed up with pandemic restrictions.
“This election is a choice between a Trump boom and a Biden lockdown,” Trump said in Arizona, a battleground state he carried four years ago but where recent polls show a competitive race.
People standing behind Trump mostly wore masks, as recommended by public health authorities, but many in the larger crowd in front of him did not. Trump mocked masks, saying the virus can easily penetrate some of them, and he ridiculed the recommendation by California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, that people replace their masks between bites when dining out.