Trump barnstorms Florida while Biden campaigns in Michigan, early vote surges

By Steve Holland and Michael Martina

 

U.S. President Donald Trump holds a campaign rally at Ocala International Airport in Ocala, Florida, U.S., October 16, 2020. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

 

OCALA, Fla./SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (Reuters) - President Donald Trump sought to boost his position in the battleground state of Florida on Friday by reaching out to seniors, while rival Joe Biden blasted Trump's response to the coronavirus pandemic on a tour of the swing state of Michigan.

 

The two men are focusing their campaigns on the closely-fought states that are expected to determine the winner of the Nov. 3 election.

 

Trump, a Republican, lags in opinion polls https://polling.reuters.com and the latest figures from his campaign show he is also behind in fundraising as the race intensifies with 18 days to go before Election Day. Early voting is shattering records, with more than 22 million Americans having already cast ballots.

 

Trump and the Republican National Committee raised some $247.8 million in September, his campaign manager said on Twitter, well behind the $383 million haul of Biden and the Democratic Party.

 

At an indoor event with a crowd of seniors in Fort Meyers, Florida, Trump expressed some uncharacteristic empathy for those who have lost family members to COVID-19.

 

"My heart breaks for every grieving family that has lost a precious loved one. I feel their anguish. I mourn their loss. I feel their pain," Trump said.

 

Biden, a Democrat, has shown strength with senior voters, many of whom have faulted Trump for his response to the health crisis. Biden has lambasted Trump for often playing down the seriousness of the crisis, and has knocked the administration for seeking to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.

 

“If I have the honor of becoming your president, we'll build on the Affordable Care Act, no matter what they do," Biden told an event in Michigan.

 

Trump again asserted that the country was "rounding the turn" on the outbreak, now in its eighth month, even as nine states, including Michigan, Wisconsin and North Carolina, reported record one-day increases of new infections on Thursday, according to a Reuters tally. [L1N2H61BJ]

 

"He’ll do anything to distract us from focusing on his failures to deal with this virus to protect the nation," Biden said.

"It's not disappearing, in fact it's on the rise again. It's getting worse, as predicted."

 

DEAD HEAT IN FLORIDA, OBAMA TO HIT THE TRAIL

 

A new Reuters/Ipsos poll showed Trump and Biden in a statistical dead heat in Florida, which is coveted for its 29 electoral votes.

 

Biden's campaign said former President Barack Obama would travel to Philadelphia next week to campaign on his former vice president's behalf.

 

At a rally in Ocala, Florida, Trump played down Obama's potential impact.

 

"Oh, I got an emergency call today. They say, ‘Sir, I’m sorry to tell you, but President Obama is going to start campaigning for Sleepy Joe.’ I said, ‘so what’s the problem with that’ … I said, ‘you know, he campaigned harder than Hillary last time, so why do we care?’" Trump said.

 

Trump defeated former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election.

 

The president was to hold an event later on Friday in Macon, Georgia.

 

Biden will attend an evening get-out-the-vote rally in Detroit.

 

The Democrat tested negative for COVID-19 on Friday, his campaign said.

 

A record 22 million Americans have already voted, according to the U.S. Elections Project at the University of Florida, including 2.2 million in Florida. About 136.6 million people in total voted in the 2016 election.

 

Early voting began in Louisiana on Friday, following record turnout this week in the competitive states of Georgia, North Carolina and Texas.

 

The candidates returned to the trail after dueling town hall events replaced a presidential debate that was canceled after Trump's recent bout with coronavirus.

 

A combative Trump, sparring with moderator Savannah Guthrie on NBC, refused to condemn the conspiracy theory QAnon, reiterated his unsubstantiated assertion that the 2020 election was rife with fraud, and again questioned whether masks help fight the spread of COVID-19.

 

Biden delivered policy-heavy answers and focused his attacks on Trump's handling of the pandemic, which has killed more than 217,000 people in the United States and hammered the economy.

 

Biden won the TV ratings battle between the two events, according to Nielsen ratings data.

 

Biden averaged 13.9 million viewers on Walt Disney Co's <DIS.N> ABC on Thursday night, CNN said. Trump pulled in 13 million across Comcast Corp's <CMCSA.O> NBC and the company's MSNBC and CNBC cable channels.

 

(additional reporting by David Brunnstrom and Simon Lewis; Writing by Joseph Ax, James Oliphant and Jeff Mason; Editing by Scott Malone and Sonya Hepinstall)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-10-17

 

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“Early voting began in Louisiana on Friday, following record turnout this week in the competitive states of Georgia, North Carolina and Texas.“

 

High turnout is always good news for the Democrats.

 

High turnout for early voting in States where Republican administrations have done all they can to deter voting within ‘Democrat supporting’ counties is super good news.

9 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

 

High turnout is always good news for the Democrats.

Might be good news if the ballots are deemed valid. But with 1 out of every 5 ballots being rejected it looks like a disaster. Was there nobody that warned sending out all these mail in ballots could cause a problem? 

 

"About 372,000 requests were rejected, as reported by ProPublica on Friday, largely because many of them, about 90%, were duplicates. Overall, one out of every five requests for mail-in ballots are being rejected, according to the publication."

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/pennsylvania-mail-in-ballot-applications-rejected

3 minutes ago, TopDeadSenter said:

Might be good news if the ballots are deemed valid. But with 1 out of every 5 ballots being rejected it looks like a disaster. Was there nobody that warned sending out all these mail in ballots could cause a problem? 

 

"About 372,000 requests were rejected, as reported by ProPublica on Friday, largely because many of them, about 90%, were duplicates. Overall, one out of every five requests for mail-in ballots are being rejected, according to the publication."

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/pennsylvania-mail-in-ballot-applications-rejected

That voter suppression crippling the post office and packing the courts is exactly how trump is trying to rigg the election it’s not going to work he’s toast and quite possibly heading to prison 

5 minutes ago, TopDeadSenter said:

Might be good news if the ballots are deemed valid. But with 1 out of every 5 ballots being rejected it looks like a disaster. Was there nobody that warned sending out all these mail in ballots could cause a problem? 

 

"About 372,000 requests were rejected, as reported by ProPublica on Friday, largely because many of them, about 90%, were duplicates. Overall, one out of every five requests for mail-in ballots are being rejected, according to the publication."

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/pennsylvania-mail-in-ballot-applications-rejected

Wrong. one out of every 5 ballot request. Not ballots.

37 minutes ago, placeholder said:

Wrong. one out of every 5 ballot request. Not ballots.

Thanks I actually looked for this on the reputable news services and couldn’t find anything about it no wonder just more misrepresentation / desperation 

1 hour ago, TopDeadSenter said:

Might be good news if the ballots are deemed valid. But with 1 out of every 5 ballots being rejected it looks like a disaster. Was there nobody that warned sending out all these mail in ballots could cause a problem? 

 

"About 372,000 requests were rejected, as reported by ProPublica on Friday, largely because many of them, about 90%, were duplicates. Overall, one out of every five requests for mail-in ballots are being rejected, according to the publication."

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/pennsylvania-mail-in-ballot-applications-rejected

Maybe they have to reject Trump vote , coz he already vote bye mail. He seems to trust mail vote even again say otherwise!

Edited October 17, 20205 yr by 2 is 1

2 hours ago, rooster59 said:

Trump barnstorms

Great headline! Some people have a brain, others a barn...

2 hours ago, rooster59 said:

I said, ‘so what’s the problem with that’ … I said, ‘you know, he campaigned harder than Hillary last time, so why do we care?’" Trump said.

He is worried and try to put up a false front. In a dead heat Florida, a credible and popular Obama can made the difference. Trump meanwhile has no one who has the star political power to come in and help him campaign at this crucial junction. Independents and moderate and even Rep moderates still have fond memories of Obama. Obama has been playing big roles behind the scene so as not to overshadow Biden. The Dems strategy is to continue what they have been doing and will use Obama to contrast with Trump in terms of how Obama and Biden led for 8 years and how Biden will continue the Obama’s legacy. Obama has so much credibility and the Biden campaign will use that credibility to their advantage contrasting with Trump.

 

When will the previous repub president join the campaign to support trump.

11 minutes ago, Sujo said:

When will the previous repub president join the campaign to support trump.

Why would any sensible person want to hear from warmongers Bush and Obama? They are dinosaurs. The age of trying to blast and drone strike a region to peace is over. No more Libyan adventures please, no more Iraqs, nor Syrias. This is the age of Trump diplomacy. Now I realize Trump bringing peace to the middle east is not Nobel worthy, nor is fostering a cordial relationship with NK and bringing the Korean peninsula some much needed time out from hostilities. But please, most people are sick and tired of the globalist warmongers. Trump and his peaceful deals, the progressive approach, that is where it's at now. 

 Bush at least has the sense to shut up and keep his nose out. Obama is a different kettle of fish, his neck is on the line, which is why he is squawking like an xmas turkey recently.

6 minutes ago, TopDeadSenter said:

Why would any sensible person want to hear from warmongers Bush and Obama? They are dinosaurs. The age of trying to blast and drone strike a region to peace is over. No more Libyan adventures please, no more Iraqs, nor Syrias. This is the age of Trump diplomacy. Now I realize Trump bringing peace to the middle east is not Nobel worthy, nor is fostering a cordial relationship with NK and bringing the Korean peninsula some much needed time out from hostilities. But please, most people are sick and tired of the globalist warmongers. Trump and his peaceful deals, the progressive approach, that is where it's at now. 

 Bush at least has the sense to shut up and keep his nose out. Obama is a different kettle of fish, his neck is on the line, which is why he is squawking like an xmas turkey recently.

 Sure, right in the middle of a pandemic that's what's on voters'minds: foreign policy. it is to laugh.

1 minute ago, placeholder said:

 Sure, right in the middle of a pandemic that's what's on voters'minds: foreign policy. it is to laugh.

Sure. Right in the middle of a pandemic 56% of Americans feel they are better off than at the end of Obamas 8 years. Says it all to me. But we will see, on Nov the 3rd or whenever the mail in vote fiasco and court cases allow an election result. And I am not sure you are right, IIRC people were not so chuffed about their govt invading nations on the other side of the world on dubious and flimsy excuses. Proven right seeing as Trump didn't start any wars, brought as many troops home as he could, and life goes on as normal. Must be dreadfully annoying for Bush and Obama.

35 minutes ago, TopDeadSenter said:

Why would any sensible person want to hear from warmongers Bush and Obama? They are dinosaurs. The age of trying to blast and drone strike a region to peace is over. No more Libyan adventures please, no more Iraqs, nor Syrias. This is the age of Trump diplomacy. Now I realize Trump bringing peace to the middle east is not Nobel worthy, nor is fostering a cordial relationship with NK and bringing the Korean peninsula some much needed time out from hostilities. But please, most people are sick and tired of the globalist warmongers. Trump and his peaceful deals, the progressive approach, that is where it's at now. 

 Bush at least has the sense to shut up and keep his nose out. Obama is a different kettle of fish, his neck is on the line, which is why he is squawking like an xmas turkey recently.

Drone strikes 8 years of Obama  13072, 4 years of Trump 12837 in Afghanistan alone

47 minutes ago, TopDeadSenter said:

Why would any sensible person want to hear from warmongers Bush and Obama? They are dinosaurs. The age of trying to blast and drone strike a region to peace is over. No more Libyan adventures please, no more Iraqs, nor Syrias. This is the age of Trump diplomacy. Now I realize Trump bringing peace to the middle east is not Nobel worthy, nor is fostering a cordial relationship with NK and bringing the Korean peninsula some much needed time out from hostilities. But please, most people are sick and tired of the globalist warmongers. Trump and his peaceful deals, the progressive approach, that is where it's at now. 

 Bush at least has the sense to shut up and keep his nose out. Obama is a different kettle of fish, his neck is on the line, which is why he is squawking like an xmas turkey recently.

Ahhhh naaaaa trump is toxic no reputable person or politician will have anything to do with him heck he is actively going around spreading this deadly virus trump is so toxic I wouldent be surprised if bush endorses Joe Biden lol 

52 minutes ago, TopDeadSenter said:

Why would any sensible person want to hear from warmongers Bush and Obama? They are dinosaurs. The age of trying to blast and drone strike a region to peace is over. No more Libyan adventures please, no more Iraqs, nor Syrias. This is the age of Trump diplomacy. Now I realize Trump bringing peace to the middle east is not Nobel worthy, nor is fostering a cordial relationship with NK and bringing the Korean peninsula some much needed time out from hostilities. But please, most people are sick and tired of the globalist warmongers. Trump and his peaceful deals, the progressive approach, that is where it's at now. 

 Bush at least has the sense to shut up and keep his nose out. Obama is a different kettle of fish, his neck is on the line, which is why he is squawking like an xmas turkey recently.

Peace in the middle east?

what cordial relationship with little rocketman?

trump has no peaceful deals, all he has done is pull out of deals.

 

im sure the kurds arent too thrilled with him.

51 minutes ago, TopDeadSenter said:

Sure. Right in the middle of a pandemic 56% of Americans feel they are better off than at the end of Obamas 8 years. Says it all to me. But we will see, on Nov the 3rd or whenever the mail in vote fiasco and court cases allow an election result. And I am not sure you are right, IIRC people were not so chuffed about their govt invading nations on the other side of the world on dubious and flimsy excuses. Proven right seeing as Trump didn't start any wars, brought as many troops home as he could, and life goes on as normal. Must be dreadfully annoying for Bush and Obama.

 So now you trust pollingin that case I've got lots of bad news for you...

Just keep packing those stands, Donny, almost all of them not wearing masks, not social distancing, and screaming and hollering at the top of their lungs, and see how many of them are left to vote for you come November 3. 

And no mention of Hunter Biden’s business connections with Burisma and the CCP?  Very curious.

13 minutes ago, Isaan sailor said:

And no mention of Hunter Biden’s business connections with Burisma and the CCP?  Very curious.

 

No mention of Donald knowing that Giuliani was targeted to be a Russian asset in order to slander the Biden family in a fake document dump?

 

Intelligence officials warned Trump that Giuliani was target of Russian influence campaign

 

Quote

Intelligence officials warned President Trump that his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani was the target of an influence campaign conducted by Russian intelligence, The Washington Post reported Thursday.

Four former officials familiar with the matter told the Post that the intelligence officers were worried that the president’s personal lawyer was being used to pass Russian misinformation to Trump.

 

Edited October 17, 20205 yr by Silurian

8 minutes ago, Isaan sailor said:

And no mention of Hunter Biden’s business connections with Burisma and the CCP?  Very curious.

Not curious, and not a surprise. Now that one of those involved in the emails has confirmed their legitimacy. Plus direct links now to Biden, and even how many % he trousered. It is devastating. IMO this is the end of Biden's run, the left are hiding behind censorship hoping the whole mess will go away. It won't. I am wondering if this was Don jr's computer and the shoe was on the other foot, would we have a thread to discuss it - the most scandalous news story in decades? No, we would have a few dozen.

 

"One of the people on an explosive email thread allegedly involving Hunter Biden has corroborated the veracity of the messages, which appear to outline a payout for former Vice President Joe Biden as part of a deal with a Chinese energy firm.

 A proposed equity split references “20” for “H” and “10 held by H for the big guy?” with no further details.

Sources told Fox News that "the big guy" is a reference to the former vice president. "

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/hunter-biden-china-email-source-verifies

3 minutes ago, Silurian said:

 

No mention of Donald knowing that Giuliani was targeted to be a Russian asset in order to slander Hunter in a fake document dump?

 

Intelligence officials warned Trump that Giuliani was target of Russian influence campaign

 

 

I don't see any relevance to Russia Russia Russia with this scandal. The Biden's had ample time to come out and say "Hey this is not my computer, those are not my emails!". Didn't happen. Why? Because they are caught red handed with no way to deny. Nobody now is denying the emails are genuine. That people float red herrings such as the ever predictable Russians dunnit, is to be expected but not taken seriously.

The biggest political story in the history of America is barely getting mentioned because the media is the propaganda machine of the Democrats. If they had 5% of Biden's sort of dirt connected to Trump they would bury him. 

Here's the view on trump by one of the last grown-ups to flee the WH asylum :

 

'Ex-chief of staff John Kelly told friends that Trump's dishonesty is 'astounding' and 'pathetic'

 

 

4 minutes ago, TopDeadSenter said:

Not curious, and not a surprise. Now that one of those involved in the emails has confirmed their legitimacy. Plus direct links now to Biden, and even how many % he trousered. It is devastating. IMO this is the end of Biden's run, the left are hiding behind censorship hoping the whole mess will go away. It won't. I am wondering if this was Don jr's computer and the shoe was on the other foot, would we have a thread to discuss it - the most scandalous news story in decades? No, we would have a few dozen.

 

"One of the people on an explosive email thread allegedly involving Hunter Biden has corroborated the veracity of the messages, which appear to outline a payout for former Vice President Joe Biden as part of a deal with a Chinese energy firm.

 A proposed equity split references “20” for “H” and “10 held by H for the big guy?” with no further details.

Sources told Fox News that "the big guy" is a reference to the former vice president. "

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/hunter-biden-china-email-source-verifies

Amazing how the media refuse to run this, now a corroborated bombshell.  Joe is China’s candidate alright.  They have him right where they want him—compromised and beholden, thanks to Hunter’s greed.  Hunter should have quit while he was ahead with his crack pipe and his hooker.

4 minutes ago, Isaan sailor said:

Amazing how the media refuse to run this, now a corroborated bombshell.  Joe is China’s candidate alright.  They have him right where they want him—compromised and beholden, thanks to Hunter’s greed.  Hunter should have quit while he was ahead with his crack pipe and his hooker.

Best not to mention hookers in front of Trump supporters.  You will never match Don on the hooker head count!

Comrade Donald is a loser.

7 hours ago, TopDeadSenter said:

Might be good news if the ballots are deemed valid. But with 1 out of every 5 ballots being rejected it looks like a disaster. Was there nobody that warned sending out all these mail in ballots could cause a problem? 

 

"About 372,000 requests were rejected, as reported by ProPublica on Friday, largely because many of them, about 90%, were duplicates. Overall, one out of every five requests for mail-in ballots are being rejected, according to the publication."

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/pennsylvania-mail-in-ballot-applications-rejected

Fox News?

 

Aren't they the ones getting apoplectic because they're claiming a drunk Hunter Biden dropped off a laptop to a blind technician, hoping to get it fixed, then completely forgot about it, and then the blind guy somehow read some of Hunter's emails, and then called the FBI about influence peddling. Of course the FBI and Dir Christopher Wray are unaware of this, but it isn't as if Fox is going to let reality get in the way of a righteous silly rant.

 

The FSB/SVR/GRU are actually having fun seeing just how ignorant 45's base is and what swill they will still accept as gospel. I think the blind guy reading the emails was a classic. No tale is too silly, which may counter Mark Twain's famous line: "Fiction is harder that non-Fiction, because it has to be believable".

 

It appears Fox is a witting or unwitting stooge of the FSB, trying to amplify whatever drivel the Internet Research Agency made up. 

 

Yes, you can fool some of the people all of the time, and those 'some of the people' are avid Fox viewers.

27 minutes ago, Isaan sailor said:

Amazing how the media refuse to run this, now a corroborated bombshell.  Joe is China’s candidate alright.  They have him right where they want him—compromised and beholden, thanks to Hunter’s greed.  Hunter should have quit while he was ahead with his crack pipe and his hooker.

45 Campaign's "October Surprise" has made both the comet Kahoutek and Y2K seem like issues of galactic importance and impact. Even the authors of this surprise---the FSB/SVR/GRU---are chortling over the gullibility of 45's base.

 

The media isn't covering this for the same reason they are not covering 12' Lizard People, the rogue planet Nibiru, shaft-shifting aliens, or that crazy doctor claiming there's demon sperm out there and alien DNA in vaccines.

8 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

“Early voting began in Louisiana on Friday, following record turnout this week in the competitive states of Georgia, North Carolina and Texas.“

 

High turnout is always good news for the Democrats.

 

High turnout for early voting in States where Republican administrations have done all they can to deter voting within ‘Democrat supporting’ counties is super good news.

 

Can you provide links to the reports of Republican administrations doing all they can to deter voting within Democrat supporting counties please?