President Donald Trump and his Democratic challenger Joe Biden hit the ground Sunday in the swing states that will decide the US election, AFP reported. Trump, who has recently recovered from his bout with the novel coronavirus, hopped from one state to another. Biden, on the other hand, travelled to North Carolina – a swing state.
Donald Trump hops from one state to another
The 74-year old President travelled on Sunday from Nevada to California and then back to Nevada for a day of rallies and fundraising, before moving on to Arizona on Monday. Later this week, he has rallies planned up in Pennsylvania and North Carolina.
An infrequent church-goer, he attended services Sunday in a cavernous — but not entirely full — evangelical church in Las Vegas.
Congregants prayed for him, and when a collection plate was passed, a pool photographer saw Trump toss in a handful of $20 bills, AFP reported.
With little over a fortnight left for the US vote, the contest has turned vicious, with Trump accusing the former vice president of corruption regarding his son Hunter’s alleged links with Ukraine, that makes it “impossible for “50%, or 10%” Joe, to ever assume the office of the President,” Trump implied.
“Joe Biden is a corrupt politician, and everybody knows it,” he said in another tweet.
“Corrupt politician Joe Biden makes Crooked Hillary look like an amateur!” he fired another tweet on Sunday.
Biden’s campaign has repeatedly rejected the allegations, angrily dismissed by the candidate as a “smear campaign.”
Joe Biden attends Mass, addresses rally in North Carolina
Biden on Sunday attended Mass with his wife Jill at their church near Wilmington, Delaware, before walking outside to visit the grave of son Beau, who died of brain cancer in 2015, AFP reported.
Limiting his own campaign itinerary due to pandemic concerns, the 77-year-old Biden then flew to North Carolina for a pair of events.
In Durham, the mask-wearing former vice president jogged to a stage in a parking lot where people in dozens of vehicles waited for him.
“We choose hope over fear, we choose unity over division, science over fiction and yes, we choose truth over lies,” he told them, AFP reported.
His motorcade also made an unannounced stop to allow him and his granddaughter to order milkshakes, with Biden — keen to play up the stark differences between his campaign and Trump’s — keeping his mask on throughout.
Attacking his political opponent over the COVID-19 pandemic, Biden said despite a rise in the number of virus cases, “Donald Trump continues to put others in danger with his campaign events that ignore expert-recommended precautions.”
“Every day he proves just how unfit he is to lead America through this crisis,” he tweeted.
Taking a shot at Trump over his income tax bills, Biden said he has big plans for issues ranging from tackling climate change to making community college free for all.
“And I’ll pay for them by making sure the super-wealthy, like President Trump, pay more than $750 in federal income taxes,” he tweeted.
“Wear a mask. Wash your hands. Vote out Donald Trump,” Biden said in another tweet.
Both presidential hopefuls are set to clash at the final debate on October 22 in Nashville, Tennessee.
Also read: Joe Biden vs Donald Trump: Saturday Night Live recreates town hall face-off
Their first debate descended into a chaotic stream of interruptions by Trump, head-shaking and angry rejoinders; the second was replaced by dueling town-hall meetings after Trump refused to debate virtually on the heels of his bout with coronavirus.
Also read: Joe Biden leads Donald Trump in polls, but can they be trusted?
The final debate will be face-to-face, the last before the election on November 3.
