US Election 2020: Trump and Biden target each other in campaigns

Republican President Donald Trump and Democrat challenger Joe Biden targeted each other again in the final burst of campaigning.

Mr. Biden addressed people in Iowa, a state that supported Donald Trump by 10 points in 2016. Whereas, Trump addressed people in Minnesota, which supported Hillary Clinton.

More than 85 million people have voted early, 55 million of them by post.

What did Joe Biden say?

Mr. Biden addressed people in Iowa, Wisconsin, and Minnesota on his busiest day yet. As per the details, he made a 22-minute appearance at a drive-in event in a car park outside the Minnesota State Fairgrounds.

Mr. Biden said, “These guys are not very polite, but they’re like Trump.” He was interrupted again while urging everyone to face mask during the speech.

“This isn’t a political statement like those ugly folks over there beeping their horns,” Mr. Biden snapped, eliciting a renewed cacophony of vehicular horns.

He attacked Trump, saying, “Donald Trump has waved the white flag and surrendered to this virus but the American people don’t give up, they don’t cower and neither will I.”

He also added a local pitch to the state’s Somali diaspora.

“That’s why he [Mr. Trump] shamelessly equates Somali refugees, folks seeking a better life in America, contributing to this state and our country, with terrorists.” He added, “We need a president who will bring us together, not pull us apart.”

Mr. Trump’s visit to Minnesota was interrupted by some election-watchers as a sign that his campaign was anxious about the state.

He told reporters in Delaware as he set out for the Midwest, “I don’t take anything for granted.”

What did Trump say?

Donald Trump is focusing over the last few days in Democratic industrial states such as Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania that he picked up four years ago in his against-all-odds victory.

He also addressed people in Minnesota. He acknowledged the steep odds in Michigan, “But we’re very popular [in Minnesota] because I helped with that disaster in Minneapolis.”

According to BBC, he was also claiming credit for the Democratic governor of Minnesota’s decision to send in the National Guard to quell riots in Minneapolis following the police killing of George Floyd.

He told the crowd: “When large numbers of rioters and vandals sacked the city of Minneapolis earlier this year, Keith Ellison [Minnesota’s Democratic attorney general] did not ask them to submit a permit.”

Referring to coronavirus lockdowns, he added: “Keith Ellison and Joe Biden want to imprison you in your homes while letting anarchists, agitators and vandals roam free as they destroy your cities and state.”

He went on: “Biden and the Democratic class treat law enforcement like criminals and they treat criminals like heroes.”

“One of the most crucial issues for Minnesota in this election is the subject of refugees,” Mr. Trump continued. “This is a vital matter of national security.”