Trump, Biden head to Pennsylvania and Florida as campaigns focus on
swing states
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[October 13, 2020]
By John Whitesides
(Reuters) - President Donald Trump on
Tuesday will travel to Pennsylvania for his second campaign rally since
his bout with COVID-19, while Democratic rival Joe Biden is heading to
Florida as the fight for the White House focuses on two of the biggest
battleground states.
Trump returned to the campaign trail on Monday night in Florida for the
first time since disclosing he had the coronavirus, throwing out
protective masks to supporters but not wearing one himself as he talked
about his recovery.
"I went through it now. They say I'm immune. I feel so powerful," Trump
told the crowd, who stood shoulder to shoulder, with most not wearing
face coverings. "I will kiss everyone in that audience, I will kiss the
guys and the beautiful women, I will give you a big fat kiss."
The rally came hours after the White House said Trump had tested
negative for COVID-19 on consecutive days and was not infectious to
others.
They were the president's first negative COVID-19 tests announced by the
White House since Trump said on Oct. 2 that he had contracted the virus.
In a memo, Dr. Sean Conley did not say when the tests were conducted.
Biden has been critical of Trump's management of the pandemic. Trump has
worked furiously for months to shift public attention away from the
coronavirus, which has infected more than 7.8 million people in the
United States, killed more than 214,000 and put millions out of work.
But Trump's illness has put the focus of the campaign's closing stretch
squarely on his response to the coronavirus, and opinion polls show
Trump losing more ground to Biden as the two White House contenders push
toward the Nov. 3 election.
Trump will travel on Tuesday to Johnstown, Pennsylvania, for an airport
rally in a state that he carried in 2016 by less than one percentage
point, and where polls show Biden with a steady lead this time around.
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A combination picture shows U.S. President Donald Trump and
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden speaking during the first
2020 presidential campaign debate, held on the campus of the
Cleveland Clinic at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland,
Ohio, U.S., September 29, 2020. REUTERS/Brian Snyder/File Photo
A Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Monday showed Biden with a 7
percentage point lead over Trump in Pennsylvania, with a majority of
voters saying Biden would do a better job of handling the pandemic.
Biden will head to the battleground of Florida, where a win over
Trump would cripple the president's chances for re-election. The
former vice president will deliver remarks in Pembroke Pines on his
vision for older Americans and attend an event in Miramar to
encourage residents to make a plan to vote.
Most recent polls show Biden with a small lead and ahead with key
demographic groups in the state, particularly seniors. Trump won
Florida in 2016 by 1.2 percentage points.
Trump plans rallies in Pennsylvania, Iowa, North Carolina, Georgia
and Florida later this week as he barnstorms through crucial states
ahead of the election.
(Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Gerry Doyle)
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