Washington: US President Donald Trump is all set to launch his final, two-day sprint of campaigning across the battleground states. The battleground states hold the key to the fate of the 2020 US Presidential election. Pre-poll surveys have projected Democratic candidate Joe Biden far ahead in the elections against Donald Trump.
Trump is facing what appears to be a narrow path to re-election. Trump is to make stops in states likely to prove pivotal in deciding if he will remain in the White House for four more years. If he fails to do so he will become the first president since George HW Bush in 1992 to fail in a bid for a second term.
Biden has made Trump’s response to the coronavirus pandemic the central theme of his candidacy. He will Sunday in Pennsylvania, another of the battleground states. It is a state that may well decide the winner of the election.
Trump will stage 10 rallies Sunday and Monday – five on each day. It certainly will be Trump campaign’s busiest stretch. The Republican incumbent aims to generate enough momentum to drive an overwhelming turnout by his supporters Tuesday, ‘Election Day’.
Trump will hold rallies Sunday in Michigan, Iowa, North Carolina, Georgia and Florida. His campaign has scheduled Monday events in North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, and two in Michigan. He will close out the two-day swing with a late-night rally Monday in Grand Rapids.
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In his improbable victory four years ago, Trump took Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. These are the three states that for decades had gone in the Democratic column.
Weighing down Trump is a rising number of coronavirus infections. The US has recorded more than nine million cases, with nearly 2,30,000 people dead.
Trump has played down the virus threat. He has said his opponents are using it against him. He warns that a Biden presidency would lead to another virus lockdown, which the US cannot afford.
“At a rally Saturday in Newtown, Pennsylvania, Trump seemed to lament his close race with Biden, who he considers a weak opponent. “This could only happen to me,” Trump said. “How could we be tied?” he said.
National polls show Biden with a clear lead but state-by-state surveys of battleground states show a closer race.
Some Republicans are pessimistic about Trump’s chances. They believe he has too many states where his back is up against the wall. They are afraid of the 90 million who have cast ballots early. It suggests a wave building against the president.
Trump warned again Saturday that the outcome of the elections may not be known Tuesday night due to the counting of mail-in votes in states like Pennsylvania. “I think it’s highly like you’re not going to have a decision because Pennsylvania is very big,” Trump said in Newtown.
