11/02/2023

With Election Day looming, President Donald Trump and Democratic rival Joe Biden will both rally supporters today in the critical battleground state of Florida.

With Election Day looming, President Donald Trump and Democratic rival Joe Biden will both rally supporters today in the critical battleground state of Florida.
The two will be campaigning in the same city hours apart and putting their differing approaches to the resurgent coronavirus pandemic on full display.
Florida, with its 29 electoral votes, is a major prize in next Tuesday’s election and a new Reuters/Ipsos poll shows Mr Trump and Mr Biden running neck and neck in the state.
With Covid-19 cases raging across the country, Mr Trump will stage an outdoor rally in Tampa.
Thousands of people have crowded together at recent Trump rallies, many eschewing masks despite public health recommendations.
Mr Biden, in contrast, will hold a drive-in rally later in Tampa where attendees will remain in their cars.
He will host a similar event earlier in the day in Broward County in South Florida.
Opinion polls show Mr Biden with a significant edge nationally, but his lead is tighter in battleground states.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll released yesterday showed Mr Trump had essentially moved into a tie with Mr Biden in Florida, with 49% saying they would vote for Mr Biden and 47% for the president.
More voters said Mr Biden was better suited to handle the pandemic, by a 48%-42% margin, but Mr Trump got higher marks on the economy, 52% to 41%.
US Election: What are swing states?
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Following his own bout with the coronavirus, the president has conducted a hectic campaign schedule in the days leading up to the election, holding as many as three rallies a day in different states.
Mr Biden has taken a more measured tack – even spending two days this week close to his home base of Delaware.
More than 75 million people have cast early in-person and mail ballots, according to data compiled by the US Elections Project at the University of Florida.
That is a record-setting pace and more than 53% of the total 2016 turnout.
In a significant setback for Republicans in two battleground states, the US Supreme Court yesterday declined to block extensions for receiving mail-in votes in Pennsylvania and North Carolina.
Mr Trump has made unfounded claims that voting by mail, a common practice in US elections, leads to widespread fraud.
Read more: US Election 2020